Niagara Falls Experiences That Many People Miss

The world-famous resort area of Niagara Falls has a kind of split personality. On the one hand, there's the Niagara Falls everyone knows, the one you always see in tourism ads -- this one.

 

 

 

In this "well known" Niagara Falls you can include such things as the Journey Behind the Falls on the Canadian side of the river, the scenic cruises up to the foot of the falls, the Cave of the Winds tour on the American side of the river, and -- almost as well known -- the Whirlpool Aero Car ride across the fearsome Niagara whirlpool.

Along with these, you can also throw in such delights as the perennial haunted-house sideshow on Clifton Hill, the enormous indoor waterpark, the giant Sky Wheel, the Skylon Tower, the Zipline across from the Falls, and more.

This blog post, though, is devoted to some of the Niagara experiences that many people miss.

To explain those, it's necessary to introduce you to the Niagara Parks Commission. This body was founded by the Ontario government in the 1880s, and given stewardship over the shorelands all along the Canadian side of the river, except for the communities of Fort Erie, Chippawa, Niagara Falls, Queenston, and Niagara-on-the-Lake. The Parks Commission was handed a very clear mandate: the Commission must be self-sustaining, and the parks must be free of entry charges. 

This was done because the river's edge had previously been dominated by avaricious private entrepreneurs who charged exorbitant fees simply to get through their premises (which ran the gamut of what the law now calls "disorderly houses") and get a look at the Falls.

Ever since the 1880s, then, the Parks Commission has existed without relying on general tax dollars, hence the sometimes hefty charges for the facilities within the parks. But the basic premise remains the same, and anyone can still enter the parks free of charge. I like to do it by just walking down the hill from my favourite hotel and then continuing along the edge of the river.

 

The backbone of the park system is the Niagara River Parkway, a two-lane road, toll-free, stretching all the way from Fort Erie to Niagara-on-the-Lake. It gives access to all the parklands and attractions in the Niagara Parks Commission's portfolio. So, all the sites I am visiting here are located along the Parkway.

 

To start with, the newest visitor attraction which just opened this year, was the first hydro-electric power station built on the Canadian side of the river. The current visitor attraction is the generator hall, which is located at the south end of the large parking lot closest to the Horseshoe Falls. 

 

The exhibits give fascinating insights into the history of electric power, the technology involved in running a hydro power plant, and the personalities of key people involved in developing this resource. The building itself has been aptly described as a "cathedral of power," and from these photos it's easy to see why.

In all, there are eleven of these huge blue generator units, installed at intervals during the plant's working life (which began in the early 1900s and continued up to the 1990s). The generators are driven by turbines installed deep below the ground, which are spun by the force of the falling water. As the water is drawn out of the river, it's fed through pipes called penstocks to drop down to the turbines. Here, a section of a penstock shows the size. Counting the part hidden under the level floor, I'm guessing the diameter of the penstocks at 10 feet or 3 metres.

One of the displays shows this historic photo of the generator hall taken in 1913 when the plant was still almost new.

When the plant was in operation, it was both very loud and very warm -- those huge generators gave off a certain amount of both noise and heat! Today, thanks to the stone walls, it's pleasantly quiet and cool inside. As for the noise, this artifact certainly illustrates how loud it could get. I didn't see a display board to explain this, but I would assume that the communication link was to the turbine hall far below.

You can tour the plant on your own, or take a guided tour. In the evenings, there's a sound-and-light show inside the plant as well.

 

Update (July 2023):  Since this post was originally published in May 2022, the power plant has expanded to include another attraction: the huge tunnel which carried the outflow from the turbines and fed it back into the river. A new observation platform has been built at the outlet of the tunnel, at the foot of the cliffs on the west side of the river, halfway between the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls, and with a splendid view of both. This is completely separate from the well-known tunnels at the foot of the Horseshoe Falls, at Table Rock.

My next stop was about a 15-minute drive north, past the Falls and the city of Niagara Falls ON, past the Whirlpool, past the Whirlpool Golf Course and the still-new Whirlpool Adventure Course (that would be a great activity stop for younger and more flexible persons!). Here, the Parks Commission maintains a sizable Botanical Garden which is an ever-changing delight through the year. The parks throughout the system are full of flower beds and flower planters, and the displays are constantly being changed, season by season. This Garden is the headquarters of the team responsible for that massive operation.

I wandered through part of the Gardens, enjoying some of the sights: a unique dwarf tree...,

... a brilliant bed of flowers...,

...and a carefully twisted tree, which looked rather lonely, standing by itself.

It looked so lonely that I thought it needed some company.

The real delight for me was a bed in the rock garden of these attractive flowering plants.

The second picture captures more accurately the silvery-white tone of many of the leaves, no doubt the reason for the plant's distinctive name: "Snow-in-Summer."

The Botanical Garden is also the site of a really fascinating experience: the Butterfly Conservatory.   

The large glass roof houses a complete tropical jungle which is home to an ever-shifting array of multiple species of butterflies. The first stop on entering is a small theatre which shows a short but informative video about the operation of the Conservatory. From there, you enter the warm, humid tropical air of the greenhouse.

This display case holds hundreds of pupae (cocoons). The hanging trays have been loaded in from the workshop side of the building. When the pupae hatch out, this side will be opened to release the adult butterflies into the greenhouse.

There are butterflies everywhere. The trick is getting any of them to sit still long enough. And here I thought only human photo models were difficult that way! But I got a few lucky breaks.

The tricky lighting washed out the colour of the last one. It's actually a much deeper, richer, imperial blue than the photo suggests.

Barely a kilometre (if that) upstream from the Falls, a tilting section of the rock formation allowed some of the river's flow to drain over the south bank, forming a small collection of islands separated by multiple channels, all contained in a bay on the side of the river. This is the Dufferin Islands Natural Area, a park which has (in the past) been improved in accordance with then-current ideas of controlling nature, and is now being slowly restored back to a more natural condition.

Important: if you've been to Dufferin Islands before, note that the driveway around the bay is now one-way only, going counter-clockwise (it used to be clockwise some years back). All along that driveway, you can park anywhere along the outer edge -- being sure to pay one of the ticket machines, of course, or display your parking pass. Then you can walk peacefully in a quiet environment far removed from the crowds by the Falls or the relentless loudspeakers advertising haunted houses on Clifton Hill.

Sadly, human idiocy has had its way here too, and large numbers of Canada geese have made this park their permanent home. Goose poop abounds. I hope the foolish people who fed them so much have begun to realize that this was a mistake, but I doubt they would.

Backtracking from Dufferin Islands towards the falls, another often-overlooked attraction is the Floral Showhouse, located just southeast of the hydro plant.

 

There are two parking lots here, and several flowering trees were putting on a seasonal show in the east parking lot.

 

 

The outdoor part of the attraction is a cute little miniature village, laced with small gardens. 

The tall greenhouse holds the entrance, gift shop, and a small permanent display garden. Behind it is the Showhouse proper, divided into two halves. The central entrance hall welcomes you with a sculptural fountain.

One half of the Showhouse contained a display of assorted cacti and other succulents. The other side was holding a true "Oh, wow!" show -- a seasonal display devoted to diverse varieties of hydrangeas. This show had just opened for its first day twenty minutes before I got there.

 

 In this picture, I've included my foot in its Size 11 shoe just to give an impression of the size of these rich blue flower clusters.

 

HELPFUL HINTS 

[1] Getting Around 

The first key choice is right here. Every parking lot along the Parkway charges a parking fee for the Parks Commission. The biggest lot, right by the Horseshoe Falls, is the most expensive ($30 flat rate during my visit). If you live close by (as I do -- 90 minutes away) and expect to come twice a year or more, you should order an all-year parking pass ($40) from the Niagara Parks website (the link follows at the end). Once you arrive, you should also make use of the WEGO bus system, which serves the many attractions along the Niagara Parkway from Queenston Heights to the Rapidsview parking area south of the Falls, and also runs two routes serving major tourist hotel areas up in the city.

If you're only coming in for the day, and you have the pass, you may just skip the buses (which also have a fee) and drive from point to point, as I did on this trip -- especially in the spring and fall seasons. In the summer, the much heavier traffic makes the WEGO system by far the more sensible choice.

 

During busy times, the parking lot by the Horseshoe Falls will fill completely, and the overflow parking at the Rapidsview lot, about 2 km farther south, comes into play.  When this lot is open, special free WEGO shuttles operate frequently to and from Table Rock visitor centre, which is the hub of the entire WEGO bus system.

Staying in a hotel? WEGO bus passes are often available right there, and in some of the more deluxe properties they may already be included in your compulsory amenity fee or room rate. In that case, leave the car right where it is and use the bus service (you're already paying for the hotel's parking and the bus pass, so why not?). The WEGO buses run past the big deluxe hotels in the Fallsview area and also travel west past all the budget motels along Lundy's Lane, all the way to the western outskirts of the city.

Update: July 2023:  On busy holiday weekends during the summer, the section of the Parkway from the Rainbow Bridge to the main parking lot by Table Rock is now entirely closed to vehicle traffic to make a safer experience for the throngs of pedestrians. Dates for road closures are posted in advance on the Niagara Parks Commission website (see link at the end). Visitors with cars will have to approach the Falls parking lots from the direction of Chippewa or park in one of the numerous commercial lots uphill in the Fallsview tourist district, and then use the WEGO bus system.

[2] Admission Fees 

The vast majority of attractions on the Niagara Parks Commission properties charge admission fees. To simplify matters, if you are a pre-planner, you can buy advance tickets for all of these attractions on the Parks Commission website. You will then receive, by email, a voucher with bar codes for all the tickets you have purchased. Show this on your phone or in hard copy at any Niagara Parks Welcome Centre and the agent at the desk will print out the actual tickets for you. For many attractions, you can reserve specific times for shows, tours, etc. Trust me, this one-stop advance shopping will save much time standing in lines during your visit.

 

There are several packages which group together multiple attractions for a single advantageous price. None of these packages includes absolutely everything -- and none of the three included the specific group of attractions I wished to visit. Sigh.

Note that some attractions may not open all days, or at the same times every day. All the information is on the website for you to check. The example in my case was the Floral Showhouse which opened its newest show on the last day of my visit.

[3] Off Season 

If you possibly can, you should arrange to visit in months like May or September/October. The weather will still be pleasant, most activities are still available, and the lineups will be far, far shorter. The case got summarily explained by a friend who went in the first week of July a few years back, and had to wait in line for half an hour to get a coffee and snack at Tim Hortons in the Table Rock Centre.

One thing you should certainly do, at least once, is to come in winter for the Festival of Lights. The trees and shrubs in Queen Victoria Park are decorated with thousands upon thousands of brilliantly coloured seasonal lights, from the Rainbow Bridge to the Falls and the Dufferin Islands, and other free-standing set pieces are placed throughout the parks as well. It's an eye-popping spectacle, to put it mildly.

 

[4] Table Rock Centre 

 

The central focal point, right by the brink of the Horseshoe Falls. Table Rock Centre contains the largest Welcome Centre -- ignore the signs saying that it's on the upper floor, it's on the ground level now. This is the location of the Journey Behind the Falls. Also here can be found a huge gift shop, a sit-down restaurant with a fantastic view of the Falls...,

 

..., several take-out food outlets, washrooms, the central terminal and ticket booth for the WEGO buses, and a footbridge across the Parkway to the main parking lot. At the far end of the footbridge is the Incline Railway up to the big hotels and casino in the Fallsview tourist district.

[5] Information Source 

You can find out all you need to know about the Canadian Niagara Parks Commission and all its many activities, attractions, shows, events, restaurants, golf courses, you name it, right at this link:

 

Niagara Parks