The Ultimate Niagara Tours

They stand at the brink where more than 600,000 gallons of water a second crashes over the edge every second.

These tourists are not risking their lives, but if you have a fear of heights, it may not be the place to stand. This is the corner of Goat Island, middle of Niagara Falls between the Bridal Veil Falls and Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, NY. In 1885, Goat Island, was included in the Niagara Reservation State Park which is the oldest state park in the U.S. The tourists are looking at the Hoseshoe Falls from Terrapin Point which from 1833 into the mid-1880s, it was the location of a boardwalk and Terrapin Tower, a lighthouse-type structure that was built over the river, just beyond the lip of the Horseshoe Falls. The boardwalk, deemed unsafe, was dismantled by 1887. From 1969, Terrapin Point was roped off for visitor safety until 1983, when 25,000 tons of unstable rock was blasted off. The remaining surface was scaled, and reopened to tourists in September 1983. (picture by Chuck Camroux of www.GatewayNiagara.com).

The American Falls crash down onto the rocks about 100 feet below which over 150 years have built up from rockfalls.

In 1954 Prospect Point collapsed (north or left of picture). Ten percent of the water that flows over the falls, flows over the American Falls which are 830 feet (250 m) wide. That means that about 60,000 gallons a second tumbles over the rocks of the American Falls. (picture by Chuck Camroux of www.GatewayNiagara.com).