Trifter

Niagara Falls State Park was created in 1885 and has the distinction of being the oldest state park in the United States.

Contained within the park are the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and part of the Canadian Falls. Niagara Falls State Park was named the 10th most beautiful spot in America by the Today Show in 2007.

Source

There are many things to do inside this state park.

Goat Island

Source

Goat Island is located in the middle of the Niagara River right between Bridal Veil Falls and Horseshoe Falls. In the late 1700’s farmer John Stedman kept a herd of goats on the island, hence the name even though all the goats died in the bad winter of 1780. Today tourists can access Goat Island via a motor vehicle bridge or a walking bridge. The island offers up-close spectacular views of all the falls.

Cave of the Winds

Image via Wikipedia

A cave was discovered behind Bridal Veil Falls in 1834 and guided tours were conducted from 1841 until 1920 when a rock fall made the cave unsafe and in 1954 the cave was dynamited shut due to a dangerous overhang. Today the Cave of the Winds Tour brings visitors to the very front of Bridal Veil Falls where a series of redwood decks and platforms allow sightseers to walk right up to the base of the falls with water crashing down right on them and flowing beneath the decking. The decking is removed each fall and replaced each spring. Cave of the Winds Tour is accessed via elevators from Goat Island.

Maid of the Mist

Boat tour of the falls that takes passengers up the Niagara River past the the American and Bridal Veil Falls and then right into the dense mist of spray inside the curve of the Horseshoe Falls. Raincoats or ponchos are given out to passengers and you will get wet on this sightseeing boat trip. In the film Bruce Almighty the character Bruce Nolan played by Jim Carrey flips out during a live report on board the Maid of the Mist.

Image via Wikipedia

Observation Tower

Source

From the the deck of the Observation Tower one gets the most comprehensive and impressive views of the American Falls with direct looks out into the cascading waters and down into the torrents below. The Observation Tower also has glass elevators that take visitors 180 feet down to the base of the tower for a close-up view of the American Falls and access to the Maid of the Mist tours.

Nikola Tesla Statue

Source

Nikola Tesla helped to invent alternating current systems which allowed electricity to be carried through lines to distant places. Tesla’s work allowed the electricity generated from the Niagara Falls to be distributed to Buffalo and farther away cities. The Nikola Tesla Statue on Goat Island honors Tesla for his work which made the electric power generated from Niagara Falls available to the masses.

Niagara Falls State Park’s Adventure Theater

Image via Wikipedia (Bobby Leach and barrel he went over falls in on July 25, 1911)

Shows IMAX films about Niagara Falls that focus on the their beauty, majesty, history and the people who tight-roped walked, jumped, rode barrels and accidentally plunged over Niagara Falls. The first person to jump over Niagara Falls and live was Sam Patch.

(Maria Spelterini walking a tightrope across the falls in 1876 with peach buckets for shoes)

The park also offers a museum, food concession, a gift shop, fireworks, hiking and nature trails, picnic tables, recreation programs and fishing.  The falls are lit at night.

Source