Niagara Falls State Park

Niagara Falls State Park, New York State

The Niagara River flows from south to north connecting Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The river forms the border between the USA and Canada, with USA on the east side and Canada on the west. There are several international bridges over the river.

The town of Niagara Falls, New York State, lies north of the large city of Buffalo, New York State.

The town of Niagara Falls has the usual American "fast food alley" along US62 east of the old downtown. There are numerous motels along this road, but some have rooms very close to the busy road which would be noisy.

As you continue west on US62 past the I-190 intersection you shortly enter a very run-down area of derelict factories and warehouses, followed by a lengthy section through a fairly poor looking residential area, where US62 is split into two one-way roads. You then go through the old downtown which is very run down. It wasn't helped that when we visited in the summer of 1997 they had the roads up here, making it even more of a mess. You then quickly reach the parking lots for the Falls.

The alternative and much more pleasant route is to use I-190 to join the Robert Moses Parkway north of the town. This Parkway, a toll-free road, runs alongside the river north of the Falls, where it goes through a deep and most impressive gorge. There are several places along the Parkway where you can park (free of charge) and observe the gorge. The southern end of the Parkway ends very close to the parking lots for the Falls.

You can then walk freely around the Falls area, which is an extremely pleasant park. From the USA mainland there are good views of the Falls. If you have time, then the moderate distance and mainly flat walk over the bridge to the north end of Goat Island (turn right after crossing the bridge) will greatly reward you with an excellent view of the even more impressive Canadian Falls. Allow two or three hours or so to walk round if possible.

There are numerous commercial attractions around the Falls, probably best patronised on a very selective basis. The site of these and other buildings detracts very considerably from the beauty of the falls, in my opinion.

There is a visitor centre associated with the hydroelectric facility located on the Robert Moses Parkway. We haven't investigated this, but it might well be worth a look.

Niagara County Planning, Development and Tourism publish a free booklet entitled "Niagara USA" which includes two excellent maps. This booklet is freely available in the area and well worth obtaining.

State and Provincial Parks