Before visiting the Falls, I didn't know much about them except that they are half in the USA and half in Canada. What I didn't realise is that the Americans can't really see either of them properly. The American Falls are best viewed across the river in Canada and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls can't be seen in America unless you walk out onto a platform which is often mistaken for being the remainder of the Honeymoon Bridge which fell down. In fact, the bridge was replaced in the same place by the Rainbow Bridge which is one of four major crossing places in the area to get from one country to the other.
American Falls on the left and Canadian Horseshoe Falls on the right.
They are partly frozen in the winter but even so they are very loud and create vast amounts of spray!
There is the option to walk behind the Horseshoe Falls through a tunnel with lookouts but the water here is completely frozen!
What did surprise me is how much the Horseshoe Falls have cut away the rock in what in geological terms is a very short space of time. See the diagram below of how they used to fall off a near-enough straight edge.
The other thing that surprised me is how built up the area is. I don't know why this is such a shock. It makes a lot of sense to use the Falls as a way of making money and having tourist attractions nearby but I was not expecting a Blackpoolesque street of arcades and amusements.
You'd never believe it was the same place!
What was pleasant though was the quaint but attractive little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake a few miles away. We visited a Christmas shop, which, for January was surprisingly busy! We also trudged through a quiet residential area thick with snow to see the perfectly calm and peaceful Lake Ontario.
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