Horseshoe Falls

The largest of the three Niagara falls — the iconic Canadian curtain of water

The Horseshoe Falls is the largest and most powerful of the three waterfalls that make up Niagara Falls, and the view from the Canadian side — from Queen Victoria Park or the Niagara Falls State Park observation points — looks directly along the 670-metre crest. The sheer volume of water is physically overwhelming: the spray soaks you from a hundred metres away, and the roar is constant and bass-heavy.

The best views are from Table Rock, a viewing platform that puts you within arm's reach of the lip of the falls. An elevator descends to tunnels that emerge just behind the curtain of water (Journey Behind the Falls). The falls are illuminated each evening with coloured lights from both sides of the border. Whatever your feelings about the tourist trap atmosphere of Clifton Hill nearby, the falls themselves are as spectacular as advertised — more so, in fact, because no photograph fully captures the scale.

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The Horseshoe Falls carries about 90 percent of all the water flowing over the Niagara crest — roughly 2,800 cubic metres per second. Since 1950, the two governments have diverted up to half the river's flow into hydroelectric tunnels, particularly at night and outside peak tourism hours, to reduce erosion. The falls you see during the day are essentially staged at their most impressive.