Niagara Parks Power Station

Restored 1905 hydroelectric powerhouse with tunnels descending into the gorge

Address 7005 Niagara Pkwy, Niagara Falls, ON

The Niagara Parks Power Station is a beautifully restored 1905 hydroelectric generating plant on the Niagara Parkway, now open as a heritage attraction. The enormous generator hall, with its original turbines and equipment, has been restored and dramatically lit. But the main draw is the tunnel tour: a 2,000-foot (600m) tunnel descends from the power station to the edge of the Niagara Gorge and opens onto observation decks directly above the whitewater rapids.

The view from the tunnel portals is one of the most dramatic at Niagara — you are at water level in the gorge, looking up at the cliffs and across the churning Class 5 rapids, with none of the tourist-strip atmosphere that surrounds the falls themselves. The tunnel was built by Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse's company when the power station was originally constructed. Allow two hours.

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A story
The Niagara Parks Power Station supplied power to much of southern Ontario and upstate New York from 1905 until it was decommissioned in 2006. When it was built, it was the largest generating station in the world. Nikola Tesla's alternating current system — developed partly as a result of the Niagara power contract — was used here, making it a monument to Tesla's victory over Edison in the "War of Currents."

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