American Falls

The American Falls are the falls on the United States side of the border, a curtain of water 34 metres high and about 260 metres wide falling onto a ledge of broken rock. They are impressive in themselves — any individual waterfall with this volume and height would be a major attraction — but they are overshadowed by the much larger Horseshoe Falls nearby, which carries about 90% of the Niagara River's flow.

The best views of the American Falls are from Prospect Point, at the end of the state park's main promenade, and from Goat Island looking back across the river. The falls are illuminated at night in coloured light — a tradition that started in 1879 — which makes evening visits worthwhile. In winter, the mist from the falls coats the surrounding trees and railings in ice, creating an ice field that is spectacularly photogenic when temperatures drop.

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In 1969, the US Army Corps of Engineers performed an unprecedented engineering feat: they stopped the American Falls entirely for several months by building a temporary dam across the upper river to divert water to the Canadian side. The purpose was to study and potentially remove the large rockfall debris at the base of the falls. After extensive surveys, the engineers concluded that removing the talus would actually make the falls look worse, not better. The flow was restored in November 1969 and the debris remains.

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