The canal that bypasses the falls still carries water, although it stopped being used for navigation in the 1850s when the railroad arrived. Today it powers the local hydroelectric station and runs as an industrial relic alongside Island Street.
A walking path follows the canal for about half a mile and offers the best views of the old mill buildings on Island Street, including the Robertson Paper Company Complex and the Moore and Thompson Paper Mill — the latter the site of the world's first commercial wood-pulp paper plant, opened in 1869.