The best discovery of my visit to Niagara Falls was the
White Water Walk. I don't remember ever being aware of this before, but it was the highlight of our visit for me. You got so close to the water, the power (and noise) of it was unbelievable! We were mesmerized.
You had to go down an elevator through the rock about 10 floors, and then out through this tunnel to the side of the river. There you found a viewpoint and a boardwalk along the water. It was awesome!
The boardwalk provides a chance to walk beside the river, and experience that power. It extends further than I expected, and ends almost at water level.
All the way you have this churning, thundering river beside you. It's about 40 or 50 feet deep at this point - that's a lot of water!
You can see on this map how the river narrows at the rapids in the gorge. On the right are the two huge falls, and then the relatively wide river flowing downstream (left on the map) toward the whirlpool. The narrow stretch before than elbow in the river is where the whirlpool rapids and the white water walk are found.
It starts just downstream from the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge,
And it flows downstream towards the whirlpool, just out of sight on the left.
There are two spots where the boardwalk allows access to viewpoint right down at water level. Try and picture yourself here with the river roaring by!
I could have stayed there all day just listening and watching the water roll by, with its constantly changed pattern of waves.
Perhaps these photos of standing waves right out in front of me give you some small sense of being there. I have to give credit to Debbie of
It's All About Purple, she said it so well in her comment on my blog yesterday: "... the only way to really feel the force of the water is to be there, it cannot be described with words!!!".
Debbie, a resident of New Jersey, visited Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side),
just a few weeks ago, and I remember thinking, here one of the bloggers I read has visited the falls, and I haven't even been there yet. It was time to organize this visit!
You captured the power as best as any camera can.
ReplyDeleteAwwww, so sweet of you to mention me in your post. It is exactly how I felt during each area we visited, how will I ever describe this with words!! I'm so glad you visited the white water walk, I think it may have been my favorite place. Not because it was prettier than the falls, just because there were less people there and I felt more deeply connected to the water. It was so pretty and natural there, less commercial!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear that I inspired you to take the plunge, no pun intended 😉
And your images are really beautiful, they evoked all those special feelings for me!!
ReplyDeleteWow that water has some power! Great way to experience the rapids.
ReplyDeleteWow, did you do a video of the waves and sounds?
ReplyDeleteAmazing shots of water ways. I would have enjoyed well if i were in that place...
ReplyDeleteHeart in your mouth photos. Did not know such a place existed!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos of an incredible experience! The force of nature is breath-taking.
ReplyDeleteWhat great pictures. Even though I can't hear that water, I can imagine how loud it is. Wow! :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, stunning pictures. I've been to Niagara Falls twice, both times when staying with a friend in Buffalo but we went to the Canadian side because she said it was a far superior sight to the American Falls. Not sure I want to be quite that close to the water. I get vertigo very easily and I'd need to hold somebody's hand!
ReplyDeleteThat White Water Walk would be the kind of thing I would be interested in as well. The power of that water would be truly fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI've been going to the falls all my life and was at the whirlpool just last year, but I have never heard of this walk. I will definitely be heading to it next visit! I agree that you really can't imagine the forcefulness of the water just from the photos. The sound goes right through you when you're up close to it. Did you go down the tunnels behind the falls? Talk about thundering water!! The thing that struck me was about 75% of the water is diverted for hydro power (I think that was the correct percentage). But the water going over the edge is still incredibly wild. I've always loved the colour of this river.
ReplyDeleteWow. That would be awesome to take part in that tour along the river. I didn't know one could do that. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThat I wasn't aware of, but I would definitely enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of this walk either! It must be a bit scary!!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know of the walk either but would sure like to go there.
ReplyDeleteTerrific shots of the water. It is such a pretty green color.
What power!!