New York - Niagara Falls

Although an incredibly impressive falls, powerful and beautiful, the surrounding area put a huge damper on my enjoyment of the falls. To get to the falls, I parked in a lot that was monitored by a few people with orange vests, cut off from the rest of the traffic with cones. The traffic was horrible, and there were so many cars. Maybe pre-COVID I wouldn’t have been so hyper aware of all the people, and it was probably a light day for the falls, but still, it was busy and seemed overrun by visitors.

I parked and walked towards the falls – there were a few panhandlers and a couple of street performers that were there. The crowds were queued up for the Maid of the Mist tour by the hundreds, and the pavement ended in an overlook of the falls. The falls, as I said were beautiful, but there was way too much pavement, and too many people to feel like I was in nature at all. I guess that wasn’t why you are there.

While enjoying the falls, and looking down at the pool below, there were three tourist boats making the rounds. I’m not sure if they were all Maid of the Mist tours, but they seemed to be. In addition, there were helicopters flying overhead with aerial tours as well, so that noise was on top of the hawkers and people. Just a bit much!