During a visit to family who live in the Poconos, we decided to add a slight detour to our trip and visit Niagara Falls for a couple of days. There are technically two falls, with one on the Canadian side, and the other on the US side. Although the Canadian side is more developed we decided to stay on the US side, in the city of Niagara Falls, NY. The city is an older city, and has a small tourist district that consists of a few blocks. The town has a few restaurants, gift shops, an aquarium, and tourist attractions.

On the US side there is a state park that provides views of the waterfall. The park consists of an island, Goose Island, the area that extends along the river and next to the falls. Large portions of the park were under a construction project to enhance the park grounds, but should be finished shortly. The state park is accessible to all visitors to see the falls and has trails both along the river, and on Goose Island for visitors to hike along. Additionally, the state park has a visitor center, dining options, gift shops, a ticketed film about the history of the falls, and the Schoellkopf Power Station, which is an abandoned power station that visitors can explore.

There are several different attractions on the US side to explore the falls more, including the Maid of the Mist boat tour, observation deck, and a trail called Cave of the Winds that allows visitors to get up close to the falls. When we visited we went on the Maid of the Mist boat tour that also allowed us to get access to the observation deck and a trail on the side of the falls that was similar to the Cave of the Winds trail. We both found the Maid of the Mist tour to be a great way to visit the falls since you are able to get better views and photos of the falls.

Visitors can also walk or drive across the bridge that crosses to the Canadian side to get more views of the falls. During our visit, we drove across several times to explore the Canadian side and see the falls in a different way. The Canadian side is very developed and full of hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions, such as an aquarium, water park, mini golf, and 4D shows. There are also similar attractions to experience the falls, including an observation deck, Journey Behind the Falls, a boat tour (called the Hornblower), and walking paths along the river and falls. Visitors are able to get much closer to the falls from the Canadian side, providing you with the opportunity to get misted.

In the evenings from both sides, visitors are able to see the falls illuminated and there are also occasional fireworks displays. Overall, we actually preferred staying on the US side because it was less busy, had the state park to hike through, cheaper, and was just more relaxed; however, if you visit Niagara Falls, we definitely recommend visiting both sides, because you get different experiences from either side.