What) Niagara Falls is located on the Niagara River as it drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. It is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has a vertical drop of more than 165 feet.

    Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the last ice age and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide. More than 6 million cubic feet of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet on average. The Niagara Falls are renowned both for their beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Managing the balance between recreational, commercial and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 1800's.

    Peak numbers of visitors occur in the summertime, when Niagara Falls are both a daytime and evening attraction. From the Canadian side, floodlights illuminate both sides of the falls for several hours after dark (until midnight). The number of visitors in 2007 was expected to total 20 million and by 2009, the annual rate was expected to top 28 million tourists per year. The oldest and best known tourist attraction at Niagara Falls is the Maid of the Mist boat cruise, named for an ancient Ongiara Indian mythical character, which has carried passengers into the rapids immediately below the falls since 1846. (1)

    Where) It is the border between Canada and the United States.

    Why) This is the final stop on our Great Lakes tour.

We didn't end up taking the boat tour but I did like this brochure I found in our hotel lobby.

This is the view of the Niagara River that we had from our hotel balcony.

If I leaned over the railing a bit then I could see a nice view of the Rainbow Bridge.

When I used the zoom feature on my camera I got this interesting image of American Falls.

On the walk from our hotel to the Falls I took a couple of pictures but the parts I most enjoyed were ...

... the lushness of the vegetation as well as the smell and feel of the mist.

In case you were looking for traditional images of the Falls I got this one for you from the internet.  It contains a version of every image you have seen so far. (2)