Niagara Falls

• What is it?..............The world’s Most Famous waterfall
• How to get there:...By Road or Rail from Toronto
• When to go:............Late Spring to early autumn
• Nearest Town:........Niagara Falls, Ontario 4km
• Don’t Miss:.............A boat trip to the base of the falls
• You should know:...Wet weather gear is must

The Niagara Falls are massive waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border separating the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York.

Although they are not the highest or broadest falls in the world, Niagara are the best known. Lying across the border between Canada and the Unites States, they were formed towards the end of the last ice age, when the glacier of the Laurentide ice sheet retreated creating the Great Lakes. Water flowing from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario carved a gorge past the Niagara escarpment and over the millennia since, it has eroded the shale below the hard dolomitic rock at the top. The falls are currently retreating at a rate of about 1 m (3 ft) a year.

The falls are 17 miles (27 km) north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, 75 miles (120 km) south-southeast of Toronto, Ontario, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.