Maid of the Mist Dock - Boats in the Gorge

A stop on Niagara Falls State Park Walk, a free self-guided tour.

The tower elevators drop you to the bottom of the gorge, where the Maid of the Mist boats load at the water's edge. You don't need a boat ticket to ride down and look around, but the cruise itself is ticketed and runs only in the warmer months.

The first Maid of the Mist was launched in 1846 as a ferry across the river. When a suspension bridge downstream opened in 1848 and took away the ferry trade, the owners switched to sightseeing, and boats of that name have been nosing into the spray ever since. In 2020 the line added two all-electric boats, the James V. Glynn and the Nikola Tesla, charged with hydroelectric power made from this same river.

The river's most famous rescue happened upstream below the Horseshoe Falls. On July 9, 1960, a Maid of the Mist crew pulled seven-year-old Roger Woodward from the water after he was swept over the falls in a life jacket. His sister was saved above the brink; his uncle did not survive.

Stand by the rail and feel the cold mist roll off the American Falls.

Getting here: Ride the Observation Tower elevators down to the base of the gorge and walk out toward the boat landing.

Did you know?: Until the electric boats arrived in 2020, every boat on the run had been named Maid of the Mist, with numbers to tell them apart.

Photo op: From the landing, frame a boat heading into the white cloud at the foot of the Horseshoe Falls, with the American Falls towering at the side.

Nearby: Boat passengers get a poncho; the nearest restrooms are up at the tower.

More on Wikipedia: Maid of the Mist · Roger Woodward · Nikola Tesla

Maid of the Mist Dock - Boats in the Gorge

Stops on this tour