Green Island Bridges - The Summer the Falls Went Dry

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

Pause on the bridges to Green Island and look upstream at the rapids rushing toward the American Falls. In June 1969 this channel went quiet. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers trucked in about 28,000 tons of rock and earth to build a temporary dam roughly 600 feet long above the falls, sending the whole river over the Horseshoe instead.

With the American Falls turned off, engineers walked the bare riverbed and studied the cliff and the boulder pile to decide whether to clear away the rocks or shore up the crest. In the end they chose to leave the falls as nature made them, and in November 1969 the dam was blasted and the water came roaring back.

These arched bridges date from about 1901, and since 2004 they have carried temporary steel trusses. The state has studied replacing them, which would mean drying up the American Falls again, so check park news for any plans.

Listen to the rapids pick up speed as they race toward the brink.

Getting here: Ride back up the tower and follow the Lower Grove Trail upriver to the pedestrian bridge that leads to Green Island.

Did you know?: Building the 1969 dam took about 28,000 tons of fill, and crews put it in place in only a few days.

Photo op: From the middle of the bridge, shoot upstream so the white rapids fill the frame and the trees of Goat Island close the far side.

Nearby: There are no facilities on the bridges; restrooms are back at the Welcome Center or ahead at the Cave of the Winds building.

More on Wikipedia: American Falls · United States Army Corps of Engineers · Niagara River

Green Island Bridges - The Summer the Falls Went Dry

Stops on this tour