Terrapin Point - Face to Face with the Horseshoe

Photo: JMacncheese, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

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

At the western tip of Goat Island the Horseshoe Falls opens up in front of you, a curve about 2,600 feet wide that carries roughly nine-tenths of the river in summer. The border between the United States and Canada runs through the falls, and most of the Horseshoe lies on the Canadian side.

This point was once a cluster of boulders at the brink called the Terrapin Rocks, because they looked like giant turtles. A wooden walkway reached them in 1827, and in 1833 the Terrapin Tower went up so visitors could climb above the water; it was blown up in 1873. Fill from dredging in the 1950s joined the rocks to the island, and in 1983 engineers removed unstable rock and built retaining walls, trimming about 400 feet from the Horseshoe's crest.

Daredevils made history here too. In 1901 Annie Edson Taylor rode over the Horseshoe in a barrel and lived, and in 2012 Nik Wallenda crossed above the brink on a high wire. Many others died trying. The river doesn't give second chances, so enjoy it from the railing.

Getting here: Follow the paths west across Goat Island past the Top of the Falls restaurant to the railing at Terrapin Point.

Did you know?: A 1950 treaty with Canada requires at least 100,000 cubic feet of water per second to flow over the falls during daytime in the tourist season, and half that at night; the rest can be diverted to hydroelectric plants.

Photo op: Shoot from the railing across the curve of the Horseshoe with the mist cloud rising above it; on sunny afternoons rainbows often hang in the spray.

Nearby: Food and restrooms are at the Top of the Falls restaurant, just behind the point.

More on Wikipedia: Terrapin Point · Horseshoe Falls · Annie Edson Taylor · Nik Wallenda

Terrapin Point - Face to Face with the Horseshoe

Stops on this tour