Horseshoe Falls, Table Rock Centre & Walking the Niagara Parkway Promenade

One of the best things about visiting Niagara Falls is that its main attraction is completely free and open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: stretching for 1.5 kilometres along the edge of the Niagara Gorge from the Rainbow Bridge south to Table Rock Welcome Centre runs the stone wall of the Niagara Parkway Promenade.

1. Starting at Rainbow Bridge: The American Falls & Bridal Veil Falls View

Begin your walk at the northern end of the promenade near Oakes Garden Theatre, a 1937 Greco-Roman amphitheatre overlooking the gorge, and walk south along the stone parapet of Queen Victoria Park:

• Why the American Falls Has Giant Rocks at the Bottom: directly across the 300-metre-wide emerald river stands the American Falls (260 metres wide) alongside slender Bridal Veil Falls (17 metres wide, separated by Luna Island). Notice the pile of limestone boulders (talus) at the base of the American Falls, left by natural rockfalls in 1931 and 1954. In 1969, engineers built a temporary dam across the channel and turned the American Falls dry for five months to study the rock face.
• Nikola Tesla Statue: as you approach the curve of the Horseshoe Falls, look on the lawn of Queen Victoria Park for the bronze monument of inventor Nikola Tesla standing atop an alternating-current induction motor, honouring his 1895 breakthrough harnessing Niagara's power.

2. Table Rock Point ('The Brink') & Walking Above to the Upper Rapids

At the southern end of the promenade you reach Table Rock Welcome Centre, named after an overhanging limestone slab that collapsed in 1850:

• Stand at the Brink of the Horseshoe Falls: right outside Table Rock Centre, the stone walkway curves to within two metres of the actual lip of the 790-metre-wide Horseshoe Falls. Look down into the translucent emerald-green sheet of water accelerating to 68 km/h (42 mph) as it curls over the precipice into a boiling cloud of mist 57 metres below.
• Keep Walking Past Table Rock to the Upper Rapids & Old Scow: continue 500 metres upstream along the river wall to watch the turbulent Upper Niagara Rapids cascade over limestone ledges, and spot the rusted hull of the 1918 Niagara Scow, a barge that lodged on the rocks 600 metres from the brink.