Journey Behind the Falls & The 1905 Niagara Parks Power Station Tunnel

At the southern end of the promenade around Table Rock, two extraordinary underground attractions take you 40 to 55 metres down through solid dolomitic limestone bedrock to river level, letting you experience the Horseshoe Falls from behind and below even in the middle of winter when the tour boats are closed.

1. Journey Behind the Falls (Inside Table Rock Welcome Centre, Yellow Ponchos)

Entered directly inside the ground floor of Table Rock Centre, lifts drop you 38 metres (125 feet) straight down through the bedrock into a network of 130-year-old rock-cut tunnels:

• The Two Portal Tunnels (Cataract Portal & Great Falls Portal): walk down the damp bedrock corridors to peer out through two rock openings cut directly into the cliff face behind the falling sheet of the Horseshoe Falls. Here you see and hear one-fifth of the river crashing down in front of the tunnel mouth like a solid white wall while feeling the bedrock vibrate beneath your feet.
• The Upper & Lower Outdoor Observation Decks (The Real Highlight): step out of the tunnel onto the two outdoor decks built right at the water-level foot of the cliff on the western edge of the Horseshoe Falls, looking straight across the boiling emerald basin from 15 metres away.

2. The Niagara Parks Power Station & The 670-Metre Underground Tunnel (500m South of Table Rock)

Five minutes' walk south of Table Rock stands the monumental rusticated limestone building of the 1905 Canadian Niagara Power Company Generating Station, which produced electricity for 100 years until 2006 and reopened in 2021 to 2022 as Niagara's newest major attraction:

1. The Generator Hall & Glass Lift Down the 55-Metre Wheelpit: inspect the giant blue Westinghouse generators and Pelton turbines upstairs, then board a glass-walled lift that descends 55 metres (180 feet) straight down through the steel penstock shafts where water once plunged to spin the turbines.
2. Walk the 670-Metre (2,200-Foot) Brick Tailrace Tunnel to the River Edge: at the bottom, walk for 10 minutes through an awe-inspiring, 8-metre-high, horseshoe-arched brick tunnel all the way to its exit portal at the base of the Niagara Gorge, stepping out onto a panoramic metal viewing deck jutting right into the river opposite the Horseshoe Falls. At night, return for the 'Currents' 3D sound-and-light projection show inside the generator hall.