Niagara Falls Canada offers the Canadian version of Goat island’s Cave of the Winds with the “Journey Behind the Falls”. Take an elevator ride down 150 feet and walk down the tunnel as you hear the thunder of the mighty Horseshoe Falls. Then you can either step out on to a cement platform and look up 130 feet as 2,800 cubic meters of water thunders over the brink every second.

You can also walk the tunnels leading to the Cataract Portal and the Great Falls Portal, one third of the way behind the massive sheet of water. The experience includes a rain coat to keep you dry as you witness one of nature’s greatest wonder.

The origin of  “Journey Behind the Falls” goes back to the early 1800’s when a spiral staircase was constructed to allow visitors to walk down to the base of the Falls.

In 1885, The Niagara Parks Commission was created to maintain the area around the Falls.  In 1887, the commissioners removed the staircase and installed a water hydraulic powered elevator. The lift held eight to ten visitors with their guides and took almost a minute to make the up or down trip.  The first tunnels were built in 1889, and lantern-carrying guides made brought visitors up close and personal with the massive cataract,

In 1902, the hydraulic lift was taken over by the Ontario Power Company when they began construction of the Ontario Power House. This plant is now decommissioned but still sits at the river’s edge below the Falls. In exchange for using the hydraulic elevator, the Ontario Power Company agreed to sink a shaft through the rock and construct an electric elevator and a new “scenic tunnel.”

In 1925, work began on a new Table Rock House. In the new building, the elevator to the “Scenic Tunnels” attraction was duplicated, and dressing rooms were built for visitors to get ready with heavy rubber rain coats and boots.

“Journey Behind the Falls” has an admission fee from April through December: $15.95 Adults (13+ years), $10.95 Children (6 to 12 years). Children 5 and under are FREE! Note: Mid-December – Mid-April: $11.25 Adults, $6.95 Children. Reduced rates in the winter.