Niagara Glen Nature Centre — Attraction in Niagara Falls

First came here back in 2016 and finally came back this past weekend. Always so nice to come back to visit. Robert at the information desk was amazing! There's a photo scavenger hunt that I did and it really added to the educational and overall experience causing me to actually look around and take in the entire space as opposed to just powering through the hike and looking on the ground to prevent tripping. We came around 1130am and the parking lot started to get somewhat full with a couple spots left. Parking lot will likely be full by 12pm. Parking costs $5/hr, 25$ for an annual parking pass, or $40 for the entire nights parks annual parking pass. We opted for the annual Niagara parks pass. You'll want to overestimate your hours so that you don't feel rushed to pay the meter again when you're down in the gorge. Signal can be a bit sketchy down there and the app can be unreliable. A parking violation ticket will run you $30, as of Aug 2022. There is no entrance fee to the parks. We took our time and finished our hike in about 3.5hrs, but you could probably power through the 2.1km trail in half an hour if you really wanted to. Washrooms was relatively clean considering the high amount of traffic. There's a filtered water bottle filling station inside that's also free. The information building closes at 5pm. They also have lots of nice shaded green space to have a picnic after your hike. All in all, a...

A local favourite. Parking and visitor centre are within easy reach of trails.

There are multiple trails to explore. Nature Trail, River Trail, Whirlpool Trail, Boulder Trail, and others all offer a variety of distance, strength, and pacing.

These trails are intended for those aware of risk or understand a variety of trail conditions. Rain, ice, snow, and melt all create hazardous conditions not suitable for young, independent explorers. From November to May the Whirlpool Trail is often closed because of high water conditions on the Niagara River. At no point should you explore or wade into the Niagara River. In fact, several lives have been lost because visitors did not appreciate or understand the risks. If heights scare you be mindful of staircases and ledges.

The natural history and geology of the reserve offers climbers the chance to boulder. In the summer, cool caves and tree cover make a great place to hide from the heat.

Get yourself an annual Niagara Parks Parking Pass ($75 CAD) and enjoy the convenient parking all year. This pass let’s you park in any of the Park’s parking lots for a full year from date of purchase.

The Niagara Glen Nature reserve also is a great place to fish during migration periods (spring & fall). This place is also home to some of the most ancient trees and woodlands in Canada.

Please don’t pollute. Only take photos and leave only a sense of gratitude. This is a...

An amazing place with so much to explore!! I would definitely recommend the majority of this to people who are agile as it can be quite slippery and there's a lot of up and down on rocks. There is a trail that walks along the edge for a good 20 minutes with amazing views that is all level ground which I would recommend to anyone worried about their knees or is in a wheelchair, etc. For the lower portion that goes into the gorge, this place has an endless amount to explore and never gets old. There are even rock climbing groups!

I used to avoid this place since it's a tourist hot spot but honestly, it's worth it and you can learn the right time to go for a quieter experience. You get amazing views of the rapids and can watch the water jets in summer.

My only critique is that they still need more markers. They've improved it so much (I used to get lost and just go in circles til I got fed up and found my way out) but there's still a lot of room for improvement. I get asked constantly "how do we get out of here?" so there still needs to be better signage. I once met some older women that had been lost for almost an hour so we led them out to the stairs.

Definitely check this place out for the views, just keep your bearings in mind if you are new to this place and unfamiliar with it! There's also an awesome little...