The Horseshoe Falls, also known as the Canadian Falls, is part of Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River. Approximately 90% of the Niagara River, after diversions for hydropower generation, flows over Horseshoe Falls. The remaining 10% flows over the American Falls. It is located between Terrapin Point on Goat Island in New York State, and Table Rock on the Ontario side of the falls. Much of Horseshoe Falls is located in Ontario, Canada with the remainder in New York State, United States of America.[2][3][4]
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The name is derived from its curving, horseshoe-shaped crest that is 671 metres (2,201 ft) in width. At the center of the Horseshoe Falls the water is about 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep. It passes over the crest at a speed of about 32 kilometres per hour (20 mph). The fall is 53 metres (174 ft) high, has an average crest elevation of 152 metres (499 ft) and faces northwards. The depth of the river at the base of the falls, estimated at 56 metres (184 ft), is actually higher than the fall itself.
The falls produce a large amount of mist, which occasionally renders viewing them difficult. The amount of natural mist has been reduced since the early 20th centuries by the diversion of most of the water from the Niagara River for hydroelectricity. The Horseshoe Falls is observable at a direct angle from the Canadian side, an at a steep angle on the U.S. side on Goat Island. The Maid of the Mist boat offers tours which approach the base of the falls.
The Niagara Scow has rested approximately 700 meters from the edge of the falls since it was caught against a rock shoal in 1918, and a plaque today informs tourists of the history of the small shipwreck that has sat perched just above the falls for nearly a century without being dislodged.
There are only 15 people who tried to go over the falls in some version of a barrel. Eight tight rope walkers made their way across the falls. Two people swam over the falls. Two daredevils flew a plane under the bridge and another jumped off a diving board. A total of six people died going over the falls. The most recent stunt man to make it over the falls was a 40-year-old man.
When the boundary line was determined in 1819 based on the Treaty of Ghent, the northeastern end of the Horseshoe Falls was in New York, United States, flowing around the Terrapin Rocks, which was once connected to Goat Island by a series of bridges. In 1955 the area between the rocks and Goat Island was filled in, creating Terrapin Point.[5] In the early 1980s the United States Army Corps of Engineers filled in more land and built diversion dams and retaining walls to force the water away from Terrapin Point. Altogether 400 feet (120 m) of the Horseshoe Falls was eliminated.
In October 2007, the Horseshoe Falls was featured in a Disney produced video titled Welcome: Portraits of America, made for the United States Department of State and Department of Homeland Security to promote United States tourism.[6] There was a controversy surrounding the film because instead of showing just the American falls and Bridal Veil Falls, they instead focused on Horseshoe Falls, the majority of which lies in Canada.