Niagara Falls NY
5-31-2026 8:35am

5,000 people mob Whirlpool

We took Gord on his normal walk Saturday. It is about 3 miles. As we neared the playground in Whirlpool State Park we saw incredible crowds, throngs really.

Sure the parking lot only holds 250 people but it is no longer Whirlpool State Park. Now it is Niagara Falls State Park, a move made by Gov. Kathy Hochul to attract more crowds to our front yard.

There were actually 5,000 people there because, obviously, each vehicle brought 25 people. We count the same way the state does. The state claims 9 million annual visitors in the same park.

A guest at Whirlpool Park counts once when they walk down and look at the aerocar, once when they walk over to see the stairs, once at the picnic shelter and each time they use the washroom. 

The state also, in announcing the renaming of Whirlpool State Park to Whirlpool Park, part of Niagara Falls State Park, claimed the park enjoys 450,000 visitors a year. 

That's how I arrived at 5,000 visitors counted on Saturday. It's like the Allentown Art Festival used to count its crowds before being called out by the Buffalo News.
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5-31-2026 12:12pm

We're on Whirlpool and have had repeated issues of our cell phones picking up the Canadian cell towers across the gorge and having to argue that we're not roaming to Google fi.

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5-31-2026 12:15pm

I think the expanded Niagara falls State Park is a good idea because it helps showcase the extensive gorge park and trails from devils hole to the falls.  Canadian side does not have anything like that.  We are located near Whirlpool and I hope they continue to allow the Meadows to grow wild rather than trying to create a lawn effect like you see elsewhere closer to the falls.  Also the animals probably really appreciate having a meadow.  I do enjoy walking the mowed grass paths and hope they don't try to mow the entire area to make it look like a lawn.

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6-01-2026 10:44am

  often hike the Whirlpool to Devil’s Hole trail.  On Saturday there were dozens of folks in Muslim garb, some women in full burkas, who were whiling and carrying fishing poles, some actually fishing the whirlpool area and all along the trail.  The vans in the parking lots werenlabeled “Over the Falls” tours. Very interesting. As I watched these folks, who were not relally dressed for the rugged terrain, what they must think of the tour operator taking them there to fish, especially when there is easier access almost anywhere else on the river.  

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