Photo: jockrutherford, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Niagara's Other Waterfalls: What's Worth Seeking Out Beyond the Falls
September 24, 2026 · I'm In Here ·
It's easy to assume Niagara Falls is the only waterfall in the Niagara Region worth the name, but the same escarpment that produces the big one runs the length of the region, and it drops water in a lot of smaller, quieter places along the way. None of them compete with the main attraction in scale, but several are genuinely worth the detour if you know where to look.
Balls Falls, in Lincoln, is probably the most complete example — an upper and lower falls sitting inside a conservation area built around a 19th-century mill village, with the old buildings still standing next to the water. It's the kind of spot that rewards a slow walk rather than a quick photo stop, since the historic site and the falls were really built as one experience from the start.
DeCew Falls, above St. Catharines near Morningstar Mill, has a different kind of story attached to it — the drop has been harnessed for hydroelectric power for over a century, and the DeCew Falls generating station still draws water diverted from the Welland Canal system to do it. It's a rare spot where you can see the region's waterpower history and its shipping-canal history intersecting in the same few acres.
Short Hills Provincial Park, further along the escarpment near Pelham and Thorold, holds a cluster of smaller falls — Swayze Falls among them — reached only by trail, with no parking lot views or interpretive signage to speak of. That's very much the character of the park generally: it's built for people willing to walk in rather than pull over.
None of these are Niagara Falls, and that's sort of the point. They're what the escarpment looks like when it isn't performing for a crowd — smaller, quieter, and mostly left alone by anyone who didn't already know they were there.