What Is This Big Boulder In The Horseshoe Falls?

I have never seen anything like this in the falls before. 

During my first walk of the spring season, I went to Niagara Falls to soak up the sunshine, though I did not expect to find, what appears to be, a giant rock in the middle of Horseshoe Falls. 

Take a look at the picture below.

I mean, look at it. It kind of looks like a rock, right?

My friend told me that it’s not a rock (or a boulder) at all, but rather it is a build up of ice – though you wouldn’t expect it to look like that.

And I guess you wouldn’t expect Niagara Falls to freeze, but it is known to partially freeze during the winter. The ice can build up from the swirl of the water and, as a result, create a cave-like boulder (similar to the one pictured above).

The partial freezing experienced in recent years at the Falls is often referred to as an “ice bridge,” which is formed when the cold temperatures and ice freezes the top part of the falls, while the lower parts of the falls continue to flow water. The only time Niagara Falls was known to freeze entirely, according to WorldAtlas, was March 29, 1848. WorldAtlas describes it as an “ice jam,” which made it possible for the falls and the river to completely freeze over. 

The accumulation of ice on Lake Erie is what made the complete freeze possible back in the 1840s. The ice formed a dam and, according to WorldAtlas, it stopped the flow of water completely to the falls. 

I guess you could argue that the Falls have never actually dried up – it just froze over!