Niagara Falls packed with eclipse travelers

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) — Western New York is the place to be for Monday’s eclipse, and one place that is expected to be packed with visitors is the cataract city.

There were hundreds of visitors on Saturday in Niagara Falls enjoying what was a beautiful day. There’s a lot of people from out of town when you see sports logos on hats and shirts other than the Bills or the Sabres. People coming in from as far as North Dakota.

“It looks like the only place that was gonna be not cloudy plus this is a really good excuse to get a cool road trip in too,” said Cole Novotny, of South Dakota.

We got to Cleveland, Ohio and we’re finally setting in. We’re like wow it’s a long drive but it’s gonna be well worth it cause it’s gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime just awesome thing to do,” said Nicholas Converse, also of South Dakota.

Earlier this week, News 4 heard from New York State trooper James O’Callaghan who predicted the majority of visitors were going to be on the water’s edge and a lot of state parks.

Traffic wasn’t an issue. Parking was as multiple lots were full, leaving visitors to have to find parking farther away on side streets. Still, that didn’t dampen the mood of kids taking in the sites and missing school to do so come Monday.

Another sightseer from Cincinnati says Niagara Falls was just one stop on their sightseeing list before Monday. Travelers also checked out local shops, getting in the spirit with some eclipse gear.

See our full coverage of the 2024 solar eclipse here.