These waterfalls were created at the end of the last ice age. Excess water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment toward the Atlantic Ocean. The result was one of the most powerful waterfalls in North America and a source of hydroelectric power. Straddling the United States and Canadian borders, Niagara Falls consists of two main areas: American Falls located in New York and the Horseshoe Falls residing in Ontario. Separating the two main waterfalls is Goat Island. On the New York side there is also a smaller waterfall called Bridal Veil Falls and it is separated from the main falls by Luna Island. The allure of Niagara Falls is not the height of these waterfalls but the sheer massiveness. The waterfalls are easily viewed from both countries, but there’s arguably a better view from the Canadian side. During the winter months the festival of lights illuminate the waterfalls and during the summer months there are fireworks over the Falls, which are both worth seeing. Though, if going during winter be prepared for snow. The best times to visit Niagara Falls are during the summer and fall months. The following festivals occur: Niagara Ice Wine Festival
(Canada) – January Fireworks over the Falls
- Summer months Niagara Falls Blues Festival (New York) – September The Niagara Grape & Wine Festival (New York) – September Niagara Falls International Marathon (Canada) – October Winter Festival of lights (Canada) – November to January

Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian State of Paraná and the Argentine Province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River originates near the city of Curitiba. It flows through Brazil for most of its course. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the boundary between Brazil and Argentina. Iguazu Falls is located where the Iguazu River tumbles over the edge of the Paraná Plateau, 23 kilometres (14 mi) upriver from the Iguazu's confluence with the Paraná River. Numerous islands along the 2.7-kilometre (1.7 mi) long edge divide the falls into about 275 separate waterfalls and cataracts, varying between 60 metres (200 ft) and 82 metres (269 ft) high. About half of the river's flow falls into a long and narrow chasm called the Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish orGarganta do Diabo in Portuguese). The Devil's Throat is U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide, and 700-meter-long. The border between Brazil and Argentina runs through the Devil's Throat. About 900 meters of the 2.7-kilometer length does not have water flowing over it. The edge of the basalt cap recedes by 3 mm (0.1 in) per year. The water of the lower Iguazu collects in a canyon that drains in the Paraná River, a short distance downstream from the Itaipu Dam. The falls can be reached from the two main towns on either side of the falls: Foz do Iguaçu in the Brazilian and Puerto Iguazú in the Argentine province of Misiones, as well as from Ciudad del Este, Paraguay on the other side of the Paraná river from Foz do Iguaçu. The falls are shared by the Iguazú National Park (Argentina) and Iguaçu National Park (Brazil). The two parks were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984 and 1987, respectively. The Brazilian Iguaçu National Park is spectacular as well as pioneering. The first proposal for a Brazilian national park aimed at providing a pristine environment to "future generations", just as "it had been created by God" and endowed with "all possible preservation, from the beautiful to the sublime, from the picturesque to the awesome" and "an unmatched flora" located in the "magnificent Iguaçú waterfalls". These were the words used by Andre Rebouças, an engineer, in his book "Provinces of Paraná, Railways to Mato Grosso and Bolivia", which started up the campaign aimed at preserving the Iguaçu Falls way back in 1876, when Yellowstone, the first national park on the planet, was four years old. On the Brazilian side there is a beautiful walkway along the canyon with an extension to the lower base of the Devil's Throat. Helicopter rides offering aerial views of the falls are available only on the Brazilian side; Argentina has prohibited such tours. From Foz do Iguaçu airport the park can be reached by taxi or bus to entrance of the park. There is an entrance fee to the park on both sides. Free frequent buses are provided to various points within the park. The town of Foz do Iguaçu is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) away and the airport is in between the park and the town. The Argentine access is by a Rainforest Ecological Train. The train brings visitors to the entrance of Devil's Throat as well as the upper and lower trails. The Paseo Garganta del Diablo is a one-kilometer-long trail that brings the visitor directly over the falls of the Devil's Throat. Other walkways allow access to the elongated stretch of falls on the Argentine side and to the ferry that connects to San Martin island. The new Brazilian transportation system aims at allowing the increase in the number of visitors while reducing the environmental impact through the increase in the average number of passengers per vehicle inside de Park. The new transportation system boasts new 72 passenger panoramic view double deck buses. The upper deck is open, which enables visitors to enjoy added interactivity with the environment and a broad view of the flora and fauna during the trip to the Falls. The buses combustion system is in compliance with the CONAMA (phase IV) and EURO (phase II) emissions and noise requirements. The reduction in the number of vehicles, of noise levels and of speed is enabling tourists to observe increasing numbers of wild animals along the route. Each bus has an exclusive paint scheme, representing some of the most common wild animals found in the Iguaçú National Park. Some of those are: the spotted jaguars, butterflies, raccoons, prego monkeys, coral snakes, toucans, parrots and yellow breasted caimans.

Pará Falls (Salto Pará) are said to be the largest waterfall in Venezuela by volume. Pará Falls is a spectacular horseshoe of 12 powerful falls deep in the Orinoco rainforest. The falls are suppose to stand 70 meters tall, dropping in main two steps, and stretching as much as 7 kilometers (3 1/2 miles) wide, separated by many small islands. Flood stage volume of the river is supposed to reach 400,000 cubic feet per second. Taking these numbers into account, this waterfall easily works its way onto the list of the 10 most powerful in the world. The falls are a 2-hour trek through the rainforest.

The Khone Falls and Pha Pheng Falls is a waterfall on the Mekong River in Laos in the Champasak Province near its border with Cambodia. The Khone Falls are the main reason that the Mekong is not navigable into China. The falls' total height is 21 metres (69 ft) in segmented cascades (or rapids) stretching 9.7 km (6.0 mi) of the river's length. The average discharge of the cataract is nearly 11,000 m3 (388,000 cu ft) per second (3 million U.S. gallons per second), though the highest volume on record was reached at over 49,000 m3 (1,730,419 cu ft) per second (13 million U.S. gallons per second). The area of the falls is dotted with islands and countless waterways, known as Si Phan Don (meaning 4000 islands).

Inga Falls is a rapids 40 km from Matadi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where the Congo River drops 96 m (315 ft) over the course of 15 km (9 mi). Inga Falls form a part of a larger group of rapids - Livingstone Falls and are located closer to the lower part of these falls. Falls have formed in a sharp bend of Congo River where the width of river fluctuates from more than 4 km to mere 260 m. At medium discharge of 42,476 m³/s (1,500,000 ft³/s) it is arguably the largest waterfall in the world, although Inga Falls is not a true waterfall. Its maximum recorded volume is 70,793 m³/s (2,500,000 ft³/s). Inga falls is also the site of two large hydroelectric dams, named Inga I & II, as well as two projected dams, one of which would be the largest (by power production) in the world.

Paulo Afonso Falls (also known as Cachoeira de Paulo Afonso) is a series of waterfalls on the São Francisco River in the northeastern section of Brazil adjacent to the city of Paulo Afonso. It stands 275 feet (84 m) high and averages no more than 60 feet (18 m) wide. Upstream of the falls, a hydroelectric dam, the Hidrelétrica de Angiquinho (the first hydroelectric plant in northeastern Brazil) blocks the flow of the river. Prior to the damming of the river, the average water flow over the falls was over 100,000 cubic feet (2,800 m3) per second, and floods exceeded 500,000 cubic feet (14,000 m3) per second. The falls consists of a steep rapid that descends approximately 80 feet (24 m) then drops a main plunge of 260 feet (79 m) into a narrow gorge. The Paulo Afonso Hydroelectric Complex that grew from the original plant was often locally termed simply Complexo Hidrelétrico de Paulo Afonso or simply Paulo Afonso. This and later plants, such as Hidrelétrica de Xingó downstream near the town of Piranhas, Alagoas, provides much of the area with electric power.

Livingstone Falls named for the explorer David Livingstone, are a succession of enormous rapids on the lower course of the Congo River in west equatorial Africa, downstream from Malebo Pool in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Though he explored the upper Congo, David Livingstone never travelled to this part of the river, the falls were named in his honour by Henry Morton Stanley. The falls consists of a series of rapids dropping 900 feet in 220 miles (270 meters in 350 kilometers). It ends in Matadi in Kongo Central. The Congo River has the second largest flow rate in the world after the Amazon, which has no falls or rapids (except near its sources). The lowest rapids of the Livingstone Falls therefore are the world's largest waterfall in terms of flow rate, provided one accepts rapids as being a waterfall. An interesting aspect of the 220-mile (350 km) long Livingstone Falls is the width of the channel. The channel is very narrow, in several stretches the channel width is less than 300 meters and for the majority of the length the channel is less than 800 meters wide. This is an extraordinarily narrow channel since the river flow rate typically exceeds 42,000 cubic metres per second (1,500,000 cu ft/s).

Boyoma Falls, formerly known as Stanley Falls or Wagenia Chutes, consists of seven cataracts, each no more than 15' high, extending over more than 100 km (60 miles) along a curve of the Lualaba River between the river port towns of Ubundu and Kisangani/Boyoma in the Orientale region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the bottom of the rapids, the Lualaba becomes the Congo River. The seven cataracts have a total drop of 61 meters (200 feet). The two major cataracts are the first below Ubundu, forming a narrow and crooked stream that is hardly accessible, and the last that can easily be seen and also be visited from Kisangani. A 1000mm portage railway bypasses the series of rapids, connecting Kisangani and Ubundu. Especially among french speakers the cataracts are also known as Wagenia Falls (chûtes Wagenia), referring to the local people of fishermen named Wagenia or Wagenya who have developed a special technique to fish in the river. They build systems of wooden tripods across the rapids fixed in holes carved in the rock by the water current. They serve as anchors for baskets that entrap large fish.