Niagara Falls is one of the most iconic American (and Canadian!) vacation destinations for one, very good reason; its sights are simply spectacular! American, Bridal Veil, and Horseshoe Falls stand at almost 200 feet , and, at hundreds of thousands of gallons per second, the volume of water that passes through them is even more incredible. Anyone who hasn’t experienced the sight in person, absolutely must. Niagara Falls is a bucket list adventure that never ceases to amaze!

That said, most people only schedule the time to see the impressive Falls during the fair weather seasons. This, of course, is a smart strategy, as it is not unusual for the area to dip well below 0-degrees on the chilliest days. While we don’t blame these folks one bit for wanting to avoid frigid, frostbite-inducing conditions, we still think Niagara Falls is well worth seeing in the winter.

And, nope. We’re not crazy. Peep this picture and you’ll see exactly what we mean…

No, that isn’t some CGI masterpiece, the undoctored shot taken today at Niagara Falls shows that the iconic waterfalls have actually frozen over. This is known to happen, but meteorologists report that this especially spectacular sight is due to the massive cold spell that recently made its way through the Midwest and East Coast, bringing with it blizzard-like conditions.

But, just because Niagara Falls is currently bone-chillingly cold, doesn’t mean that people are staying away. As a matter of fact, CNN was able to find visitors who didn’t mind braving the cold at all–they wanted to see the frozen Falls for themselves!

One such visitor was a woman named Emma Grafham. In an interview with the news network, she said that, when she first set eyes on frozen Niagara Falls, she felt that she was seeing “Elsa’s castle” from the Disney movie, Frozen, in real life.

“There was even this set of stairs that were placed just outside the look-on spot and they had so much ice on them, it looked like Elsa had just cast her arm out and summoned up some stairs she does in the movie,” said.

We’re not going to lie–the idea of seeing Elsa’s Castle in real life sounds pretty amazing. Talk about a serious case of FOMO!

Now, before we show you today’s video, we must address the elephant in the room: no, the Falls aren’t entirely frozen. The Buffalo News reports that it’s actually just various surfaces of water that are freezing. As Stuart M. Evans, assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University at Buffalo puts it, “Something moving as fast as the falls is extremely difficult to freeze.”

Either way, the spectacle definitely is one that has to be seen to be believed. Maybe it’s time to take a trip to Niagara Falls–just be sure to pack your parka!

To learn more about the incredible “frozen” Falls, be sure to watch the video below!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the “frozen” Niagara Falls. Have you ever seen the Falls look like this before? If so, was it impressive? Do you plan on visiting this winter?