It’s all a stone’s throw from New York City’s top tourist attraction, Times Square. Along with the (frozen) fountain, there’s also Frost Fest, a shopping area and an ice rink with its own winter pavilion. The winter scene at Bryant Park has made it a year-round tourist attraction. “Early on in the Instagram world, I took pictures of people taking pictures of the fountain.” “We never expected such a gothic-looking array of stalactites,” Biederman says. It’s such a sparkly sight that a steady stream of photo-snapping visitors have turned it into an Instagram sensation. When a cold snap hit, the water flowing out of the fountain slowly froze, ultimately taking the shape of a massive crystalline cuff. So, he kept the pipes at Bryant Park running with heated water. While most fountains in the city shut off for safety (or to avoid frozen pipes) during the winter, Biederman thought the sight of all those empty fountains collecting trash looked depressing. In 2002, Dan Biederman, executive director of the Bryant Park Corporation, decided to try a then-zany idea to keep the water flowing at Lowell Fountain in New York City’s Bryant Park. Now they let the water freeze over as long as it can. When Lowell Fountain first froze over in 2002, park workers cut off the frozen bits for safety reasons. Lowell Fountain, Bryant Park, New York City Most of the park’s viewpoints, roads and trails are kept open and clear throughout winter, and four of the most scenic winter falls are visible on a self-guided driving tour. “While others, like the mighty Helmcken Falls, roar all year long, creating a dramatic cone and massive spray icicles.” “Some waterfalls slow to a trickle and almost freeze entirely,” says Stephanie Molina, Manager of Tourism at Wells Gray. Each waterfall offers its own unique winter scene thanks to rocks from an uneven flow of lava here some 200,000 years ago. Winter temperatures can fall to 10 F (-12 C), turning much of the normally rushing water into mounds of aquamarine ice from December through March or even early April. It’s how Wells Gray earned its nickname, “Canada’s Waterfall Park.” The 1.3-million-acre Wells Gray Provincial Park sits between Vancouver, Canada, and Jasper National Park and contains 41 named waterfalls. Dawson Falls is one of seven waterfalls on Murtle River.

Neqwa winter wonders