North America's Great Lakes from Above

When you think of the world's most famous waterfalls, Niagara Falls is near the top of the list. Situated on the border between Canada and the USA, it's a cataract system of three falls on the Niagara River, which connects two of North America's Great Lakes: Huron and Erie.  At peak times, about 168k cubic meters (almost six million cu. ft.) of water flows over its 51 meter (167 ft.) drop every minute.  In this video, you wil get a bird's eye view of the mighty waterfall, compliments of contributor Nonexistent Jay.

Cleveland, Ohio is one of the largest cities in the USA's Midwest.  It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes.  Cleveland was once known as the Buckle of the Rustbelt for its leading role in America's key manufacturing sectors.  While it is still a leading industrial center, the city has seen its waterfront transformed in recent years with new stadiums and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  In this video, contributor Droneloop gives us a brief but epic aerial tour of this storied city.

The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin sits on the western shores of Lake Michigan in America's Midwest, roughly 150 km (90 mi) north of the larger city of Chicago.  The largest city in the Badger State, Milwaukee has a proud industrial heritage, and continues to be a key manufacturing center in the United States.  Similar to what has occurred in other Great Lakes cities, Milwaukee's downtown and waterfront has been transformed in recent years, as you will see from this awesome drone video from contributor ShareMedia.

Contributor SpaceJam Studios created this amazing drone video showing the rebirth that is taking place in Detroit, Michigan.  Beginning with the riots of the late 60s, the city experienced a series of body blows culminating in the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler in 2009.  Although its population is barely 40% of its peak, the city is experiencing a rebirth in its core downtown area, particularly in the area around its world-class sports arenas: Ford Field, Comerica Field, and Little Caesar's Arena.  

The city of Buffalo, New York is situated on the eastern end of Lake Erie.  It is the nearest major city to Niagara Falls, where Lake Erie and Lake Ontario connect.  Due to its location relative to the Great Lakes, Buffalo can see enormous amounts of snowfall in winter.  Full circle Studios gives us an aerial view of this Great Lakes city in this video which includes two years worth of drone footage.  

Mackinac Bridge connects mainland Michigan to the Upper Peninsula, and sits at the divide between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.   Built in 1957, the bridge is roughly 8 km (roughly 5 mi) long, making it one of the longest bridges in the United States.  It passes to the west of Mackinac Island, a popular Lake Huron tourist area, which is home to some of the best sailing waters in the country.  Northern POV used a drone and some creative editing to make this amazing aerial video of this important span.  

Toronto, the capital of Ontaria, is the largest city in Canada as well as its principal business and financial center.  Contributor 416 Shots gives us an aerial tour of this metropolis on the shores of Lake Ontario.  Using a DJI Phantom 3 drone, he gives us bird's eye views of the Toronto skyline, which is graced by the gigantic CN Tower (once the world's tallest structure, with a rooftop height of 450 meters or about 1.5k ft.)) and numerous gleaming bank headquarters buildings.

Ontario's Nottawasaga Bay sits at the south end of Gulf Bay, itself an eastern extension of Lake Huron, part of the Great Lakes system of North America.  This is a quintissential Great Lakes scene, with a rocky shoreline backed up by seemingly endless forests.  In this amazing video, top contributor Elnaz, a native of Ontario, flew her drone over the bay just as the ice was beginning to break with the approach of spring.  The aerial perspective is amazing.  The video was shot with a DJI Phantom 4 drone.  

Canada's St. Lawerence River is the country's most important waterway.  It provides the connection between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, and is also an immense source of hydroelectricity for Canada and the United States.  Only 500 km (just over 300 mi.) long, the St. Lawrence is North America's largest river by discharge volume, and it created the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the largest river estuary in the world.  Contributor Dizfilms created this epic aerial tour of this mighty seaway.   

Caffespresso used a DJI Mavic 2 drone to create this spectacular aerial video of Quebec city, the last major city of the Great Lakes system before it drains into the North Atlantic.  Quebec city is situated near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, which extends from Lake Ontario, past Montreal, and thence to Quebec city, the provincial capital.  The video contains epic footage of Quebec's Old City, one the oldest fortress-city in the United States or Canada with some preserved structures.  

The port of Duluth, Minnesota sits on a corner of Lake Superior, the queen of the Great Lakes and indeed the world's largest lake.  By serving as the primary port for shipment of iron ore mined from the Iron Range of northern Minnesota, Duluth has been critical to the USA's steel industry for over a century.  It's also a major port for handing bulk agricultural products.  This episode of Droning America will give you a bird's eye view of this remarkable Great Lakes port city. 

It is all about the "Art of Endurance" in this amazing drone production. Drone Media Chicago captures the 'Windy City' in all its glory from above.  The video begins with an aerial shot of the skyline from the Navy Pier area and it proceeds to overhead shots of the financial district, aerials of the bridges over the Chicago River and the tracks of the Loop, bird's eye views of Lake Shore Drive, and skyscrapers galore.  This video is nominated in the Cities category for the 2nd annual Drone Video Awards. 

Anyone who thinks that Ontario is all about Toronto should watch this beautiful drone video of Flowerpot Island, which sits off the end of a remote peninsula of Lake Huron.  It's near the town of Tobermoy, a small town which sits at the end of the Bruce Peninsula on the middle of the five North American Great Lakes.  Fujibara Films used a drone to create this beautiful spot in rural Ontario, just a few hours drive but a world apart from the skyscrapers of Toronto to the south.  This is Canada's Cottage Country at its best.

One of the most beautiful bits of "natural" scenery in Canada's Ontario province isn't actually natural - it's a park comprised of man made islands.  Long Sault was an area of rapids on the St. Lawrence River, just upstream from Cornwall.  In the late 1950's, a massive hydroengineering project resulted in the flooding of some of the mainland and creating new islands in the river.  Now a park, contributor Elnaz555 captured the beautiful spot in this amazing drone video.

If you've wondered how cold weather affects drone operation, check out this video by Whitespace Films.  It was shot on a DJI Mavic Pro drone in Duluth, the Lake Superior harbor city in northern Minnesota.  The temperature was about minus 20 degrees Farenheit, which is not untypical on cold days in this part of the world.  The drone held up just fine, and was able to capture some spectacular aerial footage of what appears to be smoke coming off of the nearly-frozen lake.  

Contributor and pilot AndrewAchter used a drone to capture a great winter scene on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. The lake, which has a surface area of 82.1k square km (around 31.7 square mi.), is the largest freshwater lake in the world by that measure.  The northernmost of North America's Great Lakes system, much of Lake Superior freezes during the bitterly cold winter months.  Before it freezes, the vapor given off by the water causes the phenomenon you'll see in the video called "sea smoke".

Navigating the waters of Lake Michigan can be treacherous, especially around the gigantic city of Chicago, Illinois in its southern reaches.  The approaches to Chicago Harbor are safer due to the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, which stands just to the east of Navy Pier.  The lighthouse was originally displayed at the 1893 Columbian Exposition but it was moved to its current location in 1919.  Contributor and pilot 60 Seconds used a drone to create a marvelous aerial view of this important landmark. 

Contributor and pilot Toledo Aerial Media created this amazing aerial view of a phenomena on North America's Great Lakes called "ice mountains". This was filmed near Port Clinton, in the southwestern corner of Lake Erie.  Lake Eris is the fourth largest of the five Great Lakes, with a surface area of about 25.7k square km (just under 10k square mi.).   The southernmost of the chain, it generally does not freeze.  During particularly cold winters, large ice chunks form and drift into gigantic "ice mountains".