Last updated June 26, 2025
What is Copake Iron Works?
The Copake Iron Works is a National Historic Site located in Taconic State Park at 35 Valley View Road, Copake Falls New York. This historic site is open every day during daylight hours. Guided tours are available between 2-4 pm on the weekends and some holidays, from Memorial Day through mid-November.
You can visit a small museum and view the restored furnace, machine shop, black powder storage building, plus other buildings and equipment from the old company town. If you explore the main historic area, without taking a guided tour or going on a longer walk or hike, you can easily spend an hour looking at the buildings, visiting the museum and reading the signage.
How to get to Copake Iron Works
There is free parking at the visitors center–follow the directions in the Google map below.
Hiking paths from Copake Iron Works
If you have time, and like to hike, you can walk the Iron Works Heritage Trail to the former Ore Bed (now a swimming hole) or Bash Bish Falls.
Hike to Bash Bish Falls
This summer I walked over to Bash Bish Falls. You’ll start at the far end of the Copake Iron Works site, past the museum and other buildings on the opposite end from the parking lot. This is what the tail head looks like.
There is a lot of pretty scenery and also a few historical remnants and signage in the first half mile. However the path is overgrown here, so wear good shoes and use tick spray.
After you walk the first half mile, you’ll walk up to the Bash Bish Parking Lot and to the end of it to find the rest of the trail. (If you want to hike the Ironworks Heritage Trail Loop, you’ll cross the road and then head to the left.)
The rest of the path is more open here, but there’s more people too. You’ll also be able to cross the state border to Massachusetts. (It turns out the Falls are in Massachusetts. I think walking to another state is pretty cool.)
Unfortunately the staircase to the bottom of the falls is locked, but the overview platform gives you a nice view. It’s a great place to enjoy any snacks you carried with you. (There are people who jump the fence to sit at the bottom of the falls anyway.)
The total hike was 2.5 miles out and back. I found it to be an easy hike, especially after the parking lot.
Copake Iron Works History
In the 1840’s Lemuel Pomeroy II and his sons were looking for an ideal location to establish a new iron manufacturing site, after closing the Livingston Iron Mill (aka Ancram Iron Works. An ideal new site needed iron-ore, timber to create charcoal, a source of water and to be near a railroad line. The area near Bash Bish Falls had everything needed including a planned extension from a nearby railroad, so they purchased the land and began development of the Iron Works in 1845.
The Pomeroys built a charcoal blast-furnace, a refinery, a water-powered trip hammer and a dam. They also built houses for the Irish immigrants who worked at the site, a company store and donated land for a church. The workers were paid in script, company money that could only be used at the company store, although documents show that local businesses also allowed the use at a reduced value. Pomeroy operated the Iron Works until his death in 1853, and his business partners kept the business operating until 1862.
It was then sold to John Beckley who owned it for less than a year before selling it to Frederick K. Miles. Mr. Miles and his family renovated the iron works, including the furnace. The demand for charcoal iron was diminishing, and the new renovations allowed them to produce specialized products such as railcar wheels and plows. They also added the railroad connection to the New York and Harlem railroad tracks. By 1883 the ore mine was depleted and to keep the Iron Works operating the Miles family purchased another mine located to the south in Dutchess County.
The Iron Works stopped production in 1895, due to a lessening of demand of the iron products produced. Miles passed away in 1896 leaving the Copake Iron Works to his sons. The Iron Works site was leased to the Salisbury Carbonate Iron Company until 1901, and the Iron Works ceased operations in 1903. The Miles descendants continued to use the site to produce 500 plows annually along with other products.
Then between 1924 and 1926 William A. Miles was approached by New York State with an offer to buy the property of the Copake Iron Works. The transaction was completed between 1926-1928 and the site was annexed to Taconic State Park. Many dilapidated structures were razed, due to safety concerns, but thanks to the efforts of the Friends of Taconic State Park, you can view the restored Furnace, visit the museum and other buildings from the original company town.
To read a more thorough history of the Copake Iron Works Site:
Leave a comment