Cold Spring NY: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Cold Spring grew around the West Point Foundry, opened after the War of 1812 so that the country could cast its own cannon. At its height the foundry employed hundreds of men, and the Irish workers built the town's first Catholic chapel above the river. Today the foundry is a ruin in the woods and the town lives on walkers and weekend visitors. The whole route is walkable from the station in an easy morning.
A short history of Cold Spring NY
Cold Spring is a village on the bank of the Hudson River, opposite West Point. In 1817 the West Point Foundry was established here, one of the most important foundries in the United States, which built locomotives and above all cannon; during the Civil War it produced the Parrott guns used by the Union army. The foundry closed at the end of the 19th century, and its ruins became a nature preserve. The main street has kept its 19th-century buildings, and walking trails climb into the Hudson Highlands around it.
The ten best sights in Cold Spring NY
1Riverfront bandstandThe white bandstand at the foot of Main Street, with the best view of the Hudson and Storm King
2Main StreetAntique shops and cafés climbing from the river; busiest on autumn weekends
3Chapel of Our Lady RestorationA small Greek Revival chapel on the river, used for concerts and weddings
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4Putnam History Museum
Local history and the story of the cannon foundry that made the town
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5West Point Foundry Preserve
Ruins of the foundry in the woods, with signs explaining what stood where; a 30-minute loop
6Boscobel House and GardensA Federal-style mansion with a lawn high above the Hudson, 5 minutes south
7ManitogaDesigner Russel Wright's house built into a quarry; guided tours only, book ahead
8Dia:BeaconHuge modern artworks in a former factory in Beacon, 15 minutes north
9West Point MuseumThe military academy's museum, at the visitor centre outside the gate; bring a passport
10Storm King Art CenterGiant sculptures spread over fields and hills; rent a bike or plan a long walk
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Cold Spring NY →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Cold Spring NY:
Free walking tours in Cold Spring NY
The foundry town on foot
Cold Spring grew around the West Point Foundry, opened after the War of 1812 so that the country could cast its own cannon. At its height the foundry employed hundreds of men, and the Irish workers built the town's first Catholic chapel above the river. Today the foundry is a ruin in the woods and the town lives on walkers and weekend visitors. The whole route is walkable from the station in an easy morning.
- Riverfront bandstand · The bandstand faces Storm King Mountain across the Hudson. The river here is really a tidal estuary: the tide reaches all the way up to Troy, near Albany, so even this far from the sea the water rises and falls twice a day.
- Chapel of Our Lady Restoration · The chapel was built in 1833 for the Irish Catholic workers of the foundry, on a rock above the river. Abandoned for decades, it was restored by local volunteers and is now used for concerts and weddings.
- Putnam History Museum · The museum is housed in the foundry's old schoolhouse, built for the workers' children. Its collection tells the story of the Parrott rifle, the long-range cannon that the foundry made for the Union army in the Civil War.
- West Point Foundry Preserve · The foundry was set up in 1817 and became one of the biggest ironworks in America, making cannon, steam engines and some of the country's first locomotives. In 1862 Abraham Lincoln came to watch its guns being tested across the river.
- Constitution Marsh · The marsh covers about 100 hectares of brackish tidal wetland, and the Audubon sanctuary keeps a boardwalk out into the reeds. In spring and autumn it is a stopping place for migrating birds along the Hudson.
- Garrison's Landing · The old ferry landing below Garrison station played the main street of Yonkers in the 1969 film Hello, Dolly! with Barbra Streisand. Before the bridges, ferries crossed from here to West Point.
West Point and the Highlands
South of Cold Spring the Hudson squeezes through the Highlands, a ridge of old granite hills that the river cuts straight through. In the Revolutionary War this narrow bend was the key to the river, and West Point was fortified to hold it. The route crosses the Bear Mountain Bridge and comes back along the academy on the west bank. It is about 50 km in all.
- Manitoga · The industrial designer Russel Wright, whose cheap pottery filled American kitchens in the 1940s, built his house Dragon Rock into an abandoned quarry here. He spent decades turning the quarry and the woods around it into a designed landscape.
- Bear Mountain Bridge · When it opened in 1924 it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, and the first road crossing of the Hudson south of Albany. The Appalachian Trail crosses the river on its walkway.
- Perkins Memorial Tower · The stone tower stands on the summit of Bear Mountain, at the end of a winding road built in the 1930s. On a clear day you can see the Manhattan skyline from the top.
- West Point Museum · The museum of the United States Military Academy holds one of the oldest military collections in America. The academy itself was founded in 1802 and has trained officers from Ulysses Grant and Robert E. Lee to Dwight Eisenhower.
- Fort Putnam · The fort was built in 1778 on the hill above West Point to protect the river defences from attack by land. In 1780 Benedict Arnold, then commander of West Point, plotted to hand the whole post to the British, and his treason was discovered just in time.
- Trophy Point · Links of the Great Chain lie here, part of the iron chain the Americans stretched across the Hudson in 1778 to stop British warships. Each link is about 60 cm long, and the chain floated on log rafts across the narrowest bend.
Art and ruins up the river
North of Cold Spring the road runs under Breakneck Ridge and opens onto Beacon, an old factory town that reinvented itself around art. Across the river is Newburgh, where Washington waited out the end of the war, and the open fields of Storm King, the best-known sculpture park in America. The ruined castle on its island is visible from the shore on the way. Count on about 60 km.
- Little Stony Point · A loop path leads to a sandy beach looking straight across at Storm King. The road you see cut into its cliff face, the Storm King Highway, was blasted out of the rock and opened in 1922.
- Breakneck Ridge · The trail climbs about 380 metres almost straight up from the riverside road, with hand-over-hand scrambles on bare rock. On weekends Metro-North stops at a tiny platform at the foot of the ridge just for hikers.
- Bannerman Castle · Francis Bannerman, a Scottish-born dealer in army surplus, bought Pollepel Island in 1900 and built a castle on it to store his munitions. An explosion damaged it in 1920 and a fire in 1969 left it the ruin you see today.
- Dia:Beacon · The museum opened in 2003 in a former Nabisco factory where the company printed its cracker boxes. Its skylit halls were chosen for works too big for most galleries, like Richard Serra's huge steel spirals.
- Washington's Headquarters · George Washington lived in this stone farmhouse from April 1782 to August 1783, while the army waited for the peace treaty. In 1850 New York bought it, making it the first historic site ever bought by an American state.
- Storm King Art Center · The park opened in 1960 and now spreads around 200 hectares of fields and woods with large outdoor sculptures. Andy Goldsworthy's Storm King Wall snakes between the trees and into a pond, and Maya Lin's Wavefield turns a field into rolling grass waves.
Getting to Cold Spring NY and getting around
- Cold Spring station · Metro-North trains to Grand Central in about 75 minutes; the platform is a short walk from Main Street
- New York Stewart Airport · A small airport across the river, 25 minutes by car; easier than the New York airports
Cheap eats in Cold Spring NY
Cold Spring is a weekend town, and its food is mostly cafés, bakeries, pizza and ice cream along one short Main Street, aimed at hikers and day-trippers from New York. Prices are New York area prices, and on autumn weekends there are queues everywhere. Beacon, 15 minutes north, has a much longer Main Street with far more choice. Mid-week some places close early or do not open at all.
- Moo Moo's Creamery · Ice cream by the riverfront bandstand, about $5-9
- Cold Spring Pizza · Slices and pies on Main Street, about $3-5 a slice
- Cold Spring Coffeehouse · Coffee and pastries on Main Street, about $4-10
- Cozy Corner Cafe · A small café-restaurant on Main Street for breakfast and lunch, about $10-16
- Foodtown · Supermarket deli for a picnic on Dockside, about $8-12
- Bank Square Coffeehouse · Coffee at the west end of Beacon's Main Street, about $4-9
Museums in Cold Spring NY
- Dia:Beacon · Minimalist art in vast factory halls; two to three hours
- West Point Museum · Weapons, uniforms and the academy's history, free
- Putnam History Museum · Small local museum in the foundry schoolhouse
- Storm King Art Center · Open-air sculpture park, half a day at least
- Washington's Headquarters · The general's last wartime home, with a small museum
Nature and day trips near Cold Spring NY
- Breakneck Ridge · The hardest short hike near New York; start early
- Little Stony Point · Easy loop and a river beach, 10 minutes from town
- Constitution Marsh · Boardwalk into the reeds for birdwatching
- Storm King Mountain · The mountain across the river; a steep trail to wide views
- Perkins Memorial Tower · Drive to the top of Bear Mountain for the view
Things to do in Cold Spring NY with kids
- Bear Mountain State Park · A small zoo of rescued local animals, a lake and a carousel
- Trophy Point · Old cannons and the Great Chain to look at, on the West Point tour
- Little Stony Point · Sand and rocks to climb on by the river
- Dockside Park · A lawn to run on and trains passing by the river
- Fishkill Farms · Pick your own fruit in season
Where to eat in Cold Spring NY
- Cold Spring Depot · A restaurant and bar in the old railway station by the tracks
- Doug's Pretty Good Pub · A small, friendly pub for burgers and a beer
- Le Bouchon · A French bistro just off Main Street
- The Foundry Rose · Dinner on Main Street; book on weekends
- The Pandorica · A themed restaurant on Beacon's Main Street
- Brother's Trattoria · Italian at the east end of Beacon's Main Street
Frequently asked questions about Cold Spring NY
What is there to see in Cold Spring NY?
The top sights in Cold Spring NY are Riverfront bandstand, Main Street and Chapel of Our Lady Restoration. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Cold Spring NY?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Cold Spring NY without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Cold Spring NY?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Cold Spring NY, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The foundry town on foot.
How do you get to Cold Spring NY and get around?
The main ways are Cold Spring station and New York Stewart Airport. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Cold Spring NY, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Cold Spring NY that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Cold Spring NY for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.