Abandoned Towns

State hub · New York

Ghost towns in New York

New York's ghost towns were mostly emptied on purpose. The state and New York City took whole valleys for water. Delta, a mill village north of Rome, was cleared in 1908 and flooded by 1916 for a Barge Canal reservoir. In the Catskills the city bought land along the East Branch of the Delaware in 1942, displaced 974 people and destroyed four hamlets, Shavertown among them, for the Pepacton Reservoir, whose dam was finished in 1954. Parks did the same: the Palisades Interstate Park Commission cleared Johnsontown for Harriman State Park in the 1920s and 1930s and bought out Doodletown for Bear Mountain, where the last holdouts lost their land in 1965.

Industry left the rest. Tahawus, an iron village on the upper Hudson, was abandoned in the 1850s and again in 1963, and Jayville's iron mine was given up in 1888. The farm and hoop-making families of Trapps Mountain Hamlet drifted away until the last resident died in 1956. Two are modern: the hospital island of North Brother, empty since the 1960s, and Love Canal in Niagara Falls, evacuated from 1978 over buried chemical waste.

What survives is cellar holes, stone walls, cemeteries, a blast furnace and one restored cabin, most of it on public land you can walk. The reservoir towns are under water.

26Sites indexed
12Counties
17Mapped
7Town guides
Schoharie CountySeneca CountyOrleans CountyWayne CountyGreene CountyAllegany CountyOswego CountyNassau CountyMonroe CountyHerkimer CountyNew York CountySt. Lawrence CountyOrange CountyTompkins CountyOnondaga CountyAlbany CountySuffolk CountyJefferson CountyLivingston CountyWyoming CountySchuyler CountyTioga CountyChemung CountyWestchester CountyNiagara CountyOneida CountyEssex CountyOtsego CountyHamilton CountyMontgomery CountyFranklin CountyLewis CountyBroome CountySchenectady CountySteuben CountyChenango CountySullivan CountyPutnam CountyRockland CountyColumbia CountyClinton CountyKings CountyCattaraugus CountyChautauqua CountyQueens CountyRensselaer CountyRichmond CountyUlster CountyBronx CountySaratoga CountyFulton CountyDutchess CountyCayuga CountyErie CountyCortland CountyMadison CountyWashington CountyGenesee CountyWarren CountyDelaware CountyYates CountyOntario CountyNew York CityAlbanySyracuseBuffaloRochesterTahawusDoodletownDeltaTrapps Mountain HamletShavertownWatervilleBrownville
Town guideOther sitesCity
Select a dot to see the site. 17 of 26 sites have reliable coordinates so far.

Town guides

7 full New York town guides

Our complete guides, most-read first: history, what's left, current access, photos, maps and directions.

North Brother Island, a low wooded island in the East River, seen from Barretto Point Park with the Hell Gate Bridge at left and the Manhattan skyline behindGuide

North and South Brother Islands

40.80, -73.90

Bronx County

A former quarantine hospital in the East River between the Bronx and Rikers Island, empty since the mid-1960s and closed to the public. Neighboring…

Closed
A dark-stained log building and a smaller cottage beside the road at Adirondac village in April 1994, before the leaves are outGuide

Tahawus

44.09, -74.06

Essex County

An iron village on the upper Hudson that was abandoned twice: first in the 1850s, when titanium, floods and a crash ended the ironworks, then in…

OpenOther mining and oil
DoodletownGuide

Doodletown

41.30, -73.99

Rockland County

A valley hamlet settled by 1762 and bought out for Bear Mountain State Park. Its foundations, stone steps and two cemeteries lie along old roads that…

Trails closedFarm and ranch
A two-story brick corner building with an old storefront on an empty Main Street in Parksville, March 2024Guide

Parksville

41.86, -74.76

Sullivan County

A Catskills resort hamlet that lost its trains, then its hotels, then its highway traffic. Its Main Street went quiet after 2011. People still live…

Lived in · being rebuilt
A motorboat crossing the open water of Delta Lake below wooded hills, July 2008Guide

Delta

43.29, -75.44

Oneida County

A mill village on the Mohawk River that the state cleared in 1908 to build a Barge Canal reservoir. Its buildings were moved or torn down, its graves…

Submerged; park openMill, lumber and company
A small stone church with a steep roof and a flag flying in front, under bare autumn trees, November 2024Guide

Jones Point

41.29, -73.96

Rockland County

A riverside landing that once had brickyards, docks and saloons, and from 1946 to 1971 looked out on rows of mothballed ships. Its trade and its…

Lived in · a few homes
The restored Eli Van Leuven Cabin: a small red plank house with a side porch, in a clearing in green woods, July 2013Guide

Trapps Mountain Hamlet

41.73, -74.21

Ulster County

A mountaintop hamlet of 40 to 50 families who farmed thin soil and made barrel hoops, millstones and charcoal. Steel and a new highway emptied it.…

Open, day-use feeFarm and ranch

Where to start

New York's best-known ghost towns

Open attractions, living towns and true ruins, with their current status.

The restored Eli Van Leuven Cabin, a small red plank house with a side porch, in a clearing in green woods, July 2013Guide

Trapps Mountain Hamlet

41.73, -74.21

Ulster County

Mountaintop hamlet of 40 to 50 families who farmed thin soil and made barrel hoops, millstones and charcoal; the last resident died in 1956. Cellar holes, burying grounds and the restored Van Leuven cabin lie along a marked path on Mohonk Preserve land, open daily sunrise to sunset with a $15 to $20 day-use fee (preserve pages, October 20, 2026).

Open · day-use fee · Oct 2026
A dark-stained log building and a smaller cottage beside the road at Adirondac village, April 1994Guide

Tahawus

44.09, -74.06

Essex County

Iron village on the upper Hudson, abandoned in the 1850s and again in 1963 when the mining company moved everyone to Newcomb. The stone blast furnace and club-era buildings stand on Open Space Institute land at a High Peaks trailhead, open with no posted hours or fees, per OSI in August 2025.

Open · OSI preserve · Aug 2025
The old bridle path through the Doodletown woods under snow, February 2007Guide

Doodletown

41.30, -73.99

Rockland County

Valley hamlet settled by 1762, with about 70 homes in the 1920s, bought out for Bear Mountain State Park; the last owners lost their land in 1965. Foundations, stone steps and two cemeteries line old roads closed since the July 2023 floods; the state expected repairs to finish in late 2026, and we found no reopening notice by October 2026.

Trails closed · Dec 2025 map
A motorboat crossing the open water of Delta Lake below wooded hills, July 2008Guide

Delta

43.29, -75.44

Oneida County

Mohawk River mill village whose 300 people had to leave in 1908 for a Barge Canal reservoir, filled in 1916. The site is under Delta Lake; Delta Lake State Park on the shore was open year-round, dawn to dusk, on its page read October 20, 2026.

Under water · park open · Oct 2026
The Pepacton Reservoir between wooded hills, seen from the Route 30 bridge near Downsville, October 2014

Shavertown

42.09, -74.84

Delaware County

Timber and acid-factory hamlet of a few hundred people on the East Branch of the Delaware, destroyed for the Pepacton Reservoir, whose dam was finished in 1954; the site is under the water. USGS data put the reservoir at 76 percent of its usable storage on October 24, 2026. The water is New York City's: boats need a free DEP permit, steam cleaning and a tag, from May 1 to October 31.

Under the reservoir · Oct 2026 data
USGS topographic map around Johnsontown

Johnsontown

41.22, -74.12

Rockland County

Shipbuilding-timber hamlet founded in the late 1700s along today's Lake Sebago and Lake Kanawauke, demolished by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in the 1920s and 1930s; Lake Sebago, dammed in 1925, covers part of it. Stone foundations and the Pine Grove Cemetery, marked in 2014, are in Harriman State Park, open daily dawn to dusk on its page read October 28, 2026. Lake Sebago's beach is being rebuilt, and two Victory Trail links near the lake's northwest corner have been closed since April 2026, expected into mid-2027.

State park · Oct 2026
North Brother Island, low and wooded in the East River, seen from Barretto Point Park with the Hell Gate Bridge at leftGuide

North and South Brother Islands

40.80, -73.90

Bronx County

Quarantine-hospital island in the East River where Typhoid Mary was confined from 1915; empty since the 1960s. NYC Parks manages both islands for nesting herons and allows no public access. You can see North Brother from Barretto Point Park in the Bronx.

Closed · bird sanctuary · Oct 2026
An empty, cracked residential street lined with trees and overgrown lots at Love Canal, June 2012

Love Canal

43.08, -78.95

Niagara County

Niagara Falls neighborhood built beside a chemical dump; a state emergency was declared on August 2, 1978, and about 950 families were evacuated. The capped canal is a fenced grass field, photographed in September 2024 behind a "private property" sign. Empty streets remain to the west; homes to the north were resold from 1990 as Black Creek Village.

Fenced · Sep 2024 report

Near a city

Ghost towns near New York City, Albany and Syracuse

Driving distance and time from downtown, routed over OpenStreetMap roads. Dirt roads are usually slower than the estimate.

Near New York City drive

  1. North and South Brother Islands11 mi24 min
  2. Johnsontown45 mi1 h 07 min
  3. Doodletown54 mi1 h 16 min
  4. Dicktown61 mi1 h 37 min
  5. Trapps Mountain Hamlet92 mi2 h 01 min
  6. Shavertown143 mi3 h 09 min

Near Albany drive

  1. Trapps Mountain Hamlet80 mi1 h 41 min
  2. Doodletown110 mi2 h 15 min
  3. Shavertown100 mi2 h 18 min
  4. Delta114 mi2 h 24 min
  5. Tahawus115 mi2 h 54 min

Near Syracuse drive

  1. Delta50 mi1 h 13 min
  2. Jayville116 mi2 h 47 min
  3. Shavertown131 mi3 h 05 min
  4. Love Canal155 mi3 h 14 min
  5. Tahawus170 mi4 h 30 min

Directory

All 26 New York sites

Every town, camp and settlement in our New York index, with its county. A ◦ marks sites already on the map.

26 sites

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Plan a trip

Visiting New York's ghost towns

01

Check closures before you go

Two of the best-known sites are shut. Doodletown's trails have been closed since flash floods on July 9 and 10, 2023; NYS Parks announced a $3 million repair to reopen the 1777 Trail and rebuild parts of the Bridle Path, with completion slated for late 2026, and we found no reopening notice as of October 2026. Check the Bear Mountain State Park page or the Trail Conference's alerts. North and South Brother Islands are closed bird sanctuaries, and the capped Love Canal site is fenced. Harriman State Park, where Johnsontown stood, is open daily, but two trail links near Lake Sebago are closed into mid-2027 for beach work.

02

Plan for fees, parking and winter

Mohonk Preserve charged non-members $15 Monday to Thursday and $20 Friday to Sunday and holidays to hike to Trapps Mountain Hamlet, and its West Trapps lot fills early on peak weekends (preserve pages, October 20, 2026). Delta Lake State Park is open year-round, dawn to dusk, with a $7 vehicle fee in summer. Tahawus is at the end of a dead-end road into the High Peaks, with a 60-car lot (OSI, August 2025); in winter come equipped for snow on Adirondack roads and trails.

03

The reservoir towns belong to New York City

Shavertown lies under the Pepacton Reservoir, part of New York City's water supply. Recreational boating there is allowed only in non-motorized craft from May 1 to October 31, with a free DEP Access Permit and a boat steam-cleaned by a DEP-certified vendor. You can see the reservoir from the NY 30 bridge near Downsville. Delta Lake is a state canal reservoir with a state park on its shore.

04

Leave artifacts where they lie

New York's Education Law section 233 forbids anyone to excavate, remove or appropriate any object of archaeological or historical interest on state-owned land without the written permission of the Commissioner of Education; a violation is a class A misdemeanor. State Parks allow metal detecting only by permit in designated areas, and a 2023 State Parks permit guide requires archaeological artifacts to be turned over to Park Police. Mohonk Preserve and the Open Space Institute are private nonprofits: stay on their trails.

FAQ

Common questions

How many ghost towns are in New York?

We found no official count. Wikipedia's list, which calls itself incomplete, named 21 places in its July 22, 2026 version. Our index lists 26 sites in New York, 17 of them with coordinates. Some, like Jones Point and Parksville, are still living hamlets.

What is the best ghost town to visit in New York?

Trapps Mountain Hamlet in the Shawangunks and Tahawus in the Adirondacks are the most rewarding on foot: both are on open nonprofit land. Trapps has cellar holes and a restored cabin on a marked path; Tahawus has a stone blast furnace and club-era ruins on interpretive trails. Trapps charges a day-use fee; Tahawus posted no fee in August 2025.

Can you visit North Brother Island?

No. NYC Parks says access to North Brother Island is not allowed; both islands are nesting grounds for protected wading birds and the hospital buildings are dangerously dilapidated. The best view is from Barretto Point Park in the Bronx. Don't land a boat.

Is Doodletown open?

Not as of our last check in October 2026. The Doodletown trails in Bear Mountain State Park have been closed since the July 2023 floods. NYS Parks and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission slated the $3 million repair for completion in late 2026.

Are there towns under reservoirs in New York?

Yes. Delta has been under Delta Lake, north of Rome, since 1916. Shavertown, Arena, Pepacton and Union Grove were destroyed for the Pepacton Reservoir, whose dam was finished in 1954, and Wikipedia's list also names West Hurley under the Ashokan Reservoir and Kensico under the Kensico Reservoir.

Can you visit Love Canal?

Not the canal itself. The capped 16-acre landfill is fenced, with monitoring wells on top, per a September 2024 report. Abandoned streets remain on its west side, and the homes to the north, resold from 1990 as Black Creek Village, are private.

Sources

  1. Coordinates: Wikipedia articles for each site (GNIS); Tahawus and North Brother Island from their guides.
  2. Drive times: OSRM routing on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), October 28, 2026.
  3. Wikipedia, "List of ghost towns in New York", version of July 22, 2026, read October 28, 2026: an incomplete list of 21 places, including West Hurley and Kensico.
  4. Our guides to Delta, Doodletown, North and South Brother Islands, Tahawus and Trapps Mountain Hamlet, checked October 19 and 20, 2026, and the sources listed on each: histories, current status, fees and the dated reports quoted on the cards.
  5. NYS Parks, "New York State Parks, PIPC Announce $3 Million Restoration of Storm-Damaged Trails at Bear Mountain State Park": the July 9, 2023 storm, the 1777 Trail and Bridle Path, completion slated for late 2026. NY-NJ Trail Conference, "Bear Mountain State Park Trail Closures & Advisories", updated November 21, 2025.
  6. Wikipedia, "Shavertown, New York", revision of February 26, 2026: a few hundred people, timber and acid factories, the railroad, coordinates. Wikipedia, "Pepacton Reservoir", revision of August 5, 2026: the 1942 purchase, 974 people displaced, four hamlets, the dam finished in 1954.
  7. USGS Office of the Delaware River Master, "NYC Reservoir Operation Data", tables for May 9 to 15, 2026 (Pepacton at 100.52% of usable storage on May 16) and October 17 to 23, 2026: Pepacton at 76.44% of usable storage on October 24, 2026.
  8. NYC DEP, "Recreational Boating", read October 28, 2026: free DEP Access Permit, steam cleaning, non-motorized boats, May 1 to October 31, Pepacton included.
  9. Wikipedia, "Johnsontown, New York", revision of October 1, 2026: founding by the Johnson brothers, Lake Sebago and Lake Kanawauke, demolition by the PIPC in the 1920s and 1930s, the 2014 cemetery marker, coordinates. Rockland County Times, "Honoring Our Heritage", June 26, 2014: the Pine Grove Cemetery plaque, the hamlet condemned by the PIPC in the 1920s and 1930s. Wikipedia, "Lake Sebago", revision of August 5, 2026: the 1925 dam over part of the Johnsontown site.
  10. NYS Parks, "Harriman State Park", read October 28, 2026: open year-round, dawn to dusk; two Victory Trail connections near the northwest corner of Lake Sebago closed for beach rehabilitation, posted April 15, 2026 and expected through mid-2027.
  11. Wikipedia, "Love Canal", revision of October 8, 2026: the 16-acre landfill, the state emergency of August 2, 1978, about 950 families evacuated, the fenced cap, abandoned streets on the west side, Black Creek Village resales from 1990, deletion from the Superfund list on September 30, 2004.
  12. Buffalo Toronto Public Media, "EPA, residents at odds over renewed Love Canal concerns", September 13, 2024: the clay cap and liner, the chain-link fence, monitoring wells, the grass field and the "private property" sign.
  13. Wikipedia, "Jayville, New York", revision of September 29, 2026: iron mining abandoned in 1888 for Benson Mines.
  14. New York Education Law section 233, read October 28, 2026: no excavating or removing objects of archaeological or historical interest on state land without permission; a class A misdemeanor.
  15. NYS Parks, "Metal Detecting Permit Guide, Long Island Region", June 2023: detecting by permit in designated areas only; archaeological artifacts turned over to Park Police.
  16. Site index: ghosttowns.com New York lists and Wikipedia, October 2026. County outlines: US Census via us-atlas (public domain).

Photo credits

  1. North and South Brother Islands: RoySmith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
  2. Tahawus: petersent, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
  3. Doodletown: Jim Harper (Pixel23), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5
  4. Parksville: Adam Moss, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
  5. Delta: Ducio1234, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
  6. Jones Point: Mr. Matté, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
  7. Trapps Mountain Hamlet: Melsner4, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
  8. Shavertown: Shannon1, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
  9. Love Canal: Buffalutheran, Wikimedia Commons, CC0