Ice House (Miles) Pond
Cool off at Falmouth’s Miles Pond, also known as Ice House Pond because of its role as a source of ice for local ice houses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, this 7-acre town-owned kettle pond is open to the public for swimming, fishing, canoeing, and winter ice skating.
Features
From the parking area at Miles Pond, a path leads down to the water for swimmers, paddlers, anglers, and skaters to access the water.
Located on the west side of Beebe Woods, Ice House Pond was once a source of ice for the Beebe family’s summer estate at nearby Highfield Hall. Ice from the pond was harvested each winter and stockpiled in the family’s ice house, where it kept food cold all summer long. In the 1930s, a Woods Hole fish market owner built an ice house along the pond; you can still see the stone remnants of this structure at the edge of the parking area.
Ice House Pond maintains its cool reputation as a spot to swim, ice skate, and escape the crowds of some of Falmouth’s more popular ponds. A path leads down to a stone embankment on the water, offering access for swimmers, skaters, paddlers, and anglers (with a valid Massachusetts freshwater fishing license).
Trails
Although there aren’t any trails at the Miles Pond access point, the far side of the pond meets the trails at the southwestern corner of Beebe Woods. You can explore this extensive network of nearly 7 miles of old carriage roads and wooded foot paths from either Beebe Woods or Peterson Farm.
Habitats & Wildlife
Miles Pond is a kettle pond formed by Ice Age glaciers and fed by groundwater. It’s one of many natural features that reveal this area’s glacial past. Although the pond lies just 14 feet above sea level, neighboring Beebe Woods sits atop the rocky moraine hills that run from Woods Hole to the Cape Cod Canal – also formed by the same massive ice sheet.
