The Minnewaska State Park Preserve is a 21,106-acre preserve located on the
Shawangunk Ridge in Ulster County, New York on US 44/NY 55, five miles west of
New York State Route 299. The park, which features scenic overlooks of the
nearby Catskill Mountains, is primarily used for picnicking, hiking, mountain
biking, snowshoeing and swimming. The park is managed by the Palisades
Interstate Park Commission and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation. There are three sky lakes within the
Park Preserve: Lake Minnewaska, Lake Awosting, and Mud Pond. Lake Minnewaska
is approximately one mile long by one-quarter mile wide at its widest
point. Lake Awosting is roughly twice as large.
History Originally part of Albert and Alfred
Smiley's Mohonk Mountain House property, the Minnewaska Mountain House, or Cliff
House, was built in 1879 overlooking Lake Minnewaska; it could accommodate
225 guests. After managing and developing Mohonk's early growth for ten
years, twin Alfred H. Smiley purchased and developed Minnewaska separate from
Mohonk, but the brothers exchanged courtesies to each other's guests. A
second hotel, Wildmere, accommodated 350 guests. In 1955, Kenneth B. Phillips,
Sr., the Minnewaska general manager, bought the property from the Smiley
family. Cliff House was abandoned in 1972 due to maintenance costs; it burned
to the ground in 1978. Wildmere closed in 1979 and burned to the ground in
1986. After years of wrangling over commercial
development proposals and lawsuits to block development, New York State bought
the property in 1987 and opened the Minnewaska State Park Preserve in 1993.
A significant expansion of 5,400 acres occurred in 1996 when the Open Space
Institute transferred acreage to the Park Preserve from the old Ellenville
watershed lands, now called Sam's Point Preserve. The preserve was managed by
The Nature Conservancy and owned by the Open Space Institute until April 2015,
at which time management was transferred to the New York State Office of Parks,
Recreation and Historic Preservation and The Palisades Interstate Park
Commission. Located within the Minnewaska State Park
Preserve and neighboring Mohonk Preserve is the Trapps Mountain Hamlet Historic
District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
= Recent expansion= In March 2006, an additional 2,500 acres
were added to the Preserve as a result of action by a coalition of conservation
groups including The New York - New Jersey Trail Conference, The Open Space
Institute, and The Nature Conservancy. Their success was made possible in part
because the real estate partnership that sought to develop the property collapsed
due to an internal financial dispute. To settle this dispute among the partners,
a court ordered that the property be sold. The Trust for Public Land
purchased the property for $17 million and immediately turned the land over to
New York State. Ecological characteristics
Unique communities such as Ice Cave Talus [1], Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Rocky
Summit [2], and extensive Chestnut Oak Forest [3] comprise Minnewaska State
Park Preserve. These ecosystems host a variety of plants and animals that are
uncommon in New York State. Wildlife such as the Timber Rattlesnake, Bobcat
and New York State's only documented occurrence of the noctuid moth Zale
curema reside within Minnewaska State Park Preserve. [4]
Swimming in Lake Minnewaska Swimming was allowed throughout the
entirety of Lake Minnewaska and surrounding Lake Awosting and Peterskill
areas until 1987 when New York State purchased the land and closed the lake
to public recreation. In 1988 under the guidance of Helga Schwartz and through
numerous petitions, swimming was reinstated in a small roped off area.
On April 19, 2000 Judy Mage, Myriam Miedzian, and Ellen James met with Park
officials and the PIPC to present proposals for the allowance of distance
swimming on the lake. As a result of this meeting the designated swim area in
the lake was increased and the closing time for swimming was extended by half
an hour. On June 11, 2000 SWIM was created to
attempt to bring back swimming throughout the entire lake. After much
debate and negotiations with Parks officials, SWIM proposed the formation
of a club where members would be tested for swimming ability, purchase insurance
cards, and sign release of liability forms. The group was able to secure a
second swimming area consisting of a 200-yard buoyed cable that runs parallel
to the shoreline for distance swimming. In the Spring of 2002 SWIM became the
Minnewaska Distance Swimmer's Association and signed up 430 members
its first year. Currently the MDSA has close to 700 members. [5]
Image gallery References
External links New York State Parks: Minnewaska State
Park Preserve Lake Minnewaska.org
Hiking at Lake Minnewaska NY-NJTC: Minnewaska State Park Preserve
Trail Details and Info