Sam's Point Preserve
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Sam's Point Preserve, or Sam's Point Dwarf Pine Ridge Preserve, is a 4600-acre (19 km²) preserve in Ulster County on the highest point (2,289 feet/697 m) of the Shawangunk Ridge in New York. It is owned by the Open Space Institute and managed by The Nature Conservancy. Its unique environment features dwarf pine trees along the ridgetop. Located within the park is Lake Maratanza, the highest lake on the ridge, and ice caves.
The name derives from a story that a man named Sam, pursued by Indians, jumped off the cliff to avoid capture and miraculously survived the drop. Roads throughout the preserve were built as fire roads in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The Long Path long-distance hiking trail crosses it, eventually reaching VerKeerderkill Falls. A branch leads to Sam's Point (with a view of land for many miles, sometimes as far as High Point in New Jersey), and another to ice caves with motion-sensor lights. Visitors who want to get to Sam's Point have to go through Cragsmoor. Sam's Point Preserve is near the Mohonk Preserve and Minnewaska State Park Preserve.
The land was once owned by the nearby village of Ellenville to protect its watershed and partly by a company which offered tours of the ice caves. The Open Space Institute, working with The Nature Conservancy bought it with assistance from the Lila Acheson and Dewitt Wallace Fund for the Hudson Highlands, after the village considered selling the land to developers.
In 2005, the Preserve opened the Sam’s Point Conservation Center with education facilities, exhibits and a gift shop. A parking fee of $7 per vehicle is charged.
