Minnewaska State Park Preserve
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Minnewaska State Park Preserve
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 Gertrude's Nose from Hamilton Point |
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| location | Ulster County , New York (State) , United States | |
| surface | 90.14 | |
| Geographical location | 41 ° 43 ′ N , 74 ° 17 ′ W | |
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| Setup date | 1908 | |
| administration | New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation | |
Minnewaska State Park Preserve is a state park in the Shawangunk Mountains in Ulster County , New York . The park covers an area of 22,275 acres (90.14 km² ) and is jointly managed by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation .
geography
The reserve is located in the Shawangunk Ridge area in Ulster County of New York. The Shawangunk Ridge stretches in this area from northeast to southwest over the valley of the Wallkill River , there it forms a terrain step of up to 200 m in height. The ridge rises to about 665 m above sea level ( ⊙ and Murray Hill , 615 m, ⊙ ). The US 44 and NY 55 limit the Park and 7 km to the west runs the New York State Route 299. The park offers viewpoints overlooking the nearby Catskill Mountains . There are three “Sky Lakes” in the park area: Lake Minnewaska , Lake Awosting and Mud Pond ( ⊙ ). Lake Minnewaska is about 1.6 km long and 0.4 km wide ( ⊙ ) and extends across Shawangunk Ridge from north to south. It is famous for the spectacular cliffs that are often used as film sets for teenage films. Lake Awosting is about twice as large ( ⊙ ) and follows the course of the ridge from northeast to southwest.
history
Originally the area was part of Albert and Alfred Smiley's Mohonk Mountain House estate. The Minnewaska Mountain House (Cliff House) was built in 1879 on the cliffs above Lake Minnewaska and could accommodate up to 225 guests. After the twin brother Alfred H. Smiley had managed and expanded Mohonk for ten years, he acquired Minnewaska separately from Mohonk and started building there. The brothers remained on friendly terms, however, and offered courtesies to each other's guests. A second hotel, Wildmere , could accommodate 350 guests. In 1955, Kenneth B. Phillips, Sr. , the general manager of Minnewaska, bought the property from the Smiley family. Cliff House closed in 1972 due to maintenance costs and burned down in 1978. Wildmere graduated in 1979 and burned down in 1986.
After years of disputes over commercial expansion and lawsuits against expansion, New York State acquired the property in 1987 and opened the Minnewaska State Park Preserve in 1993. A significant expansion of 22 km² (5400 acres) was made in 1996 when the Open Space Institute transferred areas of the old Ellenville Watershed Lands (now: Sam's Point Preserve ) to the state park. The reserve was then jointly managed by The Nature Conservancy and the Open Space Institute until April 2015 when management was transferred to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.
Within the Minnewaska State Park Preserve and adjacent to Mohonk Preserve is the Trapps Mountain Hamlet Historic District , which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 .
Extensions since 2000
In March 2006, another 10 km² (2500 acres) was added to the reserve through a concerted effort by various conservation organizations including the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference , Open Space Institute and Nature Conservancy. Success was possible in part because the real estate company that wanted to build on the property went bankrupt. The Trust for Public Land purchased the property for $ 17 million and gave the land directly to New York State.
ecology
The park is home to unique habitats such as Ice Cave Talus , Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Rocky Summit , and vast Chestnut Oak Forests . These ecosystems are home to many plants and animals that are otherwise rare in New York State. The animals include the forest rattlesnake (timber rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus ), bobcat ( Lynx rufus ) and the only documented place where the moth species Zale curema occurs.
Freetime activities
Recreational opportunities include picnicking, hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and swimming.
Swimming in Lake Minnewaska
Swimming was permitted in all of Lake Minnewaska and the great areas of Lake Awosting and Peterskill until 1987 when the state acquired the land and closed the lake to the public. In 1988, under the direction of Helga Schwartz and due to numerous petitions, swimming was allowed again in a small, marked area.
On April 19, 2000, Judy Mage, Myriam Miedzian and Ellen James met with the park authorities and the PIPC (Palisades Interstate Park Commission) to suggest an opening. As a result, the swimming area could be enlarged and access times extended.
On June 11, 2000, the association SWIM (Swim Without Interference at Minnewaska) was formed, which was renamed the Minnewaska Distance Swimmer's Association (MDSA) in the spring of 2002 and gained 430 members in the first year. The MDSA now has around 700 members.
gallery
Lake Awosting
View of Lake Awosting from the cliffs
Swimming area on Lake Minnewaska
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey.
- ^ A b NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation: State Park Acquisition Record and Document Review. [1] 2010: 17.
- ↑ 2014 New York State Statistical Yearbook. ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government 2014, Section O: Environmental Conservation and Recreation, Table O-9: 673.
- ↑ Sam's Point Preserve. Nature.org, The Nature Conservancy.
- ^ Minnewaska State Park Preserve: Sam's Point Area. Nysparks.com, NYS Offices of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation.
- ↑ National Park Service (2009-03-13). National Register Information System . National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ^ Jeremiah Horrigan: Save the Ridge effort succeeds. Times Herald-Record 2006-03-15
- ↑ acris.nynhp.org .
- ↑ across.nynhp.org. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ acris.nynhp.org.
- ↑ across.nynhp.org ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ minnewaskaswimmers.org .
