Sam's Point Area

Sam's Point is the southern section of Minnewaska State Park Preserve, about 5,000 acres on the highest part of the Shawangunk Mountains, entered at 400 Sam's Point Road in Cragsmoor, NY. It has the Ice Caves, Lake Maratanza, globally rare dwarf pine ridges and the Sam's Point overlook, 1.2 miles round trip from the visitor center. Parking costs $10 per car, and on weekends and holidays from mid-April to November 15 you need a parking reservation.

Parking Reservations

The Sam's Point lot is small on purpose, to protect the visitor experience and the ecosystem. NY State Parks requires parking reservations on weekends and holidays from mid-April through November 15 (its 2026 alert says April 18; its fee table says April 15). Book on ReserveAmerica or by calling 1-800-777-9644, up to two weeks in advance. On weekdays there is no reservation, so arrive early. Do not park on the road shoulders: NY State Parks says you will be ticketed or towed.

Hikes From the Sam's Point Visitor Center

NY State Parks' Sam's Point map lists these round trips:

• Sam's Point Overlook: 1.2 miles, 45 minutes.
• Loop Road: 2.9 miles, 1.5 hours.
• Ice Caves: 3.4 miles, 2 hours.
• Indian Rock: 4.1 miles, 2 hours.
• Verkeerder Kill Falls: 5.5 miles, 3.5 hours. See Verkeerder Kill Falls.
• High Point: 6.6 miles, 3 hours.
• Verkeerder Kill Falls and High Point loop: 8.3 miles, 5.5 hours.

The Ice Caves

The Ice Caves Trail (white, 0.6 mile) leaves the Ice Caves Road and threads through rock crevices where ice can linger. NY State Parks marks the Ice Caves as open seasonally and warns that the trail has water, narrow crevices, low rock ceilings, dark areas and ladders. Wear good footwear and use caution. Call the visitor center before you go to check whether the caves are open.

Lake Maratanza

Lake Maratanza is one of the five Shawangunk sky lakes. The Loop Road passes it, along with the old Huckleberry Pickers' Shacks marked on the park map. Swimming is not permitted in Lake Maratanza or anywhere else in the Sam's Point Area.

Dwarf Pine Ridges

NY State Parks says Sam's Point holds a globally rare community of dwarf pine ridges, a mix of pitch pine-heath barrens and chestnut oak forest that shelters rare plants and animals. Stay on the trails to protect it. NY State Parks also publishes fire-education material for Sam's Point.

Visitor Center

The Sam's Point Visitor Center is open year-round, with exhibits on ecology, geology and cultural history, a children's area and a large mural of the landscape: try to find all 90 species painted into it. It sells the $5 topographic map and rents snowshoes for $15 a day in winter.

Rules at Sam's Point

• No swimming in any lake, stream or waterfall.
• No horses, motorized scooters, skateboards or one-wheels.
• No drones, amplified music, smoking or vaping.
• No cooking or barbecues; no trash cans.
• Dogs on a leash of six feet or less.
• Groups of 15 or more need a permit in advance; buses on non-holiday weekdays only.

Getting There

Sam's Point is 2.8 miles off State Route 52, through the historic hamlet of Cragsmoor, where Hudson River School painters once summered. NY State Parks asks drivers to go slowly and quietly through the hamlet. It is a separate drive from the main Lake Minnewaska entrance on Route 44-55. See parking.

How Sam's Point Joined Minnewaska

According to a 2020 Times Herald-Record history, 5,400 acres of the old Ellenville watershed lands, now the Sam's Point Area, were added to the preserve in 1996 through the Open Space Institute. Today NY State Parks and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission run it as part of Minnewaska. See history.