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Sam’s Point Preserve - A Christmas Hike



December 29, 2006 – 6:28 pm | by gaulardcom



We have a new tradition in our house. We are going to go for a hike. Now, I completely understand that this may be a one year tradition because this year’s tempurature was in the 50s, but if this Global Warming thing is correct, there may be a few more years to go. By the way, wouldn’t you just love to see Al Gore and George Bush in a boxing match?

Anyway, we decided that Sam’s Point Preserve in the Shawangunk Mountains of Ulster County, New York would be the best place to start, because it is fairly nearby.

We drove up RT.52 towards Ellenville and made a right at the sign that said, “Cragsmoor.” After a few miles of crossing the top of the ridge, we found and parked in the parking area. I took a walk over to the big map and saw that there was a lake about one and a half miles up the trail. Ok, let’s go see that.

We walked for a while and could see the cliffs on the right. They were getting lower and lower to the ground as we continued on. When we finally got to the top, I took Holly (the dog) and jumped up on top of a rock for a view.

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The first thought I had was, “What an odd place.” Right from where I was standing, you had a 360 degree panoramic view of the and the . Also, there was the lake all right…in the middle of this short pine tree forest. I felt like I was either walking on the moon or walking in Florida somewhere. Again, very odd.

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I took Holly down to the edge of the water and came across a weird little area. It must be a spill over or something. It seemed a bit out of place because I was wondering how they would get any machinery up here. I guess it must’ve been a while ago. Also, I was wondering if maybe there was any cave entrances around. I kept my eyes peeled.

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We totally forgot what the map looked like, so we only continued to walk for about another mile. We walked out and turned back for the two mile trip back to the car. When we got back there, we realized that a loop actually went around the lake and we were closer to the car at the point we turned around. Whoops. Next time we are going to take the trail from the other direction and take some nice pics from the top of the cliffs.

Till then!

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  1. 3 Responses to “Sam’s Point Preserve - A Christmas Hike”

  2. By Phil on Feb 6, 2008 | Reply

    Isnt that a great area. Been all over the area since the 70’s. Did you get to the ice caves yet? That lake is the water supply for the town of Ellenville. The water perks up from the ground. It doesn’t rely on rain water. If you havent seen it, visit the new welcome center at the entrance of Sams Point… DOnt forget to view the squaters huts along the trail…from the bluberry picking days (protected area)

    Phil

  3. By jaygaulardcom on Feb 6, 2008 | Reply

    We haven’t been to the ice caves yet. I think this Spring will be a good time to do that.

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