Visitors to Minnewaska State Park Preserve will be greeted by a new 5,400 square-foot visitors center that provides restrooms and other amenities, as well as education and programming space dedicated to the environmental and natural history of the Shawangunk Ridge.
The center caps a $27 million public-private multi-phase investment in the 24,000-acre Preserve under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s NY Parks 2020 initiative. Under the partnership, the not-for-profit Open Space Institute rase $3 million in private funds and grants for the center’s design, state-of-the-art exhibits and other upgrades and features.
Upgrades at the Preserve include renovation of the park roadway, new timber guide rails, two new electric vehicle charging stations, improved parking areas, new ADA accessible walkways, public drinking water, new storm water and sewer management infrastructure, and underground utilities; adding native plantings and landscaping, and other site improvements.
In 2017, the first phase of improvements included a rebuilt main entrance area on Route 44/55 to mitigate waiting traffic, as well as adding automated parking fee stations to relieve traffic congestion and improve safety on peak visitation days in a Preserve that draws up to a half-million visitors year.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, visitation at the Preserve, which includes the Sam’s Point Area – home to a rare pitch pine ecosystem – surged by more than 40 percent compared to 2019. Learn more
