Sam's Point in Cragsmoor: a rare dwarf pine barrens with ice caves accessible by rock scrambles, plus Verkeerderkill Falls dropping through the ridge.
Sam's Point is the southernmost, highest section of Minnewaska State Park Preserve, with its own entrance on Sam's Point Road in Cragsmoor, a twenty-minute drive from the main Kerhonkson gate. The preserve here runs to nearly 5,000 acres, and it feels different from the moment you get out of the car: a dwarf pine barrens found in only a handful of places on the planet, pitch pines gnarled and knee-high in spots, some of them centuries old, stunted by fire and thin soil into something closer to bonsai than forest.
Keep reading Sam's Point Area (Minnewaska) The rest of the write-up, our tier and the caveat — $16 for all 460 places.
Our take is in the guide
We went to Sam's Point Area (Minnewaska). Here's where it lands.
Everything above is free and stays free. The guide adds the part that took the driving: the tier we gave Sam's Point Area (Minnewaska), whether we'd go back, and the caveat we'd tell a friend — plus the same for 459 other places across the Hudson Valley, NY.
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