Mohonk Preserve

Mohonk Preserve is a nonprofit nature preserve, outdoor recreation destination, research institution, and conservation organization in Ulster County, New York. Its lands occupy more than 8,200 acres of the Shawangunk Ridge, approximately 90 miles north of New York City, across portions of Gardiner, Marbletown, Rosendale, New Paltz, and Rochester. The preserve protects a varied landscape of cliffs, forests, fields, ponds, streams, carriage roads, and hiking trails, while also supporting public recreation, environmental education, land stewardship, and scientific research. The preserve's history is connected to the Mohonk Mountain House and the Smiley family. In 1869, twin brothers Albert and Alfred Smiley acquired Lake Mohonk and established the mountain resort. Over the following decades, members of the Smiley family and their associates accumulated and managed land on the Shawangunk Ridge. Concern about the long-term protection of this landscape led the Smiley family, local supporters, neighbors, and friends to establish the Mohonk Trust on February 26, 1963. The trust initially held a very small amount of cash but gradually expanded its landholdings through acquisitions and contributions. In 1978, it became Mohonk Preserve, Inc. Today, Mohonk Preserve combines conservation with carefully managed public access. Its network includes more than 70 miles of carriage roads and approximately 40 miles of trails used for hiking, cycling, trail running, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and horseback riding. The Shawangunks are also a major rock-climbing destination, with more than 1,000 climbing routes and tens of thousands of climber visits reported annually. Day-use fees apply to some activities, including cycling and rock climbing, while annual memberships provide recurring access and support for the organization's programs. The preserve's mission centers on inspiring people to care for, enjoy, and explore the natural world while protecting the Shawangunk Mountains. Its work is organized around environmental education, land protection, land stewardship, and scientific research. Educational programs serve schoolchildren and adults, and preserve officials have reported reaching more than 100,000 children over a thirty-year period. Stewardship activities seek to balance habitat protection, wildlife management, and outdoor recreation. The preserve also permits restricted deer hunting as a management measure intended to reduce ecological damage from overbrowsing. Mohonk Preserve is an important regional land trust and a major conservation presence in the Hudson Valley. More than 1,400 plant and animal species are recorded on its lands, including peregrine falcons, Jefferson salamanders, and extensive areas of rare dwarf pitch pine. The preserve adjoins Minnewaska State Park Preserve to the south, creating a larger protected landscape on the Shawangunk Ridge. In 1986, Mohonk Preserve and Mohonk Mountain House were jointly designated a National Historic Landmark. Its Daniel Smiley Research Center functions as the organization's conservation-science and archival unit. The center maintains long-running biodiversity, weather, cultural-history, and natural-history records, including extensive specimen, photograph, library, and field-observation collections. These materials support research into climate change, biodiversity, bird migration, and human effects on ecosystems. As a public-facing conservation brand, Mohonk Preserve is therefore defined not by commercial products but by the combination of protected land, outdoor experiences, membership, education, scientific information, and advocacy for the Shawangunk and Hudson Valley landscapes.

Mohonk Preserve emerged from the nineteenth-century development and conservation activities of the Smiley family in the Shawangunk Mountains. In 1869, Albert and Alfred Smiley purchased Lake Mohonk and created the Mohonk Mountain House. The resort and the family's broader landholdings helped establish the area as a destination for mountain recreation while also creating an enduring interest in protecting the ridge's distinctive scenery and ecology. The preserve's institutional history began on February 26, 1963, when members of the Smiley family, together with friends, neighbors, and other supporters, formed the Mohonk Trust. The trust was created to preserve the natural landscape for future generations. Its initial resources were modest, consisting of a $100 gift from Mabel Craven Smiley, but the organization subsequently acquired additional parcels and developed a permanent conservation structure. It was the first land trust established on the northern Shawangunk Ridge. The trust gradually expanded beyond the protection of individual properties. Its work came to include public access, trail and carriage-road management, environmental education, habitat stewardship, and the maintenance of long-term natural-history records. In 1978, the organization adopted the name Mohonk Preserve, Inc., reflecting its development into a substantial conservation institution rather than a narrowly defined landholding trust. The preserve's protected area now exceeds 8,200 acres and extends for nearly eight miles along the ridge, from the Rosendale area toward Millbrook Mountain. Most of the land lies in the town of Gardiner, with additional holdings in Marbletown, Rosendale, New Paltz, and Rochester. The preserve's location and terrain support a broad range of outdoor activities, including hiking, cycling, trail running, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and rock climbing. Public use is managed through operating hours, activity-specific fees, memberships, and rules intended to protect natural and cultural resources. Conservation and recreation are supported by scientific monitoring and historical documentation. The Daniel Smiley Research Center preserves extensive records of weather, wildlife, vegetation, land use, and cultural history. Its holdings include specimens, photographs, research materials, and decades of field observations. The archive has become a resource for studies of biodiversity, climate change, bird migration, and the effects of human activity on the environment. Mohonk Preserve also developed a substantial educational role. Its programs serve schoolchildren, adults, visitors, and conservation partners, using the preserve as an outdoor classroom and living laboratory. Land protection remains focused on the Shawangunk Ridge and the wider Hudson Valley, while stewardship addresses habitat management, wildlife populations, rare plant communities, and the effects of recreation. Restricted deer hunting is used as one management tool to limit overbrowsing and associated ecological damage. The preserve's cultural significance was recognized in 1986, when Mohonk Preserve and Mohonk Mountain House were jointly designated a National Historic Landmark. Its lands also form part of a larger protected landscape with Minnewaska State Park Preserve, which adjoins the preserve to the south and protects additional former Smiley family property. The organization remains active as a nonprofit conservation body whose public identity rests on protecting land, enabling responsible exploration, advancing environmental knowledge, and encouraging long-term stewardship of the Shawangunk Mountains.

• 1986

  National Historic Landmark designation

  [1]Mohonk Preserveen.wikipedia.org

  Mohonk Preserve and Mohonk Mountain House were jointly designated a National Historic Landmark.

• 1978

  Organization becomes Mohonk Preserve, Inc.

  [1]Mohonk Preserveen.wikipedia.org

  The Mohonk Trust adopted the Mohonk Preserve, Inc. name as its land protection, stewardship, education, and research activities expanded.

• 1963

  Mohonk Trust established

  [1]Mohonk Preserveen.wikipedia.org

  The Smiley family and local supporters formed the Mohonk Trust to protect the area's natural landscape for future generations.

• 1869

  Smiley family acquires Lake Mohonk

  [1]Mohonk Preserveen.wikipedia.org

  Albert and Alfred Smiley purchased Lake Mohonk and established the Mohonk Mountain House, beginning the modern institutional history associated with the protected Shawangunk landscape.

A conservation-led outdoor destination and scientific institution that combines protected natural lands with recreation, education, long-term ecological research, and regional land-trust advocacy.

• Outdoor recreation access

  Preserve access and memberships

  Mohonk Preserve provides day-use access to its protected lands and offers annual memberships. Access supports activities such as hiking, cycling, trail running, and other permitted forms of recreation. Separate per-person fees apply to some uses, including cycling and rock climbing. Memberships combine visitor benefits with financial support for land protection, stewardship, education, and research.

• Outdoor recreation

  Rock climbing

  The preserve is a major climbing destination in the Shawangunks, with more than 1,000 climbing routes across its cliffs. Climbing is managed as a permitted recreational use within a protected landscape, with access rules and fees intended to support both visitor safety and conservation of the cliff, forest, and habitat systems.

• Education

  Environmental education

  Environmental education programs serve school groups, adults, visitors, and community participants. Programs use the preserve's forests, cliffs, fields, waterways, and research collections to explain ecology, conservation, natural history, and responsible outdoor recreation. The organization has reported serving more than 100,000 children over a thirty-year period.

• Scientific research and archives

  Daniel Smiley Research Center

  The Daniel Smiley Research Center is the preserve's conservation-science and archival unit. It maintains long-term weather, biodiversity, natural-history, and cultural-history records, along with specimens, photographs, field observations, and research-library materials. The collections support studies of climate change, species trends, migration, and human impacts on the environment.

1. 1Mohonk Preserveen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Mohonk Preserve official websitemohonkpreserve.org