Saving the Shawangunks

The Shawangunk Ridge is a 47-mile long wonderland of windswept cliffs, rock talus fields, and secluded ravines in southeastern New York.

More than 700,000 people every year visit the Shawangunk Ridge — also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or, affectionately, "The Gunks." They come to hike, cycle, horseback ride, rock-climb, or just enjoy a visit from places like New York City, a mere two hours away.

Although the Shawangunk Ridge's long, meandering line of gleaming white cliffs lie untouched today, with the help of conservationists led by the Open Space Institute, the area has narrowly avoided being developed into luxury hotels, condominiums, and housing.

- Scott Lenhart, Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, United State Fish & Wildlife Service

The cliffs of the Shawangunk Ridge were once the bed of a shallow sea, whose waters carried pebbles and sand-sized grains of quartz that sank to the sea floor below. The seabed was then thrust upward as continents collided together some 375 million years ago.

In the 1800s, the Shawangunk Ridge became a destination for Victorian-era nature-lovers who began to flock to the grand hotels overlooking the Ridge's sky lakes.

In time, the hotel guests gave way to rock-climbers, who in 1935 began exploring the Ridge and its almost 2,000 climbing routes.

Today, more than 700,000 hikers, climbers, skiers, walkers, cyclists, leaf peepers, and others visit the Shawangunk Ridge every year, recreating in the footprint of grand, Victorian-era hotels — including the Mohonk Mountain House, which still thrives today.

Alongside the human visitors to the Shawangunk Ridge are the land's year-round residents, its unique flora and fauna. In fact, the northern part of the Ridge supports more than 35 different ecosystems, including five globally rare natural communities that can be found atop ridges, down in ice caves and within bogs and swamps.

Notably, the dwarf pitch pine barrens are a unique and globally rare natural community only known to exist on the northern Ridge. Gnarled, stooped, and twisted, the pitch pines seem to sprout directly from the bedrock and are home to many rare and endangered species.

Beyond the pine barrens, other parts of the Shawangunks are studded with microclimates, including a deep, natural ice cave system.

In its effort to counter poorly-envisioned development and protect the region's fragile ecology, the Open Space Institute has championed a long-term, systematic, proactive approach to safeguard the Shawangunk Ridge.

“We wanted to create a reserve where you can wander for hours among the pitch pine and slab rock and not look at a house or billboard or hear somebody’s lawn mower.” - OSI's Bob Anderberg

Throughout its 40-year history, the Open Space Institute has protected some 30 percent of the Ridge and more than doubled the size of its largest park, Minnewaska State Park Preserve. The map below shows the evolution of this conservation.

Note: Protected lands are shown in light green, and lands protected by OSI are shown in dark green. To view a full-screen version of this animated map or to view better on mobile devices, please click the button in the upper-right corner.

Through the decades, the struggle to protect the Shawangunk Ridge has centered around several key parts of the landscape.

The story of this conservation begins in the 1960s, at a time when not a single acre of land was permanently protected.

Over the past four decades, OSI has protected nearly 33,000 acres in Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties, on and along the Shawangunk Ridge — a total more than twice the size of Manhattan.

Click on the icons in the map below for another look at this legacy. To view a full-screen version of this interactive map or to view better on mobile devices, please click the button in the upper-right corner.

In addition, OSI's legacy on the Shawangunk Ridge includes the creation of six state forests; the expansion of two regional long-distance trails; the protection of a major wildlife and migratory bird corridor, and many other achievements.

Continuing its long legacy of protecting and improving Minnewaska State Park Preserve, OSI is raising private dollars to support the design, and working with the state on the construction, of a new Minnewaska Visitor Center. 

The center will introduce visitors to the park’s network of carriage roads and footpaths, as well as its rich history, geology, and wildlife. 

"I can't thank OSI enough for what they are doing to improve our visitor experience." - Eric Humphrey, Minnewaska Park Superintendent

Learn more about how the new Visitor Center will continue to ensure the quality of Minnewaska's acclaimed recreational experience.

Local businesses and residents also overwhelmingly support the Visitor Center.

"The Visitor Center makes sense. The park needs an interpretive educational center to educate people on the area and how to use it." - Michael Newman, Bicycle Depot

"The Visitor Center will bring more people to the area, which can directly help businesses nearby." - Chris Kelder, Kelder's Farm

Kelly Proctor and Kae Yamane

©  Open Space Institute 

With Special Thanks to:

• Minnewaska State Park Preserve: Eric Humphrey and Laura Conner
• Drone Footage & Videography:  Gerald Berliner 
• Videography:  Steve Gong 
• Drone Footage: Michael Nelson and Lighthawk
• Research: “The Gunks Through Time” by Ronald G. Knapp and Michael Neil O’Donnell; “Gardiner and Lake Minnewaska” by Carleton Mabee; "Wildlands Philanthropy: The Great American Tradition" by Butler and Vizcaino; Elting Library Staff; Greg Edinger
• Photographers: Steve Aaron, Eric Krieger, Greg Miller, and Kelly Proctor
• Community Interviews: Woods Wiser