Home ⎟ Hikes & Wanderings ⎟ New York ⎟ The Gunks ⎟ Sam’s Point

Distance: 8.9 miles

Time: 5 hours

Difficulty: Moderate-Strenuous

Elevation Gain: 800 feet

Dog Friendly: Yes.

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Trailhead Directions: From the New York State Thruway, take exit 16 for Harriman. Pay the toll and merge onto NY-17 West for 25 miles to exit 115 for Burlingham Road. Turn left onto Roosa Gap Road and go 3 miles. Continue onto Main Street / Roosa Gap and Pleasant Valley Road for 2.2 miles, then continue straight onto Cox Road. Turn left onto NY-52 West and go 0.7 miles. Turn right onto Cragsmoor Road and continue 1.4 miles, then make a right onto Craigsmoor Road. Go 500 feet and turn right onto Sam’s Point Road. Park in the Sam’s Point Preserve Conservation Office trailhead parking lot and pay the fee at the kiosk outside the office.

Hike Directions: Follow the gravel path from the Sam’s Point Conservation Center to an intersection of two trails a tenth of a mile from the parking area.  Turn LEFT and follow the Loop Road.  After a mile, you’ll arrive at communications towers.  Continue on the trail for just a tenth of a mile to the trail’s intersection with the High Point Carriage Road.  Make a LEFT and take the carriage road 0.4 miles to the yellow-blazed Indian Rock Trail.  Turn LEFT and after a half mile reach Indian Rock.  Retrace your steps back to the High Point Carriage road, turn LEFT and continue for another 0.7 miles.  At this point, the trail continues on straight ahead, but it quite a bit more rugged, and in 1/3 of a mile, turn RIGHT on an unmarked trail.  Stick to the unmarked trail for a quarter mile before running into the High Point Trail.  Make a sharp LEFT here and after 1/5 of a mile reach High Point.  From High Point, turn around and follow the RED AND TEAL-BLAZED Long Path for 2 miles to a three-way intersection.  Turn RIGHT and reach Verkeerderkill Falls in a quarter mile.  Enjoy the falls from its rocky ledges.  It’s possible to get to the bottom of the falls, but it requires a moderately strenuous bushwack.  Continue beyond the falls on the TEAL BLAZES for 1.64 miles where it reaches an intersection with a footpath descending downhill to ice caves.  Turn RIGHT, reaching the top of the hill in a few hundred feet; then turn LEFT still following the TEAL-BLAZED Long Path.  From here, walk a little under a half mile to Sam’s Point, a well-maintained lookout over the Shawangunk valley.  After Sam’s Point, continue only another 0.7 miles downhill & back to your car.

Scenery: 9/10