History
The name derives from a story that a man named Sam, pursued by Indians, jumped off the cliff to avoid capture and miraculously survived the drop. Roads throughout the preserve were built as fire roads in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The land was once owned by the nearby village of Ellenville to protect its watershed and partly by a company which offered tours of the ice caves. The Open Space Institute, working with The Nature Conservancy bought it with assistance from the Lila Acheson and Dewitt Wallace Fund for the Hudson Highlands, after the village considered selling the land to developers.
In 2005, the Preserve opened the Sam’s Point Conservation Center with education facilities, exhibits and a gift shop. A parking fee of $10 per vehicle is charged.
Read more about this topic: Sam's Point Preserve
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