Mohonk Preserve — Attraction in Town of New Paltz

First of all, be aware that many pictures posted under the Mohonk Preserve's Google page were not taken from the Mohonk Preserve. From my humble opinion, those pictures were most likely taken from Mohonk Mountain House Resort but the reviewers mixed the two places up and posted the pictures under this page. The Mohonk Mountain House resort and the Mohonk Preserve are not associated with each other, according to the staff working at Mohonk Preserve Visitor Center. Mohonk Preserve is a large woody area with hiking trails and biking trails. You will see various landscapes and enjoy the green nature. It's so large that you will need multiple days to explore the whole area. It's similar to a mediocre state park but it's much more expensive. $15 per person per day for hiking. Not worth it. On the top of the Monhonk Mountain it's the Monhonk Mountain Resort area however with the ticket purchased at the Mohonk Preserve visitor center, you won't be able to access to the mountain top. In addition, any parking lot associated with the Mohonk Preserve is too far from the Resort. As a hiker, if you come to the Mohonk for the historical castle-like hotel, the Sky Top Tower and the Mohonk lake, you should drive to the Mohonk Mountain House Gate House directly. You will pay $30 per person per day for hiking fee however that's the only way for you to access to the unique place of the Mohonk Mountain, which distinguishes the Mohonk with other regular hiking areas. It's about 2 mile each way and will take about 4 hours with stops for a round trip. Yes, $30 is not cheap however the hiking trail is well maintained and you will see amazing sceneries and enjoy multiple unusual pavilions built right by the cliff. To summarize, paying $15 at the Mohonk Preserve won't give you any access to the top of the Mohonk Mountain. I think the Preserve should make it clear so people won't spend money and time and then just find out that it's impossible for them to see what they would like to see.

Add comment to respond the owner of this page: I appreciate that the staff at Mohonk Preserve took time to reply but I think they should make it clear to the online audience about walking distance from them to Mohonk Mountain House. If someone wants to visit Mohonk Mountain House, they should not pay Mohonk Preserve $15 fee per person and start from their parking lots unless they are willing to spend 1-2 days to hike because their parking lots are too far. After we made the payment to Mohonk Preserve, we were told that to start from their parking lots to the mountain house, we would have to walk close to 10 miles in the mountainous terrain, which was too challenging and even impossible for many people. And if we wanted to use closer parking lots, we would need to pay another $30 per person to the property of Mohonk Mountain House. If Mohonk Preserve wants to use any connection with "Mohonk Mountain House" to attract visitors, they should make it clear how far their parking lots are. Again, without going to Mohonk Mountain House, this "Mohonk Preserve" is an underwhelming woody area that you can easily see at many places in east coast. Not worth the $15 fee in my opinion. I spent time to write this post to help other fellow visitors to save money and time, and I want to remind all property owners like this to be more...

The land is stunning and there are trails catering to a variety of interests. However, this isn't a state park. It is a non profit calling itself a "nature preserve". I'm glad the land is kept undeveloped, however. They nickel and dime you. To go to the visitors center is free but parking is limited. It's really only a place to get your bearings, go to the bathroom, refill your water, and buy merch. Each trailhead/ parking area is not only not free, but you don't pay per car. It's per person. $15 per person, per trailhead but then other places say per day. The history of the area is pretty snooty and that tradition continues now the land is part of the preserve and not a resort. One area I really started to feel like they were greedy was maps. You can buy a map for $5, or download an app and buy the pdf for $1.99, or get a photocopied free one at the trailhead. My issue with that is planning. What trail do I want to go on? Don't really know until I get there. They don't show you the trails online. I'm used to hiking state parks- an easy box naming all the trails, distance, and difficulty is so important when I'm planning a hike and trying to match skill level of those I'm hiking with the days plan. How do I figure out how much time it will take, what gear to bring, how much water I need, if I can't even see a map? Anyway. We did the undercliff/overcliff loop. It's gorgeous. Another bit of warning though. This is a popular trail and that means not all hiking are aware of trail etiquette. Especially the rock climbers seemed to take up the whole path. Though that might be an illusion caused by the giant safety mats they carry strapped to ther back and the fact one side of the trail is a sheer drop off so I felt like I was going to fall when they refused to walk to one side instead of as a pack down the middle. That's not everybody though of course. Another thing to be aware of- this is a high snake activity area. We even saw a massive northern copperhead. Be careful and watch your dogs. Again, the land is gorgeous,...

The hiking around here is magical. VERY magical. However, I can't give this place a 5 star rating as they never coordinate with the nearby resort about parking and they never have information available in a timely manner on their website about when they're hosting events that may fill up their tiny, crowded lots on a weekend.

Was up there last year in spring and we had a fiasco because they were hosting a race on a weekend morning.

Went up this past Sunday, 9/22/24 and they doofuses at the entrance to the Spring Trail parking lot were complete idiots. First, they must get lonely because we had to sit behind two other cars for almost 10 minutes while trying to enter. One of the workers was having a full blown conversation with the first car and instead of politely telling them to pull out of the way so others can enter, as there was a second worker there who could have either taken over the convo or helped people pay to get in, they sat there like hillbillies chatting. When we finally got up front I asked for 7 adult day passes. Guy, same one oblivious and backing up traffic, takes my card, charges it, then hands me 6 passes. I told him I asked for 7. He said oops...proceeds to ask for my card again. I check my account two days later - yup - he charged me for 7 originally. I get these folks are either volunteers or low paid workers, but jesus - there's a SUNY campus 10-15 minutes away - can we get people that understand technology and aren't looking to chat endlessly with visitors to work the gates or at least provide some training to...