Lake Minnewaska Silver Jubilee Swim

Cliffs plunge straight into the clear waters of Lake Minnewaska. This striking setting frames the Lake Minnewaska Silver Jubilee Swim, an open water lake swimming event held at Minnewaska State Park Preserve near Kerhonkson, New York. Lake Minnewaska stretches one mile in length and spans one-quarter mile at its widest point, wrapped in a dramatic natural amphitheater of towering sheer stone. The event is organized by New York Open Water, a non-profit organization. For this gathering, swimmers take on a marked loop course measuring 0.75 miles, or 1,207 meters. Gliding along the circuit offers a rare privilege, as it allows participants to explore areas of the pristine lake that remain strictly closed to the general public throughout the year.

Organized as a non-competitive, non-timed swim, the event invites swimmers to focus purely on the rhythm of their stroke and the clarity of the mountain water. Participants can complete a single circuit or string together continuous laps over an unhurried window of approximately three hours. The event was established to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Minnewaska Distance Swimmers Association. That deep local swimming heritage builds on gatherings held here in the same loop format, including an open water swim dedicated in honor of Terry Laughlin.

Shawangunk Ridge: Lake Maratanza and the ridgetop sky lakes

About twelve kilometres away, Sam's Point Preserve protects Lake Maratanza, which sits at an elevation of 2,245 feet above sea level. Resting at this airy altitude, it stands as the highest lake found anywhere on the Shawangunk Ridge in New York. Lake Maratanza is an impounded body of water that serves as a vital drinking water supply for the valley town of Ellenville. Its outlet brook spills over the high ridge and into the Verkeerder Kill, which eventually feeds into the Shawangunk Kill and the Wallkill River below. The windswept landscape surrounding the high lake is cloaked in dwarf pitch pine barrens clinging to the thin ridgetop soil. Deep within the preserve lie the Ellenville Fault Ice Caves, recognized as the largest known open fault with ice caves in the United States. In these subterranean chasms, a cool microclimate keeps ice intact throughout the entire year, a striking natural phenomenon that earned designation as a National Natural Landmark in 1967.

Lake Mohonk: deep waters framed by Sky Top and Eagle Cliff

About eight kilometres away lies another iconic body of water, Lake Mohonk. The lake spans half a mile in length (0.80 kilometres) and plunges to depths of 60 feet (18 meters), resting at an elevation of 379 meters above sea level. The glacial basin is closely sheltered by towering rock walls, with Sky Top Mountain rising to 470 meters and Eagle Cliff standing at 430 meters to the west. For multisport competitors, these deep, enclosed waters serve as the final aquatic leg of the storied Survival of the Shawangunks endurance race. The historic Mohonk Mountain House estate covers 1,325 acres of gardens and landscaped meadows originally designed as a living conservation experiment for geology and botany.

The resort property connects directly with the broader Mohonk Preserve, which maintains 85 miles of carriage roads and hiking trails across the mountain ridge. This vast landscape was safeguarded when the Smiley family transferred the majority of their acreage to the Mohonk Trust in 1963.

Shawangunk Kill and Wallkill River: mills and early valley settlements

Around thirteen kilometres from Lake Minnewaska, early Native American communities lived along the riverbanks long before European contact, leaving behind stone artifacts dating back between 6,000 and 8,000 years. In 1678, Huguenot settlers established a homestead on a flat rise beside the Wallkill River, creating what is now preserved as the Huguenot Street Historic District. About seven kilometres from the swim area, the historic Tuthilltown Gristmill stands along the west bank of the Shawangunk Kill. Built in 1788 by Selah Tuthill, the mill was positioned strategically just above the confluence where the Shawangunk Kill joins the Wallkill River. The mill relied on an upstream dam across the Shawangunk Kill to funnel rushing current into a concrete headrace leading to the turbine pit.

Originally driven by an undershot waterwheel, the mill was later converted to an overshot wheel. Downstream about twelve kilometres from Minnewaska, the historic Locust Lawn estate borders Plattekill Creek. Here, the Terwilliger family utilized the creek and its rushing falls to power both a grist mill and a saw mill.

Delaware and Hudson Canal at High Falls: the historic coal canal locks

About fourteen kilometres from Lake Minnewaska, the Delaware and Hudson Canal was constructed to transport anthracite coal from the mines of northeastern Pennsylvania to New York City via the Hudson River. At High Falls, canal builders overcame a dramatic change in grade by constructing six new locks to conquer a 70-foot vertical rise in just a quarter of a mile. Lock tenders regulated the water levels and steered heavy barges through the canal chambers, securing the boats against massive snubbing posts embedded along the stone banks. Two of those original snubbing posts still stand on the historic site today. A general store and warehouse provided supplies and provisions to barge crews during their arduous two-week voyages. Today, the stone foundations of the canal store measure 33 by 40 feet with walls two feet thick.