The name derives from a folktale in which a noted Spanish settler named Samuel Gonzales, pursued by Indians, jumped off the cliff to avoid capture and miraculously survived the drop with the trees breaking his fall, around the time of the French and Indian War. 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. Management of the preserve was transferred to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in April 2015, after having been managed by The Nature Conservancy since 1996. The preserve is currently managed as part of Minnewaska State Park Preserve.
In late April 2016, a fire of unknown origin burned of the park and nearby woodlands. Containing the fire required nearly a week of effort from over 300 responders from local and state agencies; no structural damage and only minor injuries were reported. Although much of Minnewaska State Park reopened soon after the blaze, the Sam's Point section remained completely closed until Memorial Day weekend; at that time, only selected trails at Sam's Point were re-opened to the public to prevent the introduction of invasive species to the recovering landscape. As a historically fire-adapted ecosystem, much of the vegetation at Sam's Point responded positively in the wake of the fire. However, an abundance of fuel due to reduced fire frequency in recent years led to an intense, fast-moving blaze that did not completely burn through accumulated debris, which may inhibit the regeneration of the park's pitch pine.
Ellenville Fault Ice Caves
The Ellenville Fault Ice Caves is the largest known open fault in the United States with corresponding ice caves. As a result of the cool microclimate, ice is present throughout the year and more northern plants such as black spruce, hemlock, mountain ash, and creeping snowberry, and bryophytes such as Isopterygium distichaceum are able to survive. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in November 1967. There are hiking trails to the ice caves which are open in the summer, but a permit is required to visit the area.
