Hook Mountain State Park is a undeveloped

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

located in

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of th ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The park includes a portion of the

Hudson River Palisades The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Gateway Region, Northeastern New Jersey and Downstate New York, Southeastern New York ...

on the western shore of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

, and is part of the

Palisades Interstate Park system A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure. Palisade, palisades or palisading also may refer to: Software * PALISADE (software), an open source cross platform software library that p ...

. Hook Mountain State Park is functionally part of a continuous complex of parks that also includes

Rockland Lake State Park Rockland Lake State Park is a state park located in the hamlets of Congers and Valley Cottage in the eastern part of the Town of Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States. The park is located on a ridge of Hook Mountain above th ...

Nyack Beach State Park Nyack Beach State Park is a state park in Upper Nyack, Rockland County, New York. It consists of a small parking lot and a riverfront pathway, the southernmost section of the Hudson River Valley Greenway. It is known for its physical proximity ...

, and

Haverstraw Beach State Park Haverstraw Beach State Park is a state park located in the Town of Haverstraw in Rockland County, New York. The park is included within the Palisades Interstate Park system and is functionally part of a continuous complex of parks that also incl ...

. A central feature of the park is Hook Mountain, a summit overlooking Rockland Lake and the Hudson River.

History

Hook Mountain was known to

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

settlers of the region as ''Verdrietige Hook'', meaning "Tedious Point", which may have been a reference to how long the mountain remained in view while sailing past it along the Hudson River, or for the troublesome winds that sailors encountered near the point. Hook Mountain has also been known in the past as ''Diedrick Hook''. Like other areas of the

, the landscape now included in Hook Mountain State Park was threatened by

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

ing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. To ensure the land's protection, the property was acquired to be a part of the

Palisades Interstate Park The Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC) was formed in 1900 by Governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the quarrying operations along the Palisades Cliffs of New Jersey. The Palisades, a Na ...

in 1911. Portions of Hook Mountain State Park and nearby

were designated as a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

in 1980 for their portion of the

Palisades Sill The Palisades Sill is a Triassic, 200 Ma diabase intrusion. It extends through portions of New York and New Jersey. It is most noteworthy for The Palisades, the cliffs that rise steeply above the western bank of the Hudson River. The ideal loc ...

. Hook Mountain was designated by the New York

Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

in 1997, due to its importance as a feeding area for migratory songbirds and hawks. It has been utilized annually as a hawk monitoring station since 1971. The park is currently designated as a "Bird Conservation Area" by the

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) is a state agency within the New York State Executive Department Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law § 3.03. "The office of parks, recreation a ...

. In May 2015, the

Sisters of Our Lady of Christian Doctrine The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York covers New York, Bronx, and Richmond Counties in New York City (coterminous with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, respectively), as well as Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, S ...

announced that they were considering allowing their property to become a part of Hook Mountain State Park. The order's property, which is adjacent to the southern portion of the park, could be sold to

The Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

, who would then transfer the property to New York State.

Park description

Hook Mountain State Park is undeveloped, and primarily offers space for passive recreation such as hiking and bird-watching. The

Long Path The Long Path is a long-distance hiking trail beginning in New York City, at the West 175th Street subway station near the George Washington Bridge and ending at Altamont, New York, in the Albany area. While not yet a continuous trail, relying ...

makes its way through the park and passes over Hook Mountain's summit. Although the park is undeveloped, it is functionally part of a larger complex of parks that share continuous borders, including

, and

, which contain dedicated recreational facilities.

References

External links

Palisades Interstate Park Conservancy: Hook Mountain State Park
{{authority control National Natural Landmarks in New York (state) Palisades Interstate Park system Parks in Rockland County, New York State parks of New York (state)

History

Park description

See also

References

External links