Nyack Beach State Park is a

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 ...

Upper Nyack Upper Nyack is a village incorporated in 1872 in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of the village of Nyack, east of Valley Cottage, south of Rockland Lake State Park, and west of the Hudson R ...

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 * '' ...

. It consists of a small parking lot and a riverfront pathway, the southernmost section of the

Hudson River Valley Greenway The Hudson River Valley Greenway is a system of parks, trails, kayak/canoe routes, etc. along New York's Hudson River, and the organization that serves to promote and preserve them. The Greenway system includes the Hudson Valley Rail Trail. Fourteen ...

. It is known for its physical proximity to 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 ...

on one side of the pathway and the looming cliffs of the Palisades rising above on the other side. The park is included within 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 ...

and 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 ...

Hook Mountain State Park Hook Mountain State Park is a undeveloped state park located in Rockland County, New York. The park includes a portion of the Hudson River Palisades on the western shore of the Hudson River, and is part of the Palisades Interstate Park system. ...

, 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 ...

History

The

Palisades Interstate Park Commission 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 ...

purchased what was to become Nyack Beach State Park in 1911 to provide space for recreation, and to protect the land from the effects of

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 that were impacting 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 ...

during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Along with a portion of adjacent

, Nyack Beach was declared 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 April 1980 for its 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 ...

Park description

The park offers picnicking, hiking, bicycling, fishing, and cross-country skiing along the pathway.. The path is flat and handicapped accessible. The pathway runs for along the river towards

. As the name implies, the park originally included a swimming beach which has been closed for many years due to pollution in the Hudson River. In 2005, it was suggested that the beach could be reopened for swimming due to the improved condition of the river.

Wildlife

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

s and

raptor Raptor or RAPTOR may refer to: Animals The word "raptor" refers to several groups of bird-like dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons. * Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunts and feeds on ...

s nest in the cliff and are easily viewed from the pathway. In 1994 there was a

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

at the park, and in 1995 a harbor seal spent much of August in the vicinity of the park.

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s and dinosaur footprints have been found in the rocks along the pathway.

References

External links

New York State Parks: Nyack Beach State Park

Palisades Park Conservancy: Nyack Beach State Park

NY-NJTC: Nyack Beach State Park Details and Trail Info
{{authority control Palisades Interstate Park system National Natural Landmarks in New York (state) Parks in Rockland County, New York State parks of New York (state)

History

Park description

Wildlife

See also

References

External links