Lake Mohonk Mountain House Complex

Lake Mohonk Mountain House and its surrounding preserve cover 7,500 acres of the Shawangunk Mountains northwest of New Paltz. The rambling hotel, built in five sections between 1870 and 1902, has stone turrets, wooden gables and spires, runs over 770 feet long and rises three to seven stories beside a glacial lake. The grounds hold 110 miles of trails and carriage roads, gardens, over 140 cottages, Eagle Cliff Tower and the Memorial Tower on Sky Top. Twin brothers Alfred and Albert Smiley bought a small inn and 280 acres in 1869 and ran a temperance resort from 1870. They acquired over 100 adjacent parcels to protect the property. Architects Napolean Le Brun and James Ware designed later work, including the Parlor Wing. From 1883 to 1916 conferences at Mohonk helped shape United States Indian policy, and arbitration conferences began in 1895. The Mohonk Trust, created in 1971, was meant to preserve the wilderness land permanently.