Pine Road is a dead end off Butterville Road with Mohonk Preserve land on every side. The River-to-Ridge Trail crosses it on the way from the Carmine Liberta Bridge over the Wallkill River, through cornfields and meadows, up to the foothills just below the ridgeline. A small lot at the top holds about eight cars, and for decades it has been the place to park for a short weekday run or hike without going through a gatehouse. Since October 13 it has been behind a road-closure sign.
The closure is one of several changes this month. The free walk-in is closed, Minnewaska closes an hour earlier, and Mohonk Preserve lifts its weekday hunting limits on Monday. Each path from New Paltz up the ridge has less open daylight than it did a month ago. The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, down in the valley, keeps its usual hours.
Pine Road Is Closed Until Further Notice
Mohonk Preserve's alerts page says the Town of New Paltz Highway Department closed Pine Road "starting October 13 until further notice, for roadway and shoulder work," and that parking along the road is temporarily closed too. No reopening date has been posted.
The work grew out of a parking problem. Hudson Valley One reported in September that Town Supervisor Tim Rogers called the top of the road "a great place to park Monday through Friday for locals" that can get "a little sketchy" on busy visitor weekends. Highway Superintendent Chris Marx told the paper his crew would widen the road by 15 feet on the north side, near the pedestrian crosswalk a few hundred feet up from Butterville. They will use millings from town highway stock to make more parking there, and the road stays closed while they widen and grade. According to the same article, the parking will still "look like informal parking" when it's done.
The article also covers what may come later. The town is discussing a transfer of Pine Road to the Preserve, and Rogers said the Preserve would probably like to close it to traffic somewhere near the farmhouse, before the road starts uphill. Julie Gundersen, the Preserve's communications director, told Hudson Valley One that "no final decisions have been made regarding permanent road closures, long-term parking configurations, or a potential transfer of road ownership."
The nearest other way in costs money. The Testimonial Gatehouse is about half a mile from Pine Road, and Rogers told the paper that you need a membership to get past the attendant there. A Mohonk Preserve day pass for hikers costs $15 Monday through Thursday and $20 Friday through Sunday or on holidays. Bikers, climbers, cross-country skiers and riders pay $25. The free Visitor Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. year-round. It closes on Thanksgiving Day, at noon on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Minnewaska Closes at 5 p.m. Through Early March
Minnewaska State Park Preserve is on its seasonal schedule, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November 1, 2026, through March 8, 2027. That's an hour earlier than the 6 p.m. close still shown in the park's banner, so a late-afternoon loop around Lake Minnewaska needs an earlier start than it did in October. The park's page lists a $10 vehicle fee for cars and smaller vehicles. Swimming at Lake Minnewaska and Lake Awosting is closed until the 2027 season. Bikes are allowed only on designated carriage roads, never when there's snow or ice on the trails or when freeze-thaw has softened the carriage roads, and the park posts biking status in its web alerts.
Minnewaska allows deer hunting by park permit only. Its official hunting map shows 14,103 acres open to hunting and 9,090 acres closed to it, so permitted hunting covers most of the mapped land. The map is from 2019, so check the park's own notices for the most current boundaries.
Hunting Expands to All Daylight Hours on November 9
Mohonk Preserve runs a 2026 deer management program to limit deer over-browsing in the Shawangunk forests. For its first four weeks, the program kept the middle of weekdays free of hunting because school groups use the Preserve. The program's schedule:
- October 13 to November 5: On Monday through Thursday, hunting was allowed only from 30 minutes before sunrise to 8:45 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 30 minutes after sunset. The limits didn't apply Friday through Sunday.
- Starting Monday, November 9: Hunting is allowed every day from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.
- November 21 to December 13: This is New York's Southern Zone regular deer season, according to the DEC's 2026–2027 hunting guide. Late bowhunting follows from December 14 to 22.
- December 23 to 25: No hunting in the Southern Zone.
- January 1: Mohonk Preserve's season ends.
The Preserve doesn't close trails to hikers during the season. It recommends blaze orange and leaves orange vests at every trailhead. Its regulations list Mohonk Mountain House property and the orange zones on its map as no-hunting areas. For the next eight weeks, then, a weekday hike on Preserve land overlaps the hunting schedule all day long. In October the middle of the day was set aside.
The Rail Trail Keeps the Same Hours All Year
The Wallkill Valley Land Trust describes the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail as free, multi-use and open every day of the year from dawn to dusk. Those hours follow daylight, and they don't change for the season. The one current restriction is for riders: the Wallkill River bridge just south of Springtown Road is closed to horses.
The land trust's own November programming uses the trail. On Saturday, November 7, it hosts "The Shape of Trees," an educational walk on identifying trees in winter, around the Rosendale Trestle. The Eventbrite listing says to meet at the Binnewater Road parking lot. With the leaves down, the walk is about telling trees apart by bark, branching and overall shape.
The Same Saturday, Mohonk Preserve Starts From the Fairgrounds
Mohonk Preserve's biggest fall fundraiser also starts in the valley. Shawangunk Grit is on Saturday, November 7. It's a challenging gravel-bike ride, not a race, that starts and finishes at the Ulster County Fairgrounds, 249 Libertyville Road. There are two courses:
| Course | Start time | Registration |
|---|---|---|
| 50.4 miles | 8:30 a.m. | $150 |
| 23 miles | 9:30 a.m. | $125 |
Registration fees pay for the Preserve's conservation work, education programs, research, invasive-species control, and carriage-road maintenance and repair. The Grit falls on the last weekend before Mohonk's weekday hunting limits lift on November 9.
As the Days Shorten, Events Move to Huguenot Street and the Mountain House
Through the rest of November and into December, the town's calendar moves indoors and into the evening. Historic Huguenot Street hosts three separate events, Mohonk Mountain House runs a holiday season of more than a month, and the Town of New Paltz's Holiday Hoopla runs the community events.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, Nov. 15 | Hudson Valley Baroque concert | Historic Huguenot Street |
| Wednesday, Nov. 18, 7 to 8:30 p.m. | Together @ The Table Community Meal and 1st Annual Story Feast | New Connexions United Methodist Church |
| Nov. 28 to Jan. 3 | Victorian Holidays, with Winter Lights daily from Nov. 28 | Mohonk Mountain House |
| Sunday, Dec. 6 | "Let's Build a Village," a community gingerbread collaboration | Elting Memorial Library |
| Daily from Dec. 7 | Gingerbread displays | Mohonk Mountain House |
| Saturday, Dec. 12 | Winter Carnival with horse-drawn wagon rides, music, food, outdoor games, Santa Paws and youth performances | Historic Huguenot Street |
| Sunday, Dec. 13 | "Musical Friends: A Holiday Celebration" | 60 Huguenot Street |
The Holiday Hoopla dates come from the Town and Village joint meeting announcements of September 16, which describe this seventh edition as a full week of events. Victorian Holidays at Mohonk Mountain House runs from the Saturday after Thanksgiving through January 3, with skating, campfires, crafts and performances. The Historic Huguenot Street calendar has both concerts.
Back at the ridge, Pine Road is still closed until further notice. The Preserve's alert is the place to check for a reopening, and the town expects the widened lower stretch to keep parking informal when it opens.
At Jake Garay, we keep track of details like Pine Road's parking, gatehouse fees and park hours that shape everyday life near the Gunks, along with the market itself. If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of the River-to-Ridge Trail or the Rail Trail, schedule a consultation and we'll go through those parts of town with you.
