Little Stony Point Park   |   3011 Rt. 9D   |   Cold Spring, NY 10516  |      **Map**

The Little Stony Point Citizen's Association welcomes you to Little Stony Point, part of the Hudson Highlands State Park: one of the most beautiful places in the Hudson Valley.

Founded in 1989, the Little Stony Point Citizen's Association is dedicated to keeping this New York State park beautiful and accessible to the public. The LSPCA was the first of now over 30 "Friends" groups that work in association with the New York State Park system to keep beautiful areas like this one open to the public.

Please help us to keep it that way. Please join us by visiting the park any day of the year, and especially on event days. We have "Spring Cleanup days", a Maple Syrup Day in March and our annual musical "Hoot on the Hudson", in early September. The park is open to visitors every day, dawn to dusk.   **Map**

If you would like to volunteer, please email Caretaker John Teagle at Volunteers@LittleStonyPoint.org.
You can make a tax deductible donation in support of the park, by sending your check to:
Little Stony Point Citizen's Association, 3011 Rt. 9D, Cold Spring, NY 10516
Every little bit helps!

Little Stony Point "Cleanup Day" Sunday April 22
Greetings from the dry, dry, dry Little Stony Point. We've been watering the trees we planted this Spring, keeping them alive in the red-flag conditions. Rain is predicted for Sunday, which is in the big picture a relief. However, that is also the day of our Annual Beach Cleanup, which we are going ahead with, rain or shine. Use your own comfort meter and good judgement, come if you like and we'll see you next time if not Sunday. We will be part of the Riverkeeper Great Riversweep on June 2nd, as well and are working with State Parks to get some heavy machinery to the beach in the next few weeks. But Sunday at 9:00, 11:00 and 1:00 we will have at it, rain or shine!

Every Spring, the Hudson River picks up all sorts of debris as it moves towards the ocean, traditionally leaving a great deal of it along the shores. Because Little Stony Point is like an arm reaching out into the river’s flow, it acts as a catch-all for anything floating down the river, such as trees, limbs, discarded lawn furniture, 55 gallon drums and millions of “devilheads”, the spikey invasive black waterchestnuts.

Each year, hundreds of volunteer hours are needed to clear little Sandy Beach for summer fun. If you would like to help out, meet some great people, get some fresh air, and spend some time one of the beautiful places in Philipstown, please email Caretaker John Teagle at Volunteers@LittleStonyPoint.org, or just come on by.

On Clean-up days, just come out to the beach (cross over the bridge to the Park, make a right and head toward the beach on the north side of the Point. Kids are encouraged to join in, and experience making the world a better place.

Trash pickers, bags, buckets, water, coffee, refreshments and instructions will be provided. Bring gloves, shoes that won’t be punctured walking on devilheads, waders for those willing to join the kayakers out in the drink, and the expectation of a memorable time helping your community. Those who have chainsaws, portable sawz-alls, loppers, nippers, etc., are encouraged to bring them.

Little Stony Point "2012 Maple Syrup Day": Sweet Fun

Little Stony Point Citizen's Association hosted its 22nd Annual Maple Syrup Day on Sunday, March 25th at the Caretaker's House on Route 9D just north of Cold Spring. Once again this year's event drew a record crowd, who reveled in fresh-off-the-griddle pancakes, hot apple cider and delicious maple syrup. Free and open to all, as always, featuring live music with a backdrop of the beautiful Hudson River.

Visit the New York Times "Dot Earth" blog that local author, musician and dad Andy Revkin posted. It features a great video clip of Pete Seeger singing the Maple Syrup song.

Kids of all ages will be given a demonstration of how sugar maple trees are tapped and witness first hand the process involved in transforming the watery liquid dripping out of the trees into the sticky sweet liquid the native Americans called "sinzibuckwud" literally, "drawn from wood." A large fire under the evaporator tray, where the water is boiled off, leaves what we know as maple syrup.

A stand operated by the Hudson Valley Maple Farm, a program of NY State Parks at the Taconic Outdoor Education Center, will have bottles of syrup available for those interested in taking the party home with them. This group has taps throughout the Taconic Region State Parks, including a number of trees in the woods across from Little Stony Point. The pails appeared last week and have already provided enough sap to fill the evaporator and more. The group will share their knowledge of the history and methodology of maple syrup making.

2012 "Hoot on the Hudson"

Usually on the Sunday after Labor Day (September 9th, this year) the Little Stony Point Citizens Association will host its annual Hoot on the Hudson, or simply, "the Hoot." Started 17 years ago, past Hoots have featured acts ranging from traditional solo performers to full bands, from classical guitarists to spoken word ranting to show tunes to surf guitars to fifty people on stage singing traditional American folk songs. A solar generator will once again be providing electricity for this off the grid show.

The festival runs from 1pm to 6pm and admission is free for the whole family. Refreshments will be available or bring a picnic. Lawn chairs and umbrellas are recommended items to bring along for those making a day of it. The beach and hiking trails are often mixed in for a full day's fun.

The all volunteer Little Stony Point Citizens Association will be manning an information table offering history and maps of the park, signups for new members and email addresses, as well as accepting donations that are used to help keep this special portion of the Hudson Highlands State Park clean and inviting to the enormous flow of local residents and out of town hikers that use it each year. Little Stony Point is a state owned recreational resource operated through a cooperative management agreement between the Little Stony Point Citizens Association and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

2009 Hoot Poster by Phil Heffernan

Find Little Stony Point on the map above. View Larger Map