Minnewaska State Park is huge. And very, very beautiful. Streams, waterfalls, views, rock formations, lakes, carriage trails, hiking trails, biking trails, even fantastic cross-country skiing—name it, Minnewaska State Park has it. No wonder it has in the 1800s become a booming domain of the well-to-dos which has since the 90s been transformed into the public park that it is today for a meager $10-per-vehicle-no-matter-how-many-people-you-can-safely-cram-in-there fee and NYC day-trippers began coming in droves for a romp in Nature “upstate”. So, when coming on a summer or fall weekend, unless you plan on arriving before opening at 9 AM, be prepared for not getting into the park at all.

Just saying.

But there are alternatives. Outside the main park there’s Stony Kill Falls which we ended up going to years ago when we saw the long line of cars on NY44/55 trying to get in. There are also trailheads here and there with limited parking, some free, some not. People on these “alternates” don’t normally stay there the whole day so you might get lucky finding parking as people come and go.

The waterfall at Sanders Kill Creek is one such alternative. Although it’s right next to busy NY44/55, where you’ll often hear traffic, this is still a legitimate waterfall worth seeing. It is just a short and effortless 0.2-mile walk from the ~8-car lot at Jenny Ln where you can park for free.

And if you’re already parked at Jenny Ln and made it to Sanders Kill Creek, you can maybe walk the rest of the way effortlessly on NY44/55 into the main gate at Minnewaska State Park less than a mile away and walk in for free.

Just saying…