Gardiner and Lake Minnewaska (NY) (Images of America)

Located halfway between New York City and Albany, the Gardiner and Minnewaska region includes not only the Wallkill Valley lowlands but also Lake Minnewaska, a mountain lake, and the wonders of the mountains around it. The region, settled some three hundred years ago by French Huguenots and Dutch, long featured dairy and fruit farming in the valley and millstone cutting and berry picking in the mountains. In stunning photographs, Gardiner and Lake Minnewaska portrays the history of this region: the Tuthilltown gristmill, in operation for more than two hundred years; the Gardiner boarding houses and Minnewaska mountain hotels, which for years attracted guests; the state park that developed as the hotels disappeared and that now offers a vast network of hiking trails; and the rise of two new daring sports: rock climbing and skydiving.