Google map | Sam's Point Preserve Map | Map at LocalHikes.com (High Point Sam's Point loop) |
Map from Garmin | Shawangunk Ridge Trail Map at the NY-NJ Trail Conference | Sam's Point Trails | Catskill Hiker

 
Grand Canyon in Shingle Gully from Google Maps

The Sam's Point Preserve is a 4,600-acre nature site on the highest point of the Shawangunk Ridge was purchased by the Open Space Institute (OSI) in 1997. It is operated by the Nature Conservancy.

It is home to nearly 40 rare plants and animals.
More than 200 species of migratory and nesting birds call Sam's Point home. With binoculars in tow, you're sure to see some tiny warblers or flycatchers flitting about. Larger birds can be seen as well, like hawks, falcons, vultures, and ravens.

It contains the largest known exposed fault system in the United States, along with a series of ice caves formed from fault debris.
These are deep (100-foot) fissures in the quartz conglomerate that retain ice through much of the summer resulting in a cool microenvironment that supports several northern species such as black spruce, hemlock, rowan, and creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula), and bryophytes such as Isopterygium distichaceum.

The conservation center is open Thursday through Monday from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm. The conservation center is open from mid-April through mid-November.

Take Cragsmoor Rd of of NY 52 to Sams Point Rd.

Their Sam's Point Preserve web site says,
"We require a minimum of one week advance notice prior to a group (12 or more people) visit. To arrange a group visit, please call (845) 647-7989 ext 100."
Email: rwinters@tnc.org

The Smiley Carriageway - Shingle Gully area requires a permit for smaller groups and limits group size to 12. I called at the end of June and the first weekend date available was the end of July.

There are several ice caves:

Shingle Gully ice caves. Known also as Ellenville Ice Caves, Cave of Mists, Greater Ice Caves, Greater Ellenville Ice Caves, Noncommercial Ice Caves.
Many names have been given to the various formations within the Greater Ice Caves / Shingle Gully. These include: Wall Street, Grand Canyon, Labyrinth, Sunken Forest, Flume, Sharks tooth.

Ice Mountain Caves are the "commercial" ice caves. People used to be able to drive to these, and walk through them for $6.50. The caves are really a series of crevices in a cliff, and were not as deep, as narrow, or as cold as the caves in Shingle Gully. They did build ladders, stairways, and walkways through these formations.

 
                            Commercial Ice Caves                             Shingle Gully Ice Caves

 
            Verkeerder Kill Falls (Chris Sanfino)                               Grand Canyon at Shingle Gully Steve Aaron Photography

According to www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/docs/NNLBrochure.pdf "a film on the geology of the Ellenville FaultIce Caves NNL has been produced using a grant from the National Park Service (NPS) Challenge Cost Share Program. The film includes actual footage of the site's geological features combined with computer animation to demonstrate how specific geological formations were created."
I couldn't find any way to get this film. The Nature Center has a 2-3 minute film they show.

Sams Point - Ice Caves | chayden.net

LocalHikes - Sams Point Loop, Shawangunks

Ice Cave Hike Notes from Rob Segal (Word doc)
The Nature Conservancy, requires a permit to enter and has strict limits on the number of hikers allowed.

Ellenville Fault Ice Caves - Ellenville, New York - U.S. National Natural Landmarks on Waymarking.com
North west corner of Sam's Point Preserve (395 acres) contains the largest known exposed fault system in the United States, along with a series of ice caves formed from fault debris.

Shawangunk Mountains at Ellenville | Harriman Hiker
Looked for the road path listed on the NY/NJ Trail Conference map of the Gunks that goes behind the Route 52 to the mouth of the North Gully. Now the map is very incorrect here and this road doesnt exist, and when we tried bushwacking were barked at by some nasty sounding hounds, so we bushwacked up the steep hill until we encountered another path not on the map.

Links:
Shingle Gully Ice Caves Management Plan: Balancing Recreational Use And Senstive Ecosystem Protection | buffalostate.edu - Kirkpatrick
Napanoch Point, High Point and whoops! - ADKHighPeaks
Hiking Ice Caves

Ice Caves, Sam's Point Preserve-Cragsmoor, New York | ReadyHiker.com