Starting at the Little Stony Point area along the river, which is separated from the rest of the parcel by the easement for the New York City water supply system's Catskill Aqueduct, this section contains Bull Hill and Breakneck Ridge, with Breakneck Brook between them, then sprawls into Dutchess County, where it includes Pollepel Island, Sugarloaf Mountain, the south summit of Beacon Mountain and Beacon Reservoir, reaching its northern terminus at the Dry Brook trailhead at the end of Pocket Road in the city of Beacon. It is complemented by Storm King State Park across the river. The Fishkill Ridge Conservation Area, owned by the environmental organization Scenic Hudson but managed by NYSOPRHP, bridges the gap between that central tract and the northern tract, a trail-less parcel on Sour Mountain at the Highlands' northern end, reaching almost to Interstate 84 at the bottom of the slope. Also in Beacon is the Denning Point parcel. This small wooded promontory is located where Fishkill Creek drains into the Hudson. History The Eastern Highlands before the 20th century Swedish botanist Pehr Kalm sailed up the Hudson in 1749 and wrote one of the earliest accounts of the eastern Highlands: Kalm landed in the area and wrote the first scientific description of mountain laurel, a plant species still abundant in the area. For most of American history, the Highlands were harvested for their natural resources, particularly mineral. Iron and copper were mined from them. Some of the former was used to make cannons by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring continued making them under the direction of Robert Parrott through the late 19th century. Quarries were also carved out of the slopes, most notably on Breakneck Ridge and Bull Hill. By the beginning of the 20th century, the eastern Highlands had been mostly tapped out as an easy source of minerals and were reforesting. Early hikers began to explore them, following the abandoned paths and roads from the earlier extractions. One, William T. Howell, catalogued their history and lore. In 1910, he pleaded for the land to be left alone and preserved in near-wilderness condition as summer vacationers started to head north looking for green spaces: Creation of park As New York began creating its first state parks in the Hudson Valley Region during the 1910s and 20s, it concentrated its efforts on larger tracts