The Ashokan Center, formerly the Ashokan Field Campus, is an outdoor / environmental education center and retreat/conference facility, located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, ten miles west of Kingston, in upstate New York. The Center consists of 372 secluded acres adjacent to the Ashokan Reservoir and wilderness areas of the Catskill Forest Preserve.

The Esopus Creek plunges over Winchell's Falls and through Cathedral Gorge, bisecting the Field Campus. Three hundred seventy-five million year old sedimentary rocks and Ice Age soils provide a rich topography now covered with forests, fields, streams, and ponds. There is a great variety of natural habitats and wildlife.

For thousands of years, native people used the Esopus as a natural highway through the Catskills. Pioneers in turn found this valley to be an important connection between the Hudson and Delaware river valleys. Homesteads began appearing on the land and farming became its chief use. Early craftsmen discovered the water power of Winchell's Falls and eventually the Industrial Revolution found its way here in the form of an early pulp mill. Evidence of the bluestone, lumber and charcoal industries and the ruins of the old mill present a rich assortment of historic resources and provide us with a doorway to the past.

Nature has reclaimed much of Ashokan. Winchell's Inn, the farm, barnyard, and old covered bridge have survived the past, and reconstructions such as the 1817 stone school house, 1820 homestead, trapper's cabin, colonial craft shops and Lenape village are more recent additions.

This property was purchased in 1957 by SUNY at New Paltz, and became the Ashokan Field Campus Outdoor Environmental Education Center in 1967. In 2008, in an agreement among the NYSDEP, the Open Space Institute, and the Ashokan Foundation, SUNY sold the Campus forming the current Ashokan Center. The combination of natural and historic resources make Ashokan an ideal location for hands-on learning and environmental education. Ashokan is open year round for day and overnight use by individuals and groups.