Catskills

There is no coast here, so swimming means lakes, reservoirs and cold mountain streams. The best of it is in high summer. North-South Lake, above the Hudson near Haines Falls, has a sandy public beach with forest all around. Pleasant Pond at Belleayre and a few small town lakes give families calm water. The creeks are cut by rock pools and swimming holes, many of them along the Esopus and in the Peekamoose valley. They are clear and lovely, but they are cold, and some of the popular ones are crowded on weekends.

Lake water is warm enough for a comfortable swim only from late June to early September. Outside those months, nobody comes here to swim.

Eating here is rural and seasonal, and it is good at its best. The valleys are dairy and orchard country, so farm stands, weekend farmers' markets, maple syrup, apple cider and local cheeses are part of a stay. Old roadside diners and general stores sit alongside country restaurants that cook from nearby farms. Craft breweries, cideries and small distilleries are spread through the hills.

Kingston, on the eastern edge, has the most choice. Woodstock, Phoenicia, Livingston Manor and the small towns of Delaware County each have a few good places. There is no regional dish to seek out, and the choice is thin away from these towns. Many kitchens keep short hours outside summer and the autumn foliage season.

The heritage here is about how the landscape was seen and used. The painters of the Hudson River School made these mountains famous. Thomas Cole's house and studio in the town of Catskill tells that story, and so do the viewpoints they painted around Kaaterskill Falls and the old Catskill Mountain House site. Woodstock grew from an early twentieth century arts colony, and the Byrdcliffe colony buildings still stand above the village. At Bethel, the field where the 1969 festival took place has a museum about the decade.

Kingston has the most historic town fabric. Its Stockade district has seventeenth and eighteenth century stone houses and the Senate House. Beyond these places the sights are scattered and modest. A culture-focused trip will run out within a couple of days.

Evenings in the Catskills are quiet and early. A night out means a brewery taproom, a country tavern with a pool table, or a cocktail bar in Kingston or Woodstock. These towns have the most going on, especially on summer weekends. In the smaller hamlets, things often end with dinner. There are no clubs to speak of. The casino resort near Monticello is the only place open truly late. Most visitors spend their evenings around a fire pit.

This is the main reason to come. The Catskill Park protects a large area of forested mountains, deep hollows called cloves, and trout streams. About thirty-five summits rise above 1,060m, and Slide Mountain is the highest at about 1,270m. The Devil's Path, near Hunter and Tannersville, is one of the toughest ridge hikes in the eastern US. Gentler trails lead to Kaaterskill Falls, the ledges above North-South Lake, and old fire towers on Overlook, Hunter and Balsam Lake mountains, which look out over waves of wooded ridges.

The Beaverkill and Willowemoc, around Livingston Manor, are classic American fly-fishing rivers. The Esopus Creek near Phoenicia is popular for tubing. In winter, Hunter, Windham, Belleayre and Plattekill offer modest skiing, and the backcountry turns to snowshoe terrain. Autumn colour, from late September to mid October, is the peak season. Black bears and bald eagles live here.

The Hudson Valley along the eastern edge of the mountains gives the best outings. Across the river from Catskill is Olana, the Persian-style hilltop home of the painter Frederic Church. Just beyond it, the town of Hudson has a long street of antique dealers and galleries. Further south are Rhinebeck, the Roosevelt home and library at Hyde Park, and the Vanderbilt mansion. New Paltz has its old Huguenot stone houses. Beacon, with its contemporary art museum, and the sculpture park at Storm King are within about two hours.

To the north and west, Cooperstown, with the Baseball Hall of Fame and its lakeside village, is about an hour and a half from the western Catskills. Albany and Saratoga Springs can be reached from the northern side. Almost every trip needs a car.

Families come here for simple outdoor time rather than attractions. There are short walks to waterfalls, lake beaches at North-South Lake and Pleasant Pond, tubing on the Esopus, farm visits, apple picking in autumn, and campgrounds in the state forest. The ski areas around Hunter and Windham run beginner slopes and lessons in winter. In summer they add zip lines and lift rides. There are a few small water parks and an indoor water resort, and that is about all that is made for children.

The region is safe and relaxed, and rented cabins and farmhouses give families plenty of space. The catch is the driving. Towns and sights are spread across winding roads, and rainy days can be hard to fill.

A car is effectively essential. Coaches run from New York City to Kingston, Woodstock, Phoenicia and a few other towns, but trailheads, swimming holes and most rentals are beyond their reach. Taxis and ride-hailing are scarce. Driving itself is easy. Roads are quiet outside summer and autumn weekends, but they wind through narrow cloves and over passes. Plan on thirty to sixty minutes between towns that look close on the map. Woodstock, Phoenicia and Tannersville have walkable main streets, but nothing links them on foot. Winter storms can make the higher roads slow going.

Shopping here is browsing on country roads. Antique barns and vintage dealers dot Route 28 and the western valleys. Woodstock has craft galleries, potters and jewellers that grew out of its arts colony. General stores in towns like Phoenicia and Andes sell local goods, and farm stands sell maple syrup, honey and cider. Kingston adds a few independent boutiques and booksellers. Anyone after fashion, design or department stores will find nothing here.

This is a weekend escape for a very expensive metropolis, and prices in the popular towns follow that. Boutique inns, restored motels and cabin rentals around Woodstock, Phoenicia and Hunter cost a lot on summer and autumn weekends. Country restaurants charge US prices plus tips. A hire car adds to the bill. On the other side, hiking, swimming holes and scenic drives are free, state campgrounds and older motels are cheap, and weekday and off-season stays cost much less. The western and Delaware County side is noticeably cheaper than the Woodstock area.

Live music runs deep here, but it is a summer affair. Woodstock's name and its musician residents keep a steady run of folk, rock and roots concerts in small barns and halls. The Maverick chamber music series has played in a wooden hall in the woods outside Woodstock since 1916. At Bethel, the amphitheatre on the 1969 festival grounds books big touring acts from late spring to early autumn. Bluegrass and folk festivals fill weekends in the hills.

Hunter and Kingston have small theatres and arts centres, and summer stock plays in a few towns. From November to May, the calendar becomes thin and is mostly local.

There are no hot springs or bathing traditions here. What the Catskills offer is slowness. People come to sit on a porch, read by a wood stove and listen to the creek, and the cabins, farmhouses and quiet inns are built for that. A few resort spas offer massage, saunas and outdoor tubs, mostly in the larger lodges around Woodstock and the southern hills.

The region also has a long contemplative streak. There is a Zen monastery at Mount Tremper, a Tibetan Buddhist centre above Woodstock, and yoga and meditation retreats throughout the hills. All of them take guests. Autumn and quiet winter weekends are the most restful times.