Catskills

The Catskills began 350 million years ago as a river delta, absorbing the runoff from the Taconic Mountains to the northeast, then the tallest on the planet, as water drained into a shallow inland sea. At some point during that time, a meteorite one half-mile (1 km) wide struck the river delta; the resulting impact crater eventually formed Panther Mountain in western Ulster County, one of the range's highest peaks, through a process known as "inverted relief." Eventually the Taconics eroded to what they are now, and the rivers and sea dried up. What had been their floors became the shales, sandstones and other sedimentary rock that makes up the bedrock of the range.

Continental drift and plate tectonics formed the Appalachian Mountains. Instead of breaking up into smaller mountains and hills, the Catskills rose up as a single landform, a process visible in the dramatic rise of the Catskill Escarpment from the Hudson Valley floor in Greene County. Over the next eons, streams draining uplifted rock carved out deep gaps. The Catskills are thus, in geological terms, a "maturely dissected plateau", rather than true mountains, although you would be forgiven if the distinction was lost when driving around them.

In the last million years, the various glacial periods further shaped the mountains. The glaciers themselves were thick enough to cover all the mountains, save 4,180-foot (1,277-m) Slide, in the Ulster County town of Shandaken, the range's highest peak. The scouring under centuries of ice had some effects, the most significant of which may have been to remove any coal that might have settled there. But it was the lakes left behind as the glaciers melted which left us with the range as we know it today, the rushing meltwaters carving out the dramatic gaps like Stony Clove Notch and Kaaterskill Clove.

The first humans who came kept going. While the Iroquois who settled in Southern New York found routes through the mountains to the rest of their nation, and hunted there, they found the Hudson Valley a more amenable place to settle due to its more fertile soils and milder climate. It was there that they met Henry Hudson and the crew of the Halve Maen, journeying up the river that would be named for him in 1609.

Wars between the Dutch and the English kept most settlers for venturing into the mountains for the rest of the century. It was not until 1708, well after English rule had been established, that Lord Cornbury, the colonial governor, granted the Hardenbergh Patent, covering most of what is today considered the Catskills. Subdividing and selling the land, however, proved difficult. The Iroquois, as well as the few squatters in the region, disrupted the survey to the point of unreliability, and as the century wore on there were increasing questions about the validity of the deal, given Cornbury's well-deserved reputation for corruption and the patentees' willingness to enrich themselves by selling shares despite all these issues. It took until the middle of the century for all the land to be subdivided and settlement to begin.

Nevertheless the Catskills came to the attention of the wider public, if only through scientific research. Swedish botanist Peter Kalm passed through the region on his journeys to Niagara Falls, noting some of the species he found. One was "balm of Gilead fir", today known as balsam fir and mostly found only on higher summits in the range. Philadelphia botanist John Bartram went to the North-South Lake area with his son to collect some seeds of the tree for correspondents in London. His 1753 account of the trip, A Journey to Ye Cat Skill Mountains with Billy, was widely read both in the colonies and England.

Most early settlers were tenants, who held their lands under a quasi-feudal arrangement known as the "three-life lease", by which a father, son, and then grandson could theoretically take title to their land if the three generations were able to pay for it. In practice this rarely happened, and even after a pro-British tenant uprising against their independence-minded landlords was put down at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the many Anti-rent wars continued until a new state constitution abolished those leases in 1840.

With the region's politics finally settled, its economy began to shake out. It was built around two industries – tourism and tanbarking – that would shape it into the 20th century. The first began with the Catskill Mountain House hotel, near North-South Lake in the Greene County town of Hunter. Hotelier Charles Beach marketed the spectacular views over the valley from the Escarpment after taking over sole control in the 1820s, and by the Civil War presidents, artists and other visiting dignitaries and celebrities were visiting "America's First Wilderness", where other hotels, some on mountaintops, had been built as well.

Deeper in the mountains, barkpeelers went into the abundant forests looking for the many large groves of Eastern hemlock. They sought not the wood itself, useful for some pieces of furniture but little else, but the reddish bark. When stripped from a sufficiently mature tree and boiled, it yielded quality tannin for the tanning process essential to making leather. The woods yielded enough bark that most of the leather holsters issued to Union Army officers during the Civil War were tanned in the Catskills. Other than bluestone used in making sidewalks, it was the only exploitable resource the mountains yielded.

In 1879 a guest at the Mountain House, Princeton geology professor Arnold Henri Guyot, took note of the many mountains to the west and southwest visible from the peaks near the hotel. It was already known that, contrary to Beach's publicity materials, nearby Kaaterskill High Peak, which had graced so many Hudson River School paintings, was not the range's highest peak. Guyot wondered what was, and in his spare time returned to the Catskills with a survey team. They became the first to record ascents of many of the range's highest summits, and in 1885 stunned the Escarpment hoteliers with the revelation that the highest peak in the range was, in fact, Slide Mountain, located 20 mi (32 km) to the southwest in the Ulster County town of Shandaken.

The same year, politicians in that county had grown sick of dealing with an expensive problem resulting in part from tanbarking. Once they had stripped the good trees, the barkpeelers often left the land behind; while they reaped the profits, the land defaulted to the county, and by law they were responsible for property taxes owed to the state. The increasing costs incurred were beginning to strain the county's coffers, and when they could not get a reprieve their representatives in the state legislature found an even better solution. Earlier that year the legislature had designated certain state lands in the Adirondacks to be the state Forest Preserve, "forever kept as wild forest lands." They had the lands with the tax delinquencies transferred to the state as payment in full of the outstanding debts ...and nothing in the Catskills would be the same afterwards.

Slowly the quarrying and barkpeeling industries ebbed, done in by the development of cheaper synthetic materials and processes. The hotels around North-South Lake, too, went into decline as their founders died. In their place came those drawn to the newly protected land, especially after the legislature drew the "Blue Line" in 1902, creating the Catskill Park. John Burroughs, a native of Delaware County who became one of the era's leading nature writers, devoted some of his most memorable essays to his journeys into the Catskill wilderness, including one of the earliest accounts of an ascent of Slide.

Another writer was Theodore Gordon, who went to live in the mountains during the 1890s to fight off his tuberculosis infection. To pass the time, he began fishing, and made some money writing about his experiences for Field & Stream. The remote headwaters of streams like the Beaver Kill had been quietly known for years outside the region as brimming with trout, and farmers had been living off the fisheries for years. Gordon not only popularized them, he revolutionized American angling when he introduced the dry fly, developed in Britain to imitate a surface insect, as a lure. Later anglers refined techniques and developed new flies, and thousands follow in their footsteps annually, wading into the cool clear creeks and rivers looking to land a trout to remember.

The waters also interested New York City, which had begun to outgrow its Westchester-based supply network at the end of the 20th century. The city looked all the way to the Catskills, where the "forever wild" language, added to the 1894 state constitution as Article XIV, protected the watersheds of streams like the Esopus and Schoharie creeks. A protracted legal and political struggle over the lands to be condemned led to the 1915 opening of Ashokan Reservoir in central Ulster County, the first of what are now six serving the city.

The city was home to another group of people that would redefine the Catskills. Jewish immigrants in the city, at the time banned from most established resorts, began spending summers in boardinghouses at the farms of their co-religionists in the lower Catskills, where they could at least keep kosher. Those boardinghouses and bungalow colonies gradually grew into resorts of their own like Grossinger's and the Concord, the nucleus of the "Borscht Belt", where dozens of entertainers would hone their skills and launch careers that took them to far greater heights. That era passed when laws ended religious discrimination, although many ultra-Orthodox Hasidim still relocate to the region for the summer. Today the large resorts are closed, and most of the smaller buildings gone, but the memories have been captured in films like Dirty Dancing, Mr. Saturday Night and A Walk on the Moon.

As the Borscht Belt era was ending, in 1969, the event that would redefine the Catskills for the present generation took place. Late that summer, thousands of the era's hippies gathered on a dairy farm near the Sullivan County town of Bethel for "three days of peace, love and music" from some of the era's top acts such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; The Who, Jefferson Airplane and Jimi Hendrix. While the festival was actually declared a disaster area, launching scores of lawsuits, and many of the performances were subpar, the Woodstock festival gave the baby-boom generation a name and a spiritual touchstone for years afterwards, as many claimed to be there who had not been.

And it continues to frame the region today. It's most evident in the town of Woodstock, miles from the festival site, but throughout the modern Catskills you'll find a focus on the artsy and the spiritual, with retreats focusing on Eastern religion and New Age mysticism drawing outsiders to the region in the summer. Older communities hold on, too, even after the severe flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011, damage which can still be seen in many places, particularly the Greene County village of Prattsville. And the hikers and fishermen continue to flock to the trails and streams, rich with the history of their sports, not only in the summer but most of the year.

New York City gets the bulk of its water from the Catskills for a very good reason: the region, in particularly the area around Slide Mountain, is the rainiest in the state. But that's not the only thing that stands out.

As an elevated mountainous plateau, the Catskill climate differs from its neighboring, lower regions. Summers are generally pleasant and cooler than elsewhere (why else would so many residents of the metropolitan area come to the mountains for long periods during that season?) although the experience of Irene has been a sobering reminder that the region is not some isolated mountain idyll beyond the reach of nature's fury.

After summer gives way to the shorter days and festive colors of fall and its leaf-peeping highlights, winter comes. And that's a different story. The first snows have been known to accumulate on higher summits in early November, before hunting season even starts. With much of the region at least 2,000 feet (600 m) above sea level, there is usually plenty of snow and, in a typical winter, at least a few nights with temperatures several degrees below 0°F (-17°C). The ski areas nevertheless maintain ample snowmaking facilities.

As February turns to March and saplines string trees to each other, gaps start to appear in the snow cover. While some white areas have lingered into early May in shaded areas of the summits, in the valleys it's all gone by the April 1 opening of trout season. From then to Memorial Day, spring gradually creeps up the slopes, just in time for another glorious Catskill summer.

• The Catskills: From Wilderness to Woodstock, (Alf Evers, 1982). Few regions can be said to have a single, authoritative history written about them as this magnum opus. Essentially the long (and, at 700+ pages, it is long) version of the history above, it covers everything important that's happened in the region from colonial times to the era of its writing. Evers, a folklorist by training who grew up on an Ulster County farm, pays special attention to the region's legends and the views of its ordinary people. The result is a multi-generational epic that rivals any science fiction or fantasy franchise.
• The Catskill Mountain House (Roland van Zandt, 1966). Somewhat overtaken by the scope of Evers' later work, this history of the region's signature resort was one of the earliest efforts to rediscover the rich history of the Catskills. Features some of the last pictures taken of the ruined building, by the author, before the state razed it in 1965.
• It Happened in the Catskills: An Oral History in the Words of Busboys, Bellhops, Guests, Proprietors, Comedians, Agents, and Other Who Lived It, (Myrna Katz and Harvey Frommer, 2009). There had been many books and memoirs written about summer in the Borscht Belt, but until this no real attempt to tell the whole story. Maybe it doesn't, but the many voices tell a grand enough story as it is.
• The Catskills: Its History and How it Changed America, (Stephen M. Silverman and Raphael Silver, 2015). Sort of a more condensed, 21st-century updating of Evers' work, on glossy paper with plenty of illustrations.
• Making Mountains: New York City and the Catskills, (David Stradlin, 2007) A history of the Catskills that focuses on the way the region has been conceived and altered over two centuries to serve the interests of New York City.

• The films Dirty Dancing (1987), Mr. Saturday Night (1992) and A Walk on the Moon (1999), were for the most part filmed outside the region, but effectively depict various aspects of the Borscht Belt era.
• The overlooked 1996 comedy-drama Manny & Lo, starring Scarlett Johansson, is worth watching as a cinematic introduction to the region. Not only is it set in the wilder areas of Ulster and Greene counties, it was actually shot at recognizable locations such as Devil's Tombstone campground.

There are no major airports in the Catskills themselves. The two that best serve the region are located to the southeast and northeast.

• Stewart International Airport, 1180 First St, New Windsor, +1 845 564-2100. Newburgh's airport is well-positioned close to the New York State Thruway and Interstate 84. It is an excellent place to arrive if your destination within the Catskills is on the south, such as Sullivan or Ulster County.
• Albany International Airport, 737 Albany-Shaker Rd, Albany, +1 518 242-2200. The airport to fly into if you're heading for the northern Catskills, particularly Greene County.
• For private planes (including jets), the best option in the region is Sullivan County International Airport, in Bethel, a short distance from the county seat at Monticello.

There is no passenger rail service directly to the Catskills. The Rhinecliff and Hudson stations on Amtrak's Empire Service line along the Hudson River correspond to the river crossings closest to the Catskills, and bus connections can be made. Amtrak also serves Poughkeepsie, which has the most bus connections, although if you're coming to that station from within the New York area you must use Metro-North to get there instead.

Adirondack Trailways offers two routes across the region from its west-of-Hudson line. One follows Route 28 west to Pine Hill, Belleayre Mountain and beyond from Kingston. The other, from Saugerties, follows Routes 23A and 23 across Greene County, with stops in Tannersville, Hunter and Stamford. Both lines eventually reach Oneonta, where transfer is also available from Trailways' service along the Interstate 88 corridor.

The New York State Thruway (Interstate 87), a divided toll road, is the primary route to the Catskill region for visitors coming from the south and southeast (i.e., New York City and its suburbs).

• Catskills region exits 16 through 21: As signs along the highway inform you, Exits 16–21, roughly 45–113 miles (72–185 km) from the city, serve the Catskills. The toll for that distance ranges from $2.50-5.20, with discounts available for users of the EZPass electronic payment system. Which exit you'll want to take depends on where in the Catskills you're headed.
• Exit 16 – Harriman – US Route 6 – NY Route 17 (Future I-86): travelers to the Catskills should decide well ahead of the Harriman exit whether or not they are to leave the Thruway at this point. This is a very busy area, and as you will see, NY Route 17 (I-86) is surrounded mega-malls from here to Middletown NY. Not a place to be making travel decisions. Travelers to Sullivan County and western Delaware County (Roscoe, Hancock, Deposit) should exit the Thruway at 16.
• Exit 18 – New Paltz – Poughkeepsie – NY Route 299: see below.
• Exit 19 – Kingston – Route 28 – Rhinecliff Bridge: The most convenient highway to the central Catskills, New York State Route 28, begins at Kingston. After getting off the Thruway at Exit 19, you'll bear right into the traffic circle and see the Catskill Park welcome sign before you cross the Thruway. Don't let the car dealerships and restaurants just beyond the overpass disappoint you.

Ahead lies a 30-mile (50 km) drive up the Esopus Creek valley that just gets more and more picturesque as you go, taking you past New York City's Ashokan Reservoir to the hamlet of Phoenicia, the largest settlement in the corridor, nicely recovered from the floods that ravaged it after Irene. After you continue past Shandaken and Big Indian, the road climbs almost 2,000 feet (600 m) in a steady two-mile (3 km) stretch past Pine Hill to the divide between the Hudson and Delaware watersheds (also the Ulster–Delaware county line), and the entrance to Belleayre Ski Center. Beyond, it continues to Margaretville, Delhi and the city of Oneonta at Interstate 88 before heading north to Cooperstown and the Adirondacks.

• Exit 20 – Saugerties – Woodstock – Route 32: From Exit 20 in Saugerties, follow New York State Route 32 a few miles north, then bear left on the short New York State Route 32A to Palenville, where it ends at New York State Route 23A. Immediately after heading west, you'll begin the scenic climb of Kaaterskill Clove. At the bottom is Kaaterskill Creek with its many waterfalls and cliffs, where it will be easy to find popular swimming holes on nice summer weekends. On either side are the tall cliffs of this break in the Catskill Escarpment. Near the top of the climb is the short hike to Kaaterskill Falls, popular despite the dangerous road walk along the highway required to reach the trailhead. Once you've leveled off, you're headed for Haines Falls, Tannersville and Hunter, with the spectacular Devil's Path range to the south.
• Exit 21 – Catskill – Cairo – NY Route 23: Exit 21 is not only the last Catskills exit, it's the Catskill exit—literally. The Escarpment and the tall peaks of the Blackhead Range, the Catskills' third, fourth and fifth-highest mountains, loom off to the side of the Thruway. Here New York State Route 23 makes a slow climb up the north face of the Escarpment, past Five State Lookout (which lives up to its billing on clear enough days), to Windham, home to another popular ski area with that same name. To the west it continues along Schoharie Creek to flood-damaged Prattsville, then to the remote Delaware County communities of Grand Gorge and Stamford before meeting Route 28 outside Oneonta.
• Exit 18 – New Paltz – Poughkeepsie – NY Route 299: The New Paltz exit is listed out of numerical order for a reason: it comes with a caution. Most travelers to the Catskills are best advised to continue north on the Thruway one more exit (19) and utilize Route 28 for access to the region. However, intrepid travelers may want to try The Back Route via Rondout Reservior – Claryville – Frost Valley – Slide Mountain – Big Indian. At Big Indian, one can re-join Route 28.

There are two sections to this journey:

First is the drive from the Thruway at Exit 18/New Paltz to the Village of Napanoch (on US Route 209, 2 mi (3.2 km) north of Ellenville) via Minnewaska State Park.

The second half of the journey begins in the Village of Napanoch at the junction of US Route 209 and Ulster County Route 55. Ultimately it will lead through Claryville, past Slide Mountain and on to Big Indian in Ulster County, NY and State Route 28.

This route may be a destination in itself. There are many wonderful Catskill hiking trails along this route. The eastern terminus of the FLT is in the not-even-a-village-anymore place called Dennning. The FLT begins (ends?) at the Long Path, and just north of Claryville on Ulster County Route 47 is Frost Valley and just north of that is Slide Mountain, the premier trophy peak of the Catskills.

Consult a map – and bring it with you – for more details on this route. While you are in Claryville, stop by the Country Deli, which is clean, modern, and serves excellent food. This trip covers some remote territory, so make sure your fuel tank is at least at 3/4 tank.

New York State Route 17: is a freeway in the process of being converted to Interstate 86.

• NY State Route 17 from the southeast: Route 17 begins its westward journey at Thruway Exit 16 in Harriman. In its early years it was called the Quickway, for the speedy trip it offered to the many resorts in Sullivan County and the fishing spots of the Beaver Kill and upper Delaware system.
• NY State Route 17 from the northwest: is also the only expressway leading to the Catskills from their west; the highly scenic route from that direction begins from Interstate 81 just south of Binghamton and takes you along the Delaware's upper branches and then Beaver Kill, all usually being well-fished in season, on the way to Sullivan County.
• NY State Route 17 in Delaware County: About an hour and fifteen minutes north of the Thruway/Route 17 interchange in Woodbury, (and just over two hours from the Bronx), is the village of Roscoe, NY. At this point, and for the next 35 mi (56 km) or so northbound, the highway not only provides a southerly access to the Catskills (as it has since crossing the Shawangunk Ridge), but it is now truly within the Catskills, with all its scenic beauty.
• The Village of Roscoe, in Delaware County, is home to the Roscoe Diner, which is a landmark in its own right. Route 206 begins in Roscoe, and heads generally northwest, through Delaware County, and on to Greene, NY and then to Whitney Point, NY at Interstate 81. Route 206 is the access route to the quietest towns (Downsville, Walton, Masonville, Franklin) of the quietest county (Delaware County) that the Catskills has to offer.
• Friday nights: If your plans take you to the Catskills on a Friday, consider leaving closer to the evening hours as many of those heading for the mountains are Orthodox Jews who leave the city early to arrive before sundown and keep the Sabbath; the roads may be a little clearer after dark. Route 17 can be crowded on Fridays and Sundays during the summer months, especially around the junction with the NYS Thruway, due to the proximity of the neighboring Woodbury Commons outlet mall.

Interstate 88: spans the 140 mi (230 km) distance form Albany NY to Binghamton NY, with Oneonta NY roughly the half-way point between these two cities. This modern, limited access, divided, non-toll road does not enter the Catskills at any point, but it is worth listing this road as an important contributor to access by car into the Catskills.

• Exit 23 (Schoharie): New York State Route 30 (actually 30A for 1 mi (1.6 km)) proceeds south from Interstate 88 for 35 mi (56 km) until the village of Stamford, and the midpoint of the Catskill Rail Tail.
• Exit 15 (Oneonta): New York State Route 28 proceeds south from Interstate 88 for 21 mi (34 km) until the village of Delhi, the county seat of Delaware County, the westernmost county of the Catskills.
• Exit 10 (Sidney) Delaware County Route 8 proceeds south from Interstate 88 for 6 mi (9.7 km) until the crossroads of Masonville, NY. Within a mile or two of the blinking light at Masonville are several access points to the Finger Lakes Trail and four state forest areas: Beals Pond, Arctic China, Steam Mill and Barbour Brook State Forests. These lands are the absolute westernmost hiking and hunting lands of the Catskills region, and seem like an 'undiscovered land' to the few visitors to the area.

Some of the state routes through and within the region are also designated as bike routes. In addition, the state Department of Environmental Conservation is considering formally allowing mountain bikers to use some unpaved roads within the Forest Preserve areas, which would make some shortcuts possible.

• Catskill Scenic Trail: AKA 'The Rail Trail' is a 26 mi (42 km) multi-use trail (hiking, jogging, biking, horseback riding, skiing and snowshoeing) that follows along the former Ulster and Delaware Railroad right of way in Delaware County. The trail runs alongside NYS routes 10, 23 and 30, through the hamlets of Bloomville, South Kortright, Hobart, Stamford, Grand Gorge and Roxbury. Access points which include dedicated parking are available at Bloomville and Stamford. The trail does cross roads at various points, caution should be exercised at these crossings.
• See the To Do section below for more biking information.

• While Ulster County Area Transit (UCAT) serves primarily the more populous eastern half of the county, it has lines to Ellenville and Belleayre.
• Greene County's Rip van Winkle Express Bus service mainly connects outlying areas, including some in the mountains, with Catskill, the county seat. Service is limited.

Several ways to enter the Catskills, as alternatives to the main routes include:

• New York State Route 213 is a roundabout back road from Kingston to the Ashokan Reservoir. If you've got more time than you need get between them along Route 28, consider following Route 213 down Rondout Creek, past the bed of the old Delaware and Hudson Canal, through the picturesque hamlets of Rosendale, High Falls and Stone Ridge. From there Route 213 plunges through dense woods to drop you off just in front of the reservoir's main spillway, now closed to cars but not pedestrians.
• Ulster County Route 47 is described in the section above (see Thruway Exit 18/New Paltz) as part of a 'back route' that originates in New Paltz and winds its way to Big Indian on Route 28 in Ulster County. This route is not a casual drive or for people who get lost easily.

Roads that traverse the more mountainous area of the Catskills include:

• New York State Route 42: the northern segment of this road goes through the dramatic Deep Notch between Halcott and Sherrill mountains, both major peaks of the range, shortly after leaving Route 28 at Big Indian. It then descends past West Kill, following the creek of that name to Schoharie Creek at Lexington, where it connects to Route 23A.
• New York State Route 214: probably the most-used Catskills interior route, New York State Route 214 follows Stony Clove Creek up from Route 28 at Phoenicia through Stony Clove Notch, the pass between Plateau and Hunter mountains pictured at the top of this page. North of there it connects to Route 23A between Hunter and Tannersville.
• New York State Route 296: just west of Hunter, New York State Route 296 climbs north from 23A, offering some beautiful views of Hunter and Rusk mountains in the rear view mirror. It continues to Route 23 at Hensonville.

In Delaware County, try exploring the roads surrounding the two main reservoirs, the Cannonsville and the Pepacton. These roads are actually owned and maintained by the City of New York, and travel through the pristine landscape responsible for supplying NYC with drinking water.

• New York State Route 10 is a beautiful drive, beginning just north of Deposit, heading west past the Cannonsville, it continues on through the villages of Walton, Delhi and Stamford, before heading north and out of the county. Along the way is provides access to the Catskill Rail Trail at Bloomville, Hobart and Stamford.
• New York State Route 30 begins at the interchange with NY Route 17 (Future I-86) in the Town of Hancock, and follows the East Branch Delaware River to Downsville. East of Downsville, NY 30 runs along the south side of the Pepacton Reservoir and briefly overlaps NY 28 in Margaretville. Fom Margaretville, it heads north east to Roxbury, where the tracks of the Delaware and Ulster can be seen at several places near the river. From Roxbury, NY 30 travels up to the headwaters area of the East Branch, and crosses a narrow gap in the hills, into the hamlet of Grand Gorge, where it intersects NY 23. From there, it heads north out of the region and on to Interstate 88 in Schoharie.

As with most large mountainous regions, there have been efforts to link hiking trails into a long-distance network. So far, there have been two that allow long-distance multi-day hikes in the Catskills:

• The 558-mile (897 km) Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) begins its trip to that region at a trail junction in the Slide Mountain Wilderness Area, near the headwaters of the Neversink River. From there it heads west, following white blazes past the Balsam Lake Mountain firetower and Pepacton Reservoir, through Sullivan and Delaware counties.
• The eastern terminus of the Finger Lakes Trail is the junction with the Long Path, a 347-mile (560 km) trail from the George Washington Bridge to the Schenectady area. Most of the trail in the Catskills has been taken off the road; the one section where a road walk is still required passes close by the hamlet of Phoenicia. Highlights include Slide Mountain, much of the challenging Devil's Path range, and the North-South Lake area. Generally it follows existing trails on state land; when on roads or private property it follows the same aqua blazes as the rest of its route.

Although it is primarily a tourist heritage line, the Catskill Mountain Railroad, serves some short-range transportation needs along the Route 28 corridor, most notably for tubers on the stretch of Esopus Creek below Phoenicia. It has recovered from severe damage inflicted by Hurricane Irene; there have been plans to connect its Kingston segment with that one using the old Ulster and Delaware tracks although those have faced strong local opposition from proponents of a rail trail.

Rivers like the Willowemoc and the Beaverkill are famous for their brown trout, particularly in the spring and fall when the weather is cool. Three streams in Sullivan and Delaware Counties — the Neversink, the West Branch of the Delaware and the East Branch — are tailwaters (released from reservoir impoundments) whose temperatures stay cool and fish-favorable all summer.

• Trout Town, USA: also occasionally known as Roscoe, N.Y. This village, located directly on Route 17 (exit 94) has more fishing-themed business than can be mentioned here.
• Al's: just downstream of the Pepacton Reservior dam in Downsville, NY at the junction of New York State Route 30 and New York State Route 206, Al has a motel, sporting goods shop and canoe rental.
• 🌍 Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum, 1031 Old Route 17, Livingston Manor, NY (2 mi (3.2 km) west on Old Route 17 from Exit 96 on NY 17), ☏ +1 845-439-4810, fax: +1 845-439-3387, flyfish@catskill.net. Apr-Oct: daily 10AM–4PM; Nov-Mar: Tu-Sa 10AM–4PM. Located on the banks of Willowemoc Creek, this is an excellent introduction to the region's historic trout streams for both the experienced angler and the novice who'd like to give it a try. Children's environmental education classes $90 once a summer. 
• Living off the land: If you or a friend have been fly-fishing and have caught a trout large enough to consider actually keeping it instead of releasing it as is the custom (and indeed the law in some areas), nothing tastes better than eating it fresh around a campfire, prepared by someone who knows how to cook it.

The following organizations are worth taking a look into as prep for hiking in the Catskills:

• 3500 Club: The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club, a group of hikers who have climbed all 35 peaks in the range above that elevation, whether trailed or trail-less, as well as a select group of four peaks in winter (and many have climbed all 35 in winter, as well), is the hiking club with the most specific focus on the Catskills. It schedules regular weekend hikes, most but not all on those 35 peaks.
• NY/NJ Trail Conference: If you'd prefer to explore the mountains and trails on your own, the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference produces the standard maps of the region. These maps are a printed on a highly durable, waterproof material and are impeccably detailed. They are a must-have for any hike in the Catskills.
• Finger Lakes Trail Conference: produces excellent paper maps of the entire FLT trail system and has an on-line interactive map on its website.
• Other outdoors organizations that organize group hikes in the Catskills are the North Jersey-New York chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club and several chapters of the Adirondack Mountain Club.

Some of the most popular – and more demanding – hikes worth mentioning here:

• Slide Mountain: at 4,200 ft (1,300 m), it is the highest peak in the Catskills, located in the Town of Shandaken, Ulster County, NY. Trailhead parking on Ulster County Route 47, approximately 9.5 mi (15.3 km) south of New York State Route 28 in Big Indian, NY. Not a particularly risky hike on its own, due to the fact that much of the route is an old access road for the (no longer extant) fire tower, however it is physically demanding nonetheless. The risker portion of the trail begins after the summit, on the down-slope towards Cornell Mountain. Wooden ladders have been installed on the rocky slopes, and if one looks out from these ladders, they can feel as if they are nearly hanging in mid-air. Combining the climb to Slide Mountain with the Cornell/Wittenberg route to Woodland Valley (or the reverse) is an impressive, two-car, multi-day undertaking.
• Escarpment Trail: 24 mi (39 km) of rugged, rocky and at several points dangerous terrain, running generally north/south along the Catskill Escarpment – the huge wall of a mountain overlooking the Hudson Valley of the northeast Catskills. A sample section of the trail can be experienced at the North-South Lake area, accessed via County Route 18, Haines Falls, NY. The entire trail requires three days and two cars.
• Devil's Path: 25 mi (40 km) of hell. One of the most popular trails in the Catskills, featuring 18,000 ft (5,500 m) of elevation change over its length. Consistently featured in hiking magazine articles entitled 'The Five (or Ten) Most Dangerous Hiking Trails in the (State, United States, World, Solar System, etc.) This trail is laid out so that there are quite a number of day trip loops that utilize this trail as part of the loop, but return the hiker to the same parking area at the end. Dogs and children should be left at home for the eastern section (Jimmy Dolan area to Route 214) however the western (Route 214 to Spruceton) section is not much more risky than other trails in the area.
• Hunter Mountain: at 4,040 ft (1,230 m), the second highest peak in the Catskills, with the western approach trailhead located at the east end of Spruceton Road, Spruceton, NY. Hunter Mountain is similar to Slide Mountain in that the trails (the western approach from Spruceton) utilize old roads to create a scenic, quite physically demanding but not particularly dangerous hike. There is a firetower at the top of Hunter, and during the summer, there may be an interpretive guide – who spends nights in the nearby cabin – to welcome you to the top of the mountain. An interesting – and otherworldly – experience is to take the Colonel's Chair side trail down to the tops of the Hunter Mountain ski area, which is virtually abandoned during the summer. Be careful navigating as you approach the main ski slopes, there is a network of side trails up here that are not well marked.

Less demanding – and possibly kid-friendly – hiking ideas:

• Shavertown Trail: Located in the town of Andes, the Shavertown trail offers families and novice hikers a unique opportunity in the Catskills – a spectacular view after only one moderately strenuous mile, followed by a fairly level mile and a half through beautiful rock ledges and wonderful forest to explore. The trailhead is on County Route 1, about a tenth of a mile north of the intersection of Route 30 and County Route 1 in Andes. Park at the parking lot by the bridge.
• North/South Lake: check with the Forest Rangers so you can avoid the challenging adult-only trails that begin in this area, and otherwise you will have a kid friendly vacation, including gentle hiking trails, a swimming area and a campground.
• Catskill Scenic Trail: see the Getting Around (Bicycle) section above. With children, take extra caution at the several road crossings along the route. Take a break along the trail in the Villages of Hobart and Stamford particularly.
• Balsam Lake Mountain and Fire Tower Trail: is a moderately demanding, and relatively safe trail, in that it follows a wide footpath that is actually still listed as a non-maintained road in the Town of Hardenburg in Ulster County. Begin at Dry Brook Road and State Route 28 the Village of Arkville, Delaware County. Take Dry Brook Road south for 6 mi (9.7 km), make a right (heading west) onto Mill Brook Road, (there is a barn sitting in the middle of the intersection) and then after 2 mi (3.2 km) on (a very winding) Mill Brook Road, the trailhead parking will be on your right. The actual trail is across the road from the parking area. The fire tower is attended on summer weekends, there is a nice DEC cabin nearby in which a husband-and-wife team lives for a day or two at a time giving tours of the tower.
• Kelly Hollow: an idyllic setting, including waterfalls, a beaver pond, foot bridges, and two campsites, Kelly Hollow is also located on Mill Brook Road, 6 mi (9.7 km) west of the intersection with Dry Brook Road. Stay on the trail when hiking on the hills above the river. A very brief road walk completes a lovely loop hike.
• Western Catskills (Cherry Ridge Wild Forest): For hikers who would prefer to explore the woods in relative solitude, while much less spectacular than the eastern or northern Catskills, the 17 trails in the area south of the Pepacton Reservior (in the towns of Colchester and Andes) are the 'road less traveled.' Wonderful hikes for the family in the western Catskills include:
  • Trout Pond/Mud Pond: in the far southwest corner of the Catskills, near the intersection of Morton Hill Road and Russell Brook Road in the Town of Colchester. Take New York State Route 17 to State Route 206 north at exit 94 (Roscoe) Proceed north on 206 for 2½ miles, take a left onto Morton Hill Road and go another 2½ miles to the seasonal and rugged Russell Brook Road. There are loop trails, two lakes, and several campsites. This place fills up on busy weekends.
  • Huggins Lake: on Holliday and Berry Brook Road in the town of Andes, roughly half way between the Beaverkill Campground in Sullivan County, and State Route 30 at the Pepacton Reservoir in Andes. This gentle, less than 2 mi (3.2 km) hike ends at a lovely, very remote lake, that has an old canoe laying around, left there by the DEC for your use. They did not leave any life vests around, so an adult should accompany children on any boat rides.

The western Catskills (Cherry Ridge area) is easily accessed from NY Route 17 (Future 86) Seasonal homes are located on the many north/south roads that run from Route 17 north to the Pepacton Reseroir).

There are several ski areas in the region.

• Hunter Mountain. On the range's second-highest peak in the eponymous Greene County community, is the best-known and most popular. It programs events year-round, and operates its chairlift in the summer for those who'd like to get a high-level view without the hike. 
• Belleayre Ski Center: Outside Pine Hill, in Ulster County, is state-owned Belleayre Mountain, where slopes are less challenging but prices are cheaper.
• Windham Mountain: Windham Mountain, formerly a private club near the north end of the range, comes in third. Delaware County's sole ski area is small but interesting Ski Plattekill, outside Roxbury. In Sullivan County, the very small Holiday Mountain just off NY 17 near Monticello is ideal for families on day trips.
• Platekill Mountain: located near Roxbury, NY in Delaware County, this privately-owned ski facility has ski packages during the winter months.

• Catskill Scenic Trail: see details in the Getting Around section above.
• Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area: consists of over 7,000 acres (2,800 hectares) of upland habitat in Delaware County acquired by the State in 1961. It is located in the Towns of Colchester and Walton along Route 206. This multi-use area is open to hiking, biking, horseback riding, and many other outdoor recreation pursuits. Restrictions include swimming and camping only at designated areas, and a prohibition of building any structures, such as the jumps built to enhance the biking experience. Ample parking (and trail maps at the kiosk) in a spacious lot off of Route 206 on the mountaintop between Walton and Downsville villages.

Trails for beginner and experienced mountain bike riders are available and well marked. Cautions include sharing trails with horseback riders, and the fact that the roads in the park are open to traffic using the park as a short-cut to remote communities.

• Homer Folks State Forest: located just north of the City of Oneonta, while not in the Catskills region per se, this network of trails is the premier location in a town that is becoming a mountain biking destination. The trailhead kiosk is located at the upper parking lot of the Homer Folks State Facility, which was a state hospital in the 1930s through 1970s. Take West Street past the State University, make a left onto Homer Folks Avenue, past Job Corps, and make another left onto Hill Street. Park as far from the Hill Building at the end of the road as you can, this one-lane parking lot is busier that it seems. The trail are off to your right as you approach the Hill Building.

On these trails, you will pass the City of Oneonta water tanks, and eventually approach Hartwick College property. Call the number on the signs and speak to security if you wish to continue onto Hartwick property. The cliffs at Table Rock are worth the extra effort.

While in Oneonta, there are sporting goods stores both large and small, and a four-block-long urban pub/restaurant scene on Main Street.

• Platekill Mountain: near Roxbury, NY in Delaware County, this privately-owned ski facility has mountain biking packages during the summer months.

• Upper Esopus Creek: the river experience of the Esopus Creek begins at the small path behind the cemetery in the hamlet of Shandaken, NY which is located on State Route 28, approximately 30 mi (48 km) northwest of the New York State Thruway at Kingston.

River adventurers riding in inflatable boats should be aware that there are large chucks of either conglomerate rock or actual concrete that can rip open the bottom of the boat. These hazards are located just past the put-in point.

There have been many naturally occurring changes in the river, including tree-falls and washed-out riverbanks that have made river-riding dangerous. Fortunately, they have been repaired, but since history is an indicator of future events, it could happen again. Most dramatically, sections of track from the former Delaware and Ulster Rail Road, which closely parallels the river (as does Route 28) have draped into the river as a result of wash-outs of the track bed. Again, these have been repaired, but the lesson is that rivers are ever-changing creatures.

Do not put-in at the Shandaken Tunnel, also known as the Portal, or the Chute. The water in the Chute is exiting the 18 mi (29 km) long tunnel, coming from the Schoharie Reservoir, on its way to the Ashokan Reservoir. It exits the tunnel with furious force. Fatalities occur here at a distressingly frequent rate.