I have a chance to spend a day in Catskill in October. Looking forward to seeing fall colors. What else should I do? Where to stay overnight?
The Catskills cover a fairly large area. Where will you be coming from? If you have only 1 day, best to stay close to where you will be coming from or going to and spend as much time exploring the area. The 1st and 2nd weeks in October would be the peak foliage time. Most of the roads off the NYS Thruway are narrow and winding and will be very crowded with cars of “leaf peepers”, accommodations will be pretty tight at this point. Take a look at this website and we can give you some more guidance. It is a very pretty area of the state with lots of history, art, natural beauty.
Forgot to add the link: http://www.greatnortherncatskills.com/attractions
Are you going to Catskill, the town, or the Catskills, the mountain region? Most popular thing to do in Catskill, the town, is hike to Kaaterskill Falls. It’s also a beautiful drive through Greene and Columbia Counties - my D and her friend were just in Hudson, having driven through Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Germantown, all adorable towns that make for fun browsing. Hudson’s a little hip, and a little historic surrounded by great hiking. Really good food and drink can be found in all these towns if that’s your thing.
We are coming down from Maine heading south. We are passing through Catskill but would like to visit the mountains. If you have only one day to take a hike, where would you go?
Are you planning on stopping in the town of Catskill or just anywhere in the Catskill Mts? It’s a pretty large area. If it’s the town of Catskill (which is on the dumpy side, imo) the falls mentioned above wouid be good.
The town of Hudson is across the river and the only place to go there visit there is Warren Street. H and I go a few times a year to browse the shops and eat. The mountains on that side of the river are the Taconics.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-stodola/a-stroll-down-hudson-nys_b_6117134.html
Further down the river is the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie and Storm King Art Center in Cornwall-on-Hudson.
A nice place to stay is Mohonk Mountain House.
There is also the town of Woodstock but every store smells of incense and it’s not where Woodstock was. That was in Bethel. That’s really in the heart of the Catskills and where the museum is.
Emily, we are mainly interested in the mountains. I thought about staying at Mohonk Mountain House. we are headed to NJ coming from Maine. I thought Mohonk is a bit too south. Which town would be best to stay to go to the mountains?
Mohonk wouidn’t be too far south to get to Jersey. It’s well north of 287/Palasaides/Garden State Pkwy - which wouid be the one of the routes you’d take to NJ depending on where you wouid be going.
It’s also right in the mountains!
Here are some things to do near Mohonk.
Storm King Art Center
http://stormking.org/
There are six weeks of Halloween/Legend of Sleepy Hallow activities in Tarrytown, an easy drive over the river
http://www.hudsonvalley.org/plan-your-visit/halloween
If you want to hike - try the Shawakunks near Mohonk, or Fahnstock - good trails also at Windham or Kaaterskill, as mentioned before.
Mohonk is really lovely place but is a bit pricey. It is however well worth it.
You could also take a drive to Hunter Mountain, right next to the Windham resort. If you do go hiking, take care at the Kaaterskill Falls - there have been a number of accidents there, but mostly due to people going off the designated hiking trails and being careless in general. It’s a beautiful area and a great place to view the fall foliage.
I would stay in Mohonk except, it’s far from where we are hiking that makes their wonderful amenities less valuable. We will be out of the place most of the day. Kaaterskill sounds lovely. It seems short. We could do it on the day we arrive.
There is hiking right out the door at Mohonk Mountain House; it’s situated in a nature preserve. If Mohonk is within your budget, it’s a wonderful place to go, and would be a spectacular place for fall foliage.
I live relatively close by. You will be in close proximity to a lot of interesting things and a lot of natural beauty. It really depends upon how actively or passively you want to spend your time.
The Emerson is a beautiful Motel and Spa that is located in Phonecia NY (technically Mount Pleasant NY) in the heart of the Catskill mountains. A walk up the Overlook Mountain trail in Woodstock on a beautiful fall day is spectacular if you enjoy hiking.
All of these things are literally in my back yard so please feel free to send me a PM if there are questions that you have.
@GreatKid Thank you! What do you think of Poets Ledge for a walk?
Hi Iglooo,
I have never taken that hike but I know where it is. The Palenville/Tannersville area is beautiful.