Best things to do in Catskill Region

Overlook Mountain is the southernmost peak of the Catskill Escarpment in the central Catskill Mountains near Woodstock, New York. The centerpiece of the 590-acre (240 ha) Overlook Mountain Wild Forest area of Catskill Park, the mountain is the site of one of the remaining five Catskill Mountain fire towers and the Overlook Mountain House, a hotel which was built at a higher elevation than any other in the range.

The Mohonk Preserve is New York State's largest visitor- and member-supported nature preserve, with 165,000 annual visitors and 8000acre of cliffs, forests, fields, ponds and streams. It is located on the Shawangunk Ridge, a section of the Appalachian Mountains, 90mi north of New York City in Ulster County, New York. The Preserve maintains over 70mi of carriage roads and 40mi of trails for hiking, cycling, trail running, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and horseback riding. It is also a major destination for rock climbers, hosting 50,000 climbers each year who enjoy more than 1,000 climbing routes.
The origins of the preserve date to 1869, when twin brothers Albert and Alfred Smiley purchased Lake Mohonk and established the Mohonk Mountain House. On February 26, 1963, the Smiley family, friends, neighbors and supporters formed the Mohonk Trust to protect the area's unique natural landscape for future generations. The "property" of the Mohonk Trust on that day in 1963 consisted of $100, a gift from Mabel Craven Smiley. Land was acquired by the Mohonk Trust over the years, and it became the Mohonk Preserve Inc. in 1978. According to their 2012 IRS Form 990 their assets today exceed $20 million. Through the support of members, donors and partners, the preserve has become a center for outdoor education and a conservation advocate, especially for natural lands in the Shawangunks and the Hudson Valley. Its mission includes land protection and stewardship, sponsorship of environmental education programs, which according to Preserve officials have served more than 100,000 children over a thirty-year period, and maintenance of biological, weather, and natural history records spanning more than a century.

Hunter Mountain is a ski resort located about three hours north west of New York City in Hunter, New York. It features a 1600ft vertical drop.
From its inception in the late 1950s, the management of Hunter Mountain has employed extensive snowmaking facilities. Hunter was the first ski destination in the state of New York to install snow-making, the first in the world with top-to-bottom snow-making, and the first in the world to have 100-percent snow-making coverage of the mountain.
The resort offers snow tubing and snowshoeing as well as skiing. Hunter Mountain also features two terrain parks and holds freestyle events throughout the ski season.
During the mid-50’s a group of local businessmen, including Orville, Karl Plattner Sr. and Israel Slutzky, developed plans to revive the area's economy after the Great Depression, World War II and the decline of Catskills tourism had caused long-term economic distress. The sport of skiing was becoming popular, and the group considered developing Hunter Mountain as a ski resort. After a failed lobbying attempt to get the state to develop a new ski area on Hunter Mountain, the group contacted Denise McCluggage, a sports editor at the New York Herald Tribune. They told her they had a mountain to give away to any developer who would build a ski area called Hunter Mountain on it. McCluggage wrote an article that attracted the interest of a group of Broadway show-business people.

Sam's Point Preserve, or Sam's Point Dwarf Pine Ridge Preserve, is a 4,600-acre (19 km2) preserve in Ulster County on the highest point (2,289 feet [698 m]) of the Shawangunk Ridge in New York, on the Wawarsing, New York-Shawangunk town line. It is owned and managed by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation after having previously been managed by The Nature Conservancy. Its unique environment features dwarf pitch pine trees along the ridgetop. Located within the park is Lake Maratanza, the highest lake on the ridge, and the Ellenville Fault Ice Caves.

April - October Weekend Tours

Catskill Animal Sanctuary offers tours to the public Saturdays and Sundays from April through October.

Tours start every 45 minutes. The first tour begins at 11:00 a.m. The last tour begins at 2:45 p.m.

Catskill Animal Sanctuary members can schedule a tour in advance for a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday visit. Tours are at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Guests of The Homestead are welcome to stay with us year-round and may explore the grounds at their leisure.

Falling Waters Preserve is one of two nature preserves that is part of Esopus Creek Conservancy. Located in Glasco (Saugerties) New York, the 192-acre preserve features wooded shoreline, picturesque streams, dramatic waterfalls, meadows, wetlands, and more than a mile Hudson River waterfront.

Plattekill Mountain is a privately owned and operated ski and bike resort northwest of Catskill Park in the town of Roxbury, New York. It features a vertical drop of 1,100 feet (340 meters) with 38 trails of varying degrees of difficulty.

The main lodge is located at 2400' elevation with the highest peak reaching an elevation of 3500'. The resort has amenities such as a cafeteria, bar, pro shop, equipment rentals, ski school, lockers and fireplaces/stoves on each of its 3 levels.

There are two ski lifts accessing the mountain's peaks. There are also surface lifts at the beginner area and in the snow tubing park.