Summer Getaways: The Catskills

Where the hills are green, the water is cool, and old men still wear long beards

Since before this country was a country, the Catskills have occupied a mythical place in our cultural imagination. For Washington Irving, the groves, hollows and rounded hills were a place out of time, where the hapless might wander to unwittingly escape the advances of civilization. More forgiving than the rugged, wild Adirondacks, these mountains are surrounded by a mystique that has been as much about the people who live there as it is about the land itself, but maybe even more so about the ideas these people hold. Forty years after a celebration of peace and music put Woodstock’s contemporary face on the map, the town and surrounding hill country is still a place built on an ideal shared by hippies and pre-revolutionary dreamers. It’s a land of bicycles, hybrids, and classic cars, where flags fly right-side-up from clotheslines mere feet from solar panels. Clear streams still burble through town and old, bearded men still sit outside shops with a distant look in their eyes. As soon as you get off the highway, the toll attendants seem cheerier, your iPod begins to inexplicably play all the right songs, and something about the place (whether you’re a mystic or a cynic) doesn’t quite feel real. This, and the fact that it’s within an hour’s drive, make it a great summer day trip.

There’s something to be said for scheduling, plans and itineraries, but the real Catskill voyage is rudderless. The area itself is small enough that a good map and a full tank of gas should prevent you from pulling a full Rip Van Winkle while leaving the day open to all the novel coincidences that make for a memorable trip.

That said, it’s helpful to aim for one of the area’s iconic attractions. Kaaterskill Falls in Hunter is only a half-mile from the trailhead. One of New York’s tallest falls at 260 feet, it was a regular subject of the Hudson River School painters and came to symbolize the natural sublime for early Americans. While in Hunter, it’s worth taking a hike, mountain biking at the lift-accessed ski area, or (if your timing’s right) checking out one of the food and music festivals that happen throughout the summer. But if the day’s hot, you might as well head south to the storybook hamlet of Phoenicia where cell phones go dead and the Esopus Creek wends its merry way. For a reasonable price you can rent an inner tube from one of the local outfitters and hop a shuttle bus upstream to float in the sun. If you’d prefer to stay dry, hop a ride on the scenic Catskill Mountain Railroad.

At this point, you’ll no doubt notice that Catskill folk like to sell stuff. Not only is the region home to a bucolic, nostalgic, freedom-loving mythos, but it’s a storehouse of American junk. You could spend a whole day stopping at roadside yard sales to stock up on fishing rods and antique plinko sets, but it’s worth going out of your way to hit Homer and Langly’s Mystery Spot in Phoenicia (where, on a recent trip, the guy from Band of Horses was overheard discussing the best cut of venison with the store’s proprietor) and the Saturday flea market in Woodstock (where you can get dishware from the ’50s, Indian statuary, custom compost barrels, and your fortune read by old women with real Eastern European accents).

Make a day of it in Woodstock by visiting the Center for Photography, the myriad house-size tie-dye shops, and cafés aplenty. You’ll find the population a curious mixture of well-preserved leftovers, Dylan-worshipping vegan whistle-punks, the New Jersey mobsterati, and occasional dressed-down celebs gnawing on a bag of something raw. Settle in for dinner at New World Home Cooking (it’s become to the area what Moosewood is to Ithaca), or (if you’re lucky enough to wrangle an invite) catch one of Levon Helm’s legendary Midnight Rambles at the Bearsville Studio.

You’re in for a moment of Catskill serendipity if you follow the cryptic signs to Opus 40 (east of Woodstock) on a whim, but it’s nonetheless worth aiming for. A massive outdoor sculpture garden, the six-acre attraction was the life work of Bard College professor Harvey Fite, who died at work three years shy of the 40-year project’s completion. The massive monument to peace may represent the spirit of the hills better than any other.

Time-sensitive attractions at-a-glance: Catskill folk love their vintage baseball, and while there’s plenty of opportunities to catch an 1895-style game in Fleischmanns and Roxbury, the July 4th Married Men vs. Single Men match-up sounds like it’s going to be a jolly barnburner. In mid-July there’s the Deposit Lumberjack Festival, and later in the month there’s the Hobart Horseshoe Festival. Don’t miss the annual Sandcastle Contest in Maplecrest, the Tannersville Crazy race, where you can build a race car out of pretty much anything, and Rip Van Winkle’s Wacky Raft Race in Catskill.

—Josh Potter

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