Summer in the Catskills

This post will be a bit different from others. We just bought a place in the Catskills and are renting it out on AirBnb (check it out!). As we spend more time in the area, I plan to update this post. For now, I wanted to have a one-stop shop for all of our recommendations for hiking, swimming, and eating in the Hunter/Tannersville area. 

Hiking

We love hiking in the Catskills. There are so many truly awesome vistas just a short climb away. We’re slowly working our way through all of the area’s best hiking. So far, our two favorite hikes we’ve done are Huckleberry Point – a moderately challenging 4.5-mile out and back with incredible Hudson Valley views and Artist’s Rock/Sunset Rock – a harder 6.2-mile loop, also with fantastic Hudson Valley Views. A popular spot for painters, you may recognize the view made famous by the Hudson River School of artists.

Kaaterskill Falls is always worth a visit. There are various ways to hike to the falls. There are 4 trails to access the falls and viewing platform. The easiest is to park at Laurel House and take the short 1/4 mile hike to the viewing platform. It’s a hard packed gradual incline. We had no issues pushing our all terrain stroller on the path.  From the platform you can continue on the trailhead to explore the bottom of the falls and the lower falls, a very popular swimming spot. The trail will also take you out to Bastion Falls, which is another way to hike into Kaaterskill falls if you go the reverse direction.

Another route is to park near North-South Lake Park and take the Escarpment trail in. This is my personal favorite route, as it feels a bit more like a hike.

The last option, great for groups or kids, is the Rail Trail in. It can get muddy/icy depending on when you go so be sure to wear appropriate footwear. The parking lot is pretty big and this is a pretty flat about 4 mile out and back. Even though it’s flat, the old railroad ties mean it’s not stroller friendly.

Starting in 2023, there is limited parking on 23A in the summer. There’s a trolley service that runs from Tannersville to Palenville and makes stops at most trailheads and points of interest. Stops and pricing seem to change often so be sure to check their website for the latest.

I think it would be a good hike to take the trolley to Bastion Falls and take the Kaaterskill trailhead from there, rail trail out, then hop back on the trolley.

Devil’s Path, Overlook Mountain, and the Hunter Mountain Firetower are all on our list but we haven’t hiked them all yet. I think one of my goals is to work our way through this list of hikes. 

The Mountaintop Arboretum has a series of trails and is a lovely spot to spend a half day.

Swimming

After a long hot hike, swimming is the order of the day. Mother nature provides plenty of options from the area’s well-known swimming holes to various lakes. In our area, North-South Lake Campground and Day Use area has beaches at the two lakes. We like the North Lake beach because it has restrooms and a playground. Rip Van Winkle Lake and park has a small sometimes guarded beach, kayak and paddle board rentals, a great bar and restaurant (The Boathouse – see below), and an awesome playground for kids. Lastly, there’s a small beach and swimming area in Dolan’s Lake, right at the base of Hunter Mountain.

A little bit further away is Belleayre Beach. Theres a playground, beach area, snack shack, bathhouse, and chair, kayak, paddle board, and water trike rentals. This can make for a super fun day connected with the gondola at Belleayre mountain or exploring the nearby town of Pine Hill.

Activities

There are many activities beyond swimming and hiking. At the mountain, you can take the Kaatskill Flyer scenic ride to the top of the mountain, where you can enjoy the views and go on a short hike to find Rip Van Winkle. Select weekends of the summer and fall, Hunter partners with Northeast Offroad Adventures for a really fun 4×4 off-road tour of the mountain. We’ve done it with our Jeep and it makes for a really great weekend! Nearby, Rip Van Winkle Ranch does ATV tours during the summer.

The area is also known for its great towns with cute downtown shopping districts filled with country stores, antiques, and quirky finds. Be sure to check out Tannersville, Catskill, Phoenicia, Windham, and Woodstock. 

Eating/Drinking

Hunter 

Our favorite spot in Hunter is Jagerberg Beer Hall & Alpine Tavern. The food is great and the beer list is impressive. They have great outdoor seating during the summer. Hunter Mountain Brewery is also a great spot, just down the road. For breakfast or lunch,  M&J Bagel, Bakery, and Deli has great bagels and sandwiches, but be prepared to wait for them. Fellow has great coffee, pastries, and breakfast and lunch sandwiches. Van Winkles is in the Kaatskill Club at Hunter. It’s ok, but does seem to always be open which can be nice since a lot of places have limited hours during the off-season (basically, anytime that’s not July-October and January-March). Ronnie MacGregor’s Pub is a delightful locals-filled, cash-only bar with live music and karaoke. Also, Prospect at Scribner’s is nice, but I prefer Jesse’s in Tannersville.

Tannersville

Just down the road in Tannersville, there are a lot of great options. Last Chance Restaurant has a diner-style endless menu, a seemingly bottomless beer list, and a country store. The attached Saloon gets rocking on winter weekends, with live music and good times. Jessie’s Harvest House on the edge of town is fantastic. Tabla has tapas and Detroit style pizza, as well as great drinks. The Boathouse at Rip Van Winkle park and lake has great food, margaritas, cold beer, and live music. And we can’t talk about dining in Tannersville without mentioning three classics – Mama’s Boy Burgers (and Ice Cream), Pancho Villa’s, a standard fare American-style Mexican restaurant, and Selena’s Diner. While everything else in town has turned over in the last two decades or recently arrived on the scene, these three are still going strong…

Further away, a few places we haven’t been to but want to go to include Rip Van Winkle Brew and the dining scene at Windham. Also, while we haven’t spent much time in Catskill yet, the tortas at La Casa Latina are so good I have to include them here.

Area Amenities

Golf – there are several courses in the area, the closes of which are Colonial Country Club (a 9-hole course open to the public) and Rip Van Winkle Country Club (another 9-hole course open to the public). 

Basketball – there’s a basketball court at Doolan’s Lake park at the bottom of Hunter Mountain and one at the Elementary School, available for use when school isn’t in session. 

Playgrounds – Hunter Elementary School’s playground is open to the public when school isn’t in session. There’s also an awesome playground at Rip Van Winkle Lake and Park.

Canoes/Kayaks/SUPs – Rentals are available at Rip Van Winkle Lake and park.

Getting around

In this area, you only have one option – Smiley’s Transport. The cash-only cab service has been around for as long as any of us can remember and somehow still has the same phone number from when I first started coming here over 15 years ago – 518.589.6533. In our experience, there are no Lyft/Uber drivers in the Hunter/Tannersville area. There’s also the aforementioned Kaaterskill Trolley.