Pleasures & Pastimes

Pleasures & Pastimes

Catskill Park

Designated a state treasure in 1904, Catskill Park spans Ulster, Green, Delaware, and Sullivan counties. It encompasses 700,000 acres of public and private land, and some of the wildest country south of Maine, with bears, coyotes, rattlesnakes, and other creatures. About 60 percent of the land is privately owned; the nearly 300,000 acres of state land within the park is called the Catskill Forest Preserve. The park has 200 mi of marked trails, campgrounds, ponds, lakes, and mountains; 98 peaks rising above 3,000 feet make for inspired hiking. At 4,190 feet, Slide Mountain is the highest of the Catskill peaks.

Fishing

Fly-fishing, one of the nation's greatest sports, is said to have gotten its start in the Catskills—more specifically, at Roscoe's Junction Pool, where the Willowemoc River runs into the Beaverkill. Serious anglers make it a point, at least once in their life, to fish the fabled waters around Roscoe, which is often called Trout Town, U.S.A. The state stocks brown trout to supplement the wild trout you can catch here. The Delaware River, another option, is much less heavily fished. Esopus Creek, which runs along part of Route 28 in and around Phoenicia, is one of the most productive wild-trout streams in the Northeast. Although the number of fish—mostly wild rainbow and brown trout, but also brook trout—in the Esopus is impressive, most fish are less than 12 inches in length.

Golf

When most people think of golfing in the Catskills, they think of the dozen-plus courses in Sullivan County. Indeed, several of the courses in the southern Catskills are highly rated and offer good value. Standouts include the Grossinger Country Club's Big G and Little G courses and the Concord Resort & Golf Club's Monster course; the course at the Villa Roma resort is another good option. For the best golf in the southern Catskills, however, detour to the Nevele Grand Resort & Country's Club's 27 holes, designed by Robert Trent Jones and Tom Fazio. The resort is in Ellenville, at the eastern edge of the Catskills. The northern Catskills aren't as well supplied with courses, but you can still find places to play, including the Windham Country Club course, which earns high marks. Regardless of where you play, the mountainous scenery provides a beautiful backdrop. Much of the terrain is rather curvy, with big elevation changes, but you'll also find gentler 9-hole courses.

Skiing

With several ski resorts and hundreds of trails, the Catskill Mountains draw loads of skiers. The northern Catskills, home to the region's main ski resorts—Hunter, Belleayre, and Windham, as well as the smaller and quieter Plattekill—see most of the action. Many skiers come for the weekend from the metro New York area, satisfied with vertical drops of 1,100 to 1,600 feet. The drive's not bad either: about 2½ to 3 hours from New York City. Buses also serve the ski areas. Facilities offer lessons and trails for all levels of experience. Snowboarding and snowtubing in terrain parks are popular too, in part thanks to the superlative snowmaking abilities of the area resorts. Winters here are usually long and cold, allowing for the season to stretch to six months.