37 Best Sights in The Catskills, New York

As you watch the waters cascade 260 feet down the gray rock of this two-tiered waterfall, you'll see why this spot was so popular with Thomas Cole and other Hudson River School painters. To access the trail that leads to the bottom of the falls, park in the public lot on Route 23A, 3 miles east of Tannersville. To get to the trailhead, walk about ¼ mile east along the narrow shoulder of Route 23A. (This is a very busy road with hairpin turns, so you may find yourself hugging rocks as cars pass you.) Signs point the way to the path, which leads you past the delicate Bastion Falls. Although largely level, the moderately difficult trail does have a few steep sections. Altogether the hike is less than 1 mile long and shouldn't take a full hour. You may be tempted to climb to the top of the falls, but this is really risky: missteps on the slippery rocks here have resulted in many accidents—some fatal.

Promoting the work of local artists since 1916, this cultural center has several different gallery spaces that host concurrent exhibits. The Main Gallery has monthly group exhibits, while the Phoebe and Belmont Towbin Wing is devoted to art from the permanent collection. There's also a gallery devoted to works by young artists. You can't miss the charming building, with its entrance set off by tall red shutters.

Bailiwick Ranch and Discovery Zoo has three attractions that will entertain children: horseback rides along scenic trails, a zoological park with exotic and farm animals (including a petting zoo and feeding area), and paintball. Educational programs and special events also take place throughout the year. The ranch is open year-round (weather permitting), but the zoo is closed November through March. Members of the military receive free admission.

Housed in a 1905 barn, the visitor center sits above the Blenheim-Gilboa pumped-storage project, which generates power by recycling water between two reservoirs. Hands-on exhibits explain the science of energy production; an enclosed porch overlooking the lower reservoir has exhibits of local fauna. Picnic tables are scattered between the historic outbuildings. Hiking trails lead to Mine Kill State Park.

Cheese maker Ronald Brovetto, his wife Corinne, and son Russell have been making quality farmstead cheeses on their farm for over eight years. They make Harpersfield cheese, an aged, semihard, washed-rind, Tilsit-style cheese, cave-aged on the property, as well as flavored cheeses. All are made from milk from the resident herd of Holstein cows.The farm is about 8 mi north of Stamford, about a 40-minute drive from Roxbury.

Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, a wealthy Englishman under the sway of William Morris and John Ruskin, decided to create a utopian arts colony. His friend and conspirator Bolton Brown, an artist, suggested Woodstock. After a visit in 1902, Whitehead agreed. Here is the result: 250 acres holding the only intact arts and crafts colony in the U.S. Whitehead's efforts laid the groundwork for Woodstock's transformation into a colony of the arts. Artists, writers, composers, and dance and theater companies still call it home when they participate in its residency programs. There are plenty of events, from concerts to lectures to opportunities to visit artists at work in their studios. Guided tours are offered in the summer.

You're entering hallowed ground, because this building was once the Espresso Café, where Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, and others entertained countercultural dreamers. Now a gallery space for photography, the center aims to provoke serious consideration of the medium, offering a dynamic series of exhibits, lectures, and workshops.

The centerpiece of this museum property is the 1797 Federal-style farm of Gideon Frisbee, an original settler of Delhi. The complex includes six other historic buildings as well as an extensive genealogical library. One exhibit gallery holds a permanent collection of 19th-century farm implements; the other rotates displays of local historical interest. Special events re-create the daily life of the period. A nature trail leads to a covered bridge; when in bloom, more than 80 lilac bushes perfume the grounds.

Meander through the terraced sculpture garden, past the babbling brook, several inspired birdhouses, and other delightful art objects to the studio of Elena Zang and Alan Hoffman, creators of minimalist functional pottery. Down the hill is the gallery space, where blond-wood floors and an infusion of light set off the contemporary art on the walls.

One of the most unexpected attractions in the Catskills, this darkened 56-foot grain silo houses an enormous walk-in kaleidoscope (certified the world's largest by the Guinness Book of World Records) designed by award-winning kaleidoscope artist Charles Karadimos with the imagery-based video designed by psychedelic artist Isaac Abrams and his son Raphael. After you take in the visual and sound experience at the silo, wander through the gift shop where you can purchase a kaleidoscope of your own, and then out to the cobblestone courtyard of this retail complex, where upscale boutiques sell clothing, furniture, and antiques.

A single-story board-and-batten farm building constructed with logs from the property contains a sap house and cider mill. You can buy tangy apple cider, cider doughnuts, homemade pies, and maple syrup. If you bring your own apples, the Powell-Wagner family will happily custom press them for you. You can tour the premises by calling ahead.

An 1846 red barn overlooking a millpond was purchased in 1860 by David Josiah Hanford, who developed it into a working sawmill and gristmill. By 1898 the mill was supplying East Meredith with electricity, and it remained in operation until 1967, when it became a museum. The still-functional mill, powered by a waterwheel, is open for daily tours. The grounds include nature trails, a gallery space, and a picnic area. You can try your hand at ice harvesting during the annual Winter Ice Harvest, when period tools are used to cut ice from the frozen pond. The ice is then loaded onto a bobsled and stored until July 4, when it's used to make ice cream.

When two of Roxbury's churches were destroyed—one in a windstorm, the other by fire—Jay Gould offered to foot the bill to rebuild. The result was this church, built in 1893 at the edge of Kirkside Park under the direction of Henry Hardenburgh, architect of New York City's Dakota apartment building. Constructed of St. Lawrence limestone, the church has had only minor restoration work over the years. It has two stained-glass windows by Tiffany and two others by the Maitland Armstrong Co.

Acres of fields, a small stone gravesite, and mountain views on the outskirts of Roxbury are the perfect memorial to John Burroughs, an early environmentalist whose books changed the way many Americans looked at the natural world. En route to the memorial you'll pass Woodchuck Lodge, a rustic summer home with quarter moons carved into closed shutters that Burroughs built in 1908 for his retirement years. You can stand on the front porch where Burroughs slept, and take in the vistas that inspired him.

A giant golden Buddha resides in the colorful shrine room of this Tibetan Buddhist monastery, where you can meditate or wander the grounds. Stroll around to discover a fishpond, guesthouse, and solitary-retreat cabins, or join a guided tour on weekends at 1:30. Because this is a religious center, you're not permitted into the main shrine room wearing shoes, hats, or revealing garments. Introductory instruction in shinay (mind-calming) meditation is also available. The monastery is about 3 miles north of the village center.

John Lansing, who served in the New York State Assembly (1780–88) and as mayor of Albany (1786–90), built this Federal-style manor in 1819 for his daughter Frances and son-in-law, the Honorable Jacob Sutherland, so that they could collect rent from his tenant farmers. After the Sutherlands sold the manor, it passed to the Rosseter, Spring, and Mattice families before the New York Power Authority bought it in 1972. The manor, a window onto the 19th century, is filled with period antiques, some of which belonged to the resident families. In the ladies' reception area you can see where a young member of the Rosseter clan and his friend scratched their names into the window with a diamond. Tours take place each half hour.

Opened in 1958, the track has year-round harness racing, a daily-double race, and trifectas and perfectas with wagering. Inside is a Vegas-style "racino" with video lottery terminals. The all-you-can-eat buffet is first-rate.

Ever since a carriage road and observation tower were created in 1882, intrepid souls have ventured to the 3,365-foot summit to take in the sweeping vistas of Delaware and Schoharie counties and the Berkshire, Green, Adirondack, and Catskill mountains. (It's a bone-rattling drive up a steep gravel road). A 1926 wooden observation tower is under renovation at this writing, as are the steel fire tower and hiking trails. According to local lore, the mountain takes its name from an American Indian princess who drowned herself in a lake after her father killed her white lover and their child; the princess is supposedly buried on the mountain.

Along the famed Willomeoc Creek—the birthplace of American fly-fishing—a half million brown trout are raised each year to stock the state's waterways. Visitors are welcomed year-round for guided tours; experts from the state Department of Environmental Conservation are glad to answer questions and explain all things fishy. Call for specific hours.

A steep, serpentine, half-mile climb leads to a series of carvings chiseled into a prominent sandstone outcropping. With only slight sarcasm, the whitewashed carvings are noted as the "Rushmore of the East." According to local lore, Zadock Pratt commissioned sculptor Andrew W. Pearse to create the cameo-like carvings in exchange for room and board. Images of Pratt's son George, a colonel who was killed in the Civil War, and Pratt's favorite horse are visible from the mountainside as you hike.