New York: The Catskills

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Woah. The Catskills, guys. Who knew?

Recently spent a lovely weekend in the New York Catskills. Who knew New Paltz, NY had so much going on? Just a two hour drive north of New York City, you've got Minnewaska State Park, complete with a waterfall, hiking, and lake-swimming with white limestone cliff background! New Paltz is full of lots of cute little shops and restaurants and when you get tired of all that, there's the wineries and distilleries in the region. We visited Tuthilltown Distillery, which had a lovely, spirited tour and a great sampling session with some interesting selections. Their gin is really fascinating. Our AirBnB was located right next to a small farm with country market. It was super idyllic.

In Minnewaska State Park we took Beacon Carriage Trail to Beacon Hill Trail to the Lake Minnewaska Carriage Road, over to Sunset Carriage Road, and then Awosting Falls Carriage Trail. It was an intermediate trek, with a fair amount of uphill, but it's the uphill that gives you the sweeping views of the valley. If you cool down with a swim in the lake partway through, it's not so bad at all! And then, if you follow the hike up with a visit to Tuthilltown distillery, you have quite the afternoon set up.

On the drive back, we spent a couple hours in Cold Spring, NY which has a rather wide selection of antique shops, and an even better selection of outdoor cafes. If you walk down the hill, you end up at the Hudson River with Storm King State Park as the back drop. Really, really lovely.