Catskill Mountains Reviews

It was pretty. Nice hills, reservoirs, etc. Kaaterskill Falls, the 'famous' falls of the Catskills region, was a bit of let-down. I am used to large waterfalls, living in WA The overlook at North-South Lake was nice, but not really worth the $10 entrance fee to the state park campground. From the outlook, one can see the Hudson River valley. It was a nice, leisurely, pretty drive, though.

The fall colors were vibrant and beautiful this past weekend Oct 14-16. I was lucky to hit peak season There are many scenic roads to drive or hikes you can take to enjoy the nice fall colors. The towns are very quaint and historic in the mountains. It's a serene and peaceful getaway from the city. I'd go back there again for sure.

We visited the Kaaterskill Falls on October 11, 2015. The top of the Falls is located near North/South Lake in Hunter, but when we went there to park and hike, entry was barred with a "Closed due to Construction" sign. We then took the main road back down the mountain and tried to park in the tiny lot across from the bottom of the falls (we waited about 15 minutes and nothing opened up), so then we parked behind some other cars on the side of the mountain directly opposite from the parking lot. We have 3 kids under 11 years of age and people were walking from all directions on the side of the road, but drivers were still driving pretty fast (locals must see this all the time). We enjoyed the hike (it was quite busy w/ a lot of families), but upon returning, our car was being loaded onto a tow truck (all of the cars in front of us had already been towed). We received a $75 ticket and paid $175 to the towing company. I do not recommend this hike unless you come very early and can get a spot in the parking lot. We saw another small parking spot further down the mountain, but there is no sidewalk or walking space from either lot to the hike--you are walking with traffic as it goes up and down the mountain.

I stayed 3 nights at Bear Spring Mountain Campgrounds over July 4th weekend. It was a great stay. If you go stay in the upper campgrounds near the lake (sites 1-27). An important note- the only pit toilet in the upper campgrounds is by the lakefront sites, not in the main ring like the reserveamerica map shows. There's a brand new comfort station with showers and flush toilets. I was at site 13 which was awesome- very private, quiet and close to the bathroom, but not the biggest. Sites 5-9 didn't have much privacy, not much separation or trees between sites. Sites 19, 25-27 down by the lake are nice too, but very open with huge pine trees. Pit toilets are the closet ones down there also. Site 24 also looked pretty private and also huge.

The hiking nearby was pretty good. Some horse trails were overgrown and impassable on foot, would be fine on horseback. The lake was clean but the swim area is way too small, no lifeguard on duty. The nature trail around the lake was also pleasant. Grocery stores are about a 15 min drive into a town in either direction off Rt. 206 to Walton or Downsville.

Wonderful hike. Great views. Ascent is broken up. Terrain is rocky with some potential for minor scrambling in certain sections. Easy to follow trail changes. Beware of the summit of Panther Mountain. It was deceiving as you began a decent with a heavy wooded area that tricks you into thinking you have started onto the Fox Hollow Trail portion. The views from the ledge trail will satisfy if climbing to the top of panther mountain is not on your agenda for the day.

This hike is fairly rocky and steep, but the views from all of the 5 ledges are amazing. The first one was almost the best because it was the most open. If you continue the hike to Panther the views are still nice from the summit and are in a different direction, but there is more tree cover blocking the views. In my opinion you get better views on the ledges. The overall hike is pretty nice through the woods. The colors in the fall make everything better so I can only vouch for that season.

You'll be happy if you follow my advice, by taking the Spruceton Road to the gate, at its very end, then walking the gently ascending trail for 1 mile. You will soon reach a clearing with a rustic, wooden bridge, and from its foot, will come the drumming of Diamond Notch Falls. See my photo, taken in September.

If you're looking for a beautiful setting that offers everything from quiet hiking on great trails to antiquing in quaint villages, to casual and/or elegant dining to wonderful accommodations and so much more then the Catskills Mountains have it all.

The autumn colours are vibrant and beautiful whether rain or shine. There is much to see and do. Each village has its own defining characteristics and personality. We stayed in Saugerties but made sure to visit Catskill, Woodstock, Kingston and Rhinecliff. Don't miss any of these. Chat with the locals - they're warm and friendly and most willing to suggest things to do. Check out the antique shops - there are amazing finds in every nook and cranny.

Enjoy the range of cuisine ... from casual to fine dining ... each delicious in its own way.

Get outside and enjoy the vistas, the clean fresh air and the beauty of nature ... it's all right there in the Catskills.

The Ashokan reservoir, in West Shokan N.Y. is not to be missed. There are 2 parking lots wher you can hike from. All flat and paved with amazing views on the reservoir, the mountains, and bald eagles. Great for bikes, roller blades, kids, etc. less than 30 minutes from Kingston or Woodstock.

We had the most relaxing but action packed weekend in the Catskills. We loved hiking to Kaaterskill Falls and the Giant Ledge overlook. We ate at the Phoenicia Diner and at Cucina in Woodstock. We strolled around Woodstocks little stores and cool signs and sculptures. All in all it was a great weekend away and left us rejuvenated after a long few months of quarantine.

PS it was also easy to social distance here, with everyone being respectful of distancing and masking (except at the bottom of Kaaterskill Falls)

Great hike to the top of the mountain near big Indian, NY. Steep at times but a great and safe challenge. Ran into lots of people with their dogs, but not too many folks to make the paths too busy. Once at the top, the views form several ledge outcroppings was well worth the trip up! several camp sites nearer the top...some folks said they saw snakes, but I did not.

The views were great, the air was cool all the way up and the paths well marked. I recommend this trail for teens and older!

I've been hiking and spending leisure in the catskills for over 50 years and I've seen fabulous views from dozens of trails. In addition to the amazing hiking there's skiing, tubing, train rides, nice hotels/resorts, terrific restaurants, zip lining, well marked and maintained biking, snowmobile, skiing trails, lots of campgrounds, swimming in lakes and swimming holes, festivals, antiquing, art galleries, etc, etc. Beautiful fall foliage. Beautiful any time of the year. I could go on and on.

Spent many years visiting the area as well as living here. As one of our only untreated water sources and what allows New York City and surrounding areas to grow is our lovely Eco-system. Thousands of miles of hiking and biking trails. Lovely stores and small attractions in a dozen lovely towns. For more adventurous there is lots of cliff jumping and even paid ziplining at local Mtns.

I have stayed here only 2 days but I was running behind time and chasing each small town in the Catskills mountains. Absolutely stunning and gorgeous place I ever been. Surely going back again in month of August to visit. Whether you ride bike, or you prefer hiking with you just go there to snap some pictures or check it out nature this places for everyone. Absolutely no complaints.

Biked around the Ashokan reservoir with some friends, and it was really nice. The scenery was gorgeous, some areas are closed off from traffic, all in all a nice experience. We'll be back for sure.

First let me say that if staff showed an interest in being around people and a love of the job, this would be a great place to stay. But when you're, quote, 'stuck here' with a job that doesn't appear to appeal, people notice. Our first clue was when we were escorted to our riverside camp site and started to back in. You back in to a one way campsite, right? When the river is at one end? Well, stupid us. Within 30 seconds eyes were rolling and hand gestures were clearly indicating something was wrong with us with our intelligence. Turns out that the only service in the row that was on a different side was ours. Our bad and we certainly heard about it. Then there's the two way radios that the staff has. Do they really think that guests on the other side can't hear them talking about other people in the campsite? And was it our fault that there was no hot water in one bathhouse? Jeez, we just wanted to let them know, and nicely too.

There are other items that indicate a lack of interest. For example, the far side ladies room didn't have mirrors or electrical outlets (at least that I could see). The rec room had no tables for a game to be set up which would have been nice because there was no other building to go to when it rains, which it did. And the owner was setting off dynamite for fun. Maybe you're okay with that but I thought it was odd and too loud. To be fair, the campsite was well taken care of, the store was decently stocked, there were canoes and kayaks to rent, and there was a shuttle to upstream locations for river runs. The scenery was beautiful and the site was 10 to 20 minutes from two decent sized towns. Perhaps we just caught the owners and staff on a bad weekend but yahoo had reviews you might want to look at if you're considering staying here. We would have given a much higher review if we didn't feel our stay was an inconvenience.

Beautiful area with many swimming areas - unfortunately many places are overcrowded and littered. Some places are being closed to swimmers because people are abusing the area, many of the swimming areas have been written up in New York Times - causing overcrowding, litter, other problems.

I spent the weekend in the Catskills and was really impressed. I am from the New York area but had never been up there to hike. The trail we took was strenuous but the views from the top were so worth it that I am already planning to do the hike again. We stayed at the Woodland Campgrounds which are located at the start of the SLide Mountain trail (as well as the trail we did) which was extremely convenient. I loved camping on the banks of a river, climbing the boulders, and stopping by the town of Pheonicia on the way home. All in all, a lovely trip. I will definitely do it again in the fall once the leaves have started to change color!

We started our stay in the Catskills at Bear Spring Mountain State Campground - 512 E Trout Brook Rd Downsville, NY – it’s actually between Walton & Shinhopple. This was a perfectly fine little campground, we don’t like anything fancy. This campground has two sections (upper & lower) –we stayed at the lower. We arrived on Saturday and left Tuesday morning, and the first night was the only night there were any other campers. It was very quiet there, very relaxing. However if you do stay at the lower campground know that is the section where people can bring their horses and well it can smell like it :). Also the bathroom was just a drop toilet and no sink (or shower). The tent sites do have water nearby but after sitting for a day in our water cooler there was sediment. :( Also you have to go to the upper section to check in which is like 3.5 miles away.
On Tuesday we drove to Woodland Valley State Campground - 1319 Woodland Valley Rd, Phoenicia, NY (this campground is way out in the forest – it takes about 13 mins to get to the campground from Route 28. We stayed here for 4 nights. This campground was a little nicer. More busy, but we got a fairly remote spot. Bathroom has a real flush toilet and a sink with running water (but no paper towels or blow dryer). There was water near our campsite and it was very good. It is however Bear country. Warnings all over the place, you can’t miss them. They do not have an open garbage dumpster (or even a bear safe one), they have a certain time everyday that you can take your garbage and recycling to a special building. They also have a place right there were you can wash your dishes, quite helpful for keeping the bears away. Our last night my husband said about 2 AM he heard was sounded like tubs and things being tossed around (not at our site but a ways away from us), and not like someone who’d had too much to drink running into something. Then not too long after that he heard what sound like a footstep on the road right by our tent and then some sort of snuffling, snorting noises. He’s positive it was a bear. Thankfully we are very careful about our site and so the bear found nothing to interest him there.
Out of state use fee is $5 per night and when you reserve online there is a $9 reservation fee.

My fiancé road through here on our motorcycles on our way back home from a long trip all over NY/New England. Started in Hudson, NY...took 23A to 214 to 28s to 30 to 17, then on to Binghampton. The Kaaterskill Wild Forest area was beautiful, although our weather was not. We were dodging rain all day and had to really scoot along. This was definitely somewhere we would like to see again to spend more time. Pepacton Reservoir is very scenic. Very nice ride on the motorcycles.

Office staff was rude, pool was full of bugs due broken underwater pipes that are too costly to repair, all sinks in the woman's bathroom were clogged and not working, quiet time rules were not adhered to and staff did nothing to fix it, picnic tables were broken and the owner is running his quarry and is not available to speak to at anytime. Will not be going back again.

I have been going to the Catskills since I was 4-to an overnight camp and resort. The mountains are spectacular, especially in the fall. Take a ride to the Ice Caves and explore their cool rocky interior. A ride up rt. 52 leads to wonderful valley views. During the winter there is skiing, tubing and ice skating, as well as snowball fights! Take a relaxing ride through this scenic place anytime of year!

Absolutely breathtaking scenery easily accessible from New York City. Rivers, mountains, waterfalls, acres of natural woodland, wild ferns, birds, deer and other wildlife. Many small towns that are easy to drive to like Woodstock, Stone Ridge, Rhinebeck. Walking trails, reservoirs, historical landmarks. Or just an amazing place to escape city life and totally relax.

There are about 300 miles of hiking trails in the Catskill, many of them maintained by the Trail Conference.

The 356 mile Long Path, which runs from the George Washington Bridge in New York City to Thatcher State Park just southwest of Albany, passes through the Catskill Mountains region for approximately 100 miles between Wawarsing in the south and Windham in the north. The Long Path follows the main ridges of the Catskill Mountains passing over the Burroughs Range (Slide, Cornell and Wittenberg Mountains), along with the Devil's Path range, which has been called one of the most difficult hikes in the east. The Long Path also makes its way through wild and untouched wilderness areas and follows the eastern face of the Catskill Mountains, offering amazing views of the Hudson Valley and the Taconic, Bershire and Green Mountains beyond.

I have had the pleasure of hiking almost all of those 100 miles at various times, and this month was able to do a great hike over Wittenberg Mountain. Colors were magnificent.

Recently my wife and I spent a few days driving through and hiking in the Catskills. We did a couple of hikes on the Escarpment Trail starting near the North/South Lake campground near Haines Falls. Breathtaking views and steep drop-offs. One could easily imagine Rip Van Winkle and other Washington Irving tales while hiking through the woods.

A very disappointing experience, abandoned resorts at every turn, rundown homes and unsavory locals hanging out at gas stations and mini/marts. Felt very unsafe.
No access to swim in Swan Lake, no boat rentals........WHY BOTHER. The golf course in SwanLake is just as depressed as the rest of the town.

White Lake is about 20 minutes away, has boat rentals but no public swimming area. White Lake has nice eateries......Several that we tried and loved.

I was born and grew up on the southern fringe of the Catskills and worked summers at camps there. It is a truly beautiful area but I didn't really fully understand this till I moved to flat, flat New Jersey. We return often to the Catskills, most recently last month, and the fall leaves were gorgeous.

Nice place for a long enough hike: the trail branches into two: a very scenic one on a stunning wide landscape and a quieter one, leading to the lake, which looks enchanted, like melted silver. You can pick one of the two, or both of them if you feel in shape!

About an Hour and a half's driving from NYC towards Albany lie the famous Catskills or "Blue Mountains" at par with Vermont's Green Mountains or New Hampshire's White Mountains.

The area is a perfect get away into the serene settings of Nature and life at a mellow pace.
Plenty of things to be done in the area because its not just the mountains but neighboring towns that have a lot to offer to the exploring visitor. From Hiking to Bird watching, Photography to Hunting, camping to wine tasting.. Catskills offers it all and yes, not to mention the foliage in Fall and Skiing in the Snow season.

lots of fun activities. there are lots of good restaurants. the food is great. there are great views.

The Catskills were wonderful, with many different trail opportunities. I did Mt. Tremper to hike up to the fire tower (3.5 miles) and the Ashokan reservoir rim trail (up to 4 miles in length). Both were fantastic and reasonable for any level hiker or Walker.

We spent a lot of the summer upstate new york through vacation kids school .we hike. And just went out enjoyed the beautiful and gorges scenery from around all the hills fresh air and I will spent much more time here all year kids from 7. To 8 up will enjoy this all area

We were a group of 6 family members who came to visit other family members. We were told that a visit was a must to see.

i would not stay here their prices are flip floppy and they cant make up their damn minds! they over charge and charged me for things not mentioned in their site! yelp and google reviews has full detailed story!

Spent the weekend in the mountains and it's a beautiful area with plenty to see and do. Lots of boating, fishing, shopping and eating. Plenty of picture taking opportunities and wildlife will make great photos for you. Only problem was the pollen, lol. My allergies did not enjoy the cottonwood blizzard we continually ran into so if you suffer form allergies choose your time of visit wisely.

The Catskill Mountains were a great ethnic escape for New York area metropolitans prior to and after the Second World War. Here there were many large and smaller scale bungalow colonies: Jewish, Italian, Irish, German among other smaller options. Today there are still traces of each sprinkled throughout, as well as a host of natural and man made tourist attractions of considerable variety. It shines best on a fall weekend, but cooling summer nights and cozy snow scenes are quite peaceful or alternately invigorating as well

Living in New York City sometimes we forget how beautiful is New York state. I did not know this area, but driving through the Mountains going to Windham and Hunter ski resorts and the village of Phoenicia. A treat. A great escape.

We spent a weekend at the Launt Pond (non-horse) campground (2 adults, 2 kids 11 and 12.) The map on the DEC site is not terribly accurate- upper spots are on the side of a hill and the shower house is at the top, so each road loop is higher than the one below which does give more privacy. Best sites are on the outside of the loop. The center sites are on a grass runway with a grill plopped down every 30 feet- no shade, no privacy. Avoid sites 10, 9, 8, 6 and 21. Best; 24, 3, 1, 2. Sites by the lake are well separated and under towering pines, but no shrubs for privacy and a long hike to the shower house. Shower house is nice and new, cleaned every day and any mess is your fellow campers slobs. There is a large wash up sink outside the shower house. Swimming area is tiny and unguarded, but the kids had a fine time. Composting toilet by the swim area can be "scented." Nice amount of wildlife; if you get up early there are deer, Great Blue Heron, Kingfisher, Solitary Sandpiper (very early -a calling Barred Owl) and around most of the time; Juncos, Chipping Sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, Goldfinches, Sapsuckers, Blue Jays, Crows, chipmunks. Seen in the area- eagles along the East Branch and ravens. Nice native plant habitat. At night there is little light pollution and we had fun stargazing- it's dark enough to see the milky way and shooting stars. Bring a star chart. The walk around the pond was pretty but barely marked and more like a soggy deer trail - lots of springs and seeps. Chief complaint would be that at some DEC sites the wardens go the extra- here not so much- that small trail is theirs to maintain and it was clear nothing had been done this season. No hiking maps available, except for horse trails. Old faded posters on the sign board. No activities posted- and there is a small outdoor theater, so they once had talks and movies I'm guessing. Not much cell reception- you are in the mountains.
In the area- avoid the Downsville Diner - mediocre food at NYC prices. $34 for breakfast for 4 and that was with a kids meal. Do take a drive up to Andes - scenic drive along the reservoir along 30, cross the bridge to 1 and do stop at Woodys Country kitchen for breakfast, lunch or ice cream. Andes is full of lots of little antique shops and fun stuff. Lots of places to do tubing or canoe along the East Branch. There is good hiking but make sure you get that info in advance

Typical American state park or weekend getaway. Nice chill hiking trials with a cute town near NYC. Maybe a good place for NYC ppl to checkout. Not worth flying there just for this trip.

The camp sites were super small, some were just smack right on the side of the road. They DO NOT allow any sort of noise after 10pm what so ever. Threatened to get kicked out for simply laughing too loud past 10pm. Bathrooms and showers are small, and uphill so good luck trying to do your business. Grass was not cut, and there was nothing fun about it.

Our guide was very friendly and shared a lot of information on the Catskill area. We walked down to the Catskills Falls and it view was stunning with all of the fall foliage surrounding the falls. We would definitely do this again!

Every Summer we go camping to Catskills. North-South lake campground opens early then any other campgrounds in Catskills, so it is usually our first camping trip in the every season.
Right from the camp ground there are many hikes available with breathtaking view to Hudson River. Hiking trails are well maintained. There are all the time something for every one, old or little one. There are some trails that lead to waterfalls right from the campground.
Most famous and most beautiful is Kaaterskill Falls on 212 road, short ride from campground. Parking lot is very small. It would be fill out from early morning, and it is far away to park in any other spots. It is pretty inconvenient to go to the bottom of the Fall. 212 is busy highway, with very heavy traffic in both directions. The road in this spot is difficult to drive, very snaky. Of cause we all as driver such walkers must get where we go, but it is complicated to both sides. It is many attempts to get another way to get to the Fall but still in present time it is only one way, road 212.
Best time to see Falls is May or early June. Later in Summer water run away and snow meted. Still, it is a lot of good hikes very interesting and very convenient to take.
North-South Lake campground is NY State public campground very good in price. Every campsite has fire place, table, and spot for two tents and two cars allowed to campsite. 6 people adult or children. Price is $25 per night for NY residents (weekends or holidays) and + $5 for not NY residents. Kids have a lot of fun to ride bikes. Boat stations on both lakes, both connected one with another. Beaches on both lakes. Campground is safe for both children and adults. Still there are rules, Black Bear policy some campers do not like still we have to follow them: no food on site unattended, and all must be stored inside the car for night time.
We spent many days on North-South lake campground. It is very popular campground for NYC residents. Just be sure to be on campground before 9 pm. No campers allow to set up camp after 9 pm.

Anywhere in the Catskills is amazing, you will find waterfalls and streams and great hiking wherever you go. Kaaterskill Falls is our favorite place to hike up and see the waterfalls, absolute breathtaking views. Woodstock and Phoenicia are a short ride and are great towns to visit with wonderful places to eat. It is free to walk and hike in this park.

The catskill mountains are beautiful. They are full of hikes and waterfalls. The hike we did was called the Giant Lege and Panther Mountain hike. It was quite steep but doable. The view from the ledge was beautiful. There are several Resorts, Log cabins where people can choose to stay overnight as well, but we chose to do a day trip. Over all experience was amazing!