There’s a lot to do in the Northern Catskills. Check out the attractions below and be sure to check out the Northern Catskills tourism website for attractions and events.
Attractions
Howe Caverns – First discovered in the early 1800’s, operators say it has become the second most-popular natural attraction in the state after Niagara Falls. Howe Caverns squeezes so many splendid works of natural art into its 3,000-feet-long series of galleries and passageways that it ranks among the top five “show caves” in America. You name it; it’s got it, from stalagmites and stalactites to flowstone formations, an underground river and lake.
Drive time: 45 minutes each way
Zoom Flume– Just one minute down the road, New York’s #1 Family Water Park offers safe water fun, excitement and relaxation for all ages in a beautiful natural setting.
Drive time: 1 minute each way
K&K Equestrian Center at Ravine Farm: Horseback Riding – Located just 5 minutes outside East Durham, enjoy horseback riding and pony rides on a 1 hour and 30 minute guided trail rides through scenic woods with beautiful views of the Catskill Mountains. $50 for the hour long ride and $35 for the half hour ride. For children not of age for the trail rides, there are also pony rides for only $6. K&K also provides lessons for anyone who`d like to learn how to ride or become a better rider. Opened May 1st – June 29th weekends only. June 30th – Sept 3rd 7 days a week. Sept 8th – Oct 28th weekends only. Reservations are highly recommended 518-966-4829
Casinos
Saratoga Gaming And Raceway – Offers the best in video gaming entertainment, customer service, and live harness racing in upstate New York. They have over 1300 state-of-the-art video gaming machines from the top manufacturers in the gaming industry with more than 130 of the most popular titles.
Drive time: 1 hour, 20 minutes each way
Cruises
Hudson River Cruise – View millionaires’ sumptuous estates, picturesque lighthouses and quaint sleepy villages.
Drive time: 1 hour each way
Lake George Cruise– Cruise the historic and scenic Lake George, The Queen of American Lakes.
Drive time: 2 hours, 10 minutes each way
Historic Mansions
Clermont State Historic Site – Clermont was the Hudson River seat of the politically and socially prominent Livingston family of New York for more than 230 years. Seven successive generations of the family left their print on the architecture, room interiors, and landscape at Clermont. Today the 485-acre historic site appears much as it did in the early twentieth century, when the estate was the home of the last two generations to occupy the property: Mr. and Mrs. John Henry Livingston and their daughters, Honoria and Janet.
Drive time: 60 minutes each way
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Home – This estate contains “Springwood”, the lifelong home of America’s only 4-term President. Also on the site is the Presidential Library and Museum, operated by the National Archives. Visitors may enjoy a guided tour of FDR’s home, take a self-guided tour of the Museum, or stroll the grounds, gardens, and trails of this 300-acre site.
Drive time: 1 hour, 10 minutes each way
Lansing Manor – An early American country estate, built in 1819 by John Lansing. A history buff’s dream, Lansing Manor is filled with authentic furnishings from the first half of the 19th century.
Drive time: 40 minutes each way
Martin Van Buren’s Home – The mission of Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is to preserve Lindenwald, the home and farm of the nation’s eighth president. Martin Van Buren’s life bridged the 80 years between the American War for Independence and the U.S. Civil War, the critical formative years of the American Republic. When coupled with its surroundings and vistas, Lindenwald appears as it did when Martin Van Buren lived.
Drive time: 1 hour, 10 minutes each way
Olana Estate – One of the only intact 19th century studio houses in the United States. It was created by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), one of the most renowned American artists of the Hudson River School. Church designed his house both as a work of art and as a home for his family. The interior rooms are intact and are furnished with an eclectic mixture reflecting high style “art” and inherited furniture, objects indicative of Church’s interest in the history of civilization, and paintings by the artists and his friends.
Drive time: 30 minutes each way
Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site – Philip Schuyler (1733-1804), a descendant of Albany’s earliest settlers, chose an 80-acre parcel of farmland just south of the city of Albany as the site for his home. Completed in 1763 and built in the elegant Georgian style, Schuyler’s mansion evoked the praise of many travelers who described it in their journals. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Benedict Arnold were among Schuyler’s visitors. Alexander Hamilton, who married Schuyler’s daughter at the mansion in 1780, stayed at the house frequently.
Drive time: 1 hour, 5 minutes each way
Staatsburgh – (formerly known as Mills Mansion), is an elegant example of the great estates built by America’s financial and industrial leaders during the Gilded Age.
Drive time: 1 hour, 15 minutes each way
Vanderbilt Mansion – The Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, New York is perhaps the best, most intact example of the types of estates constructed by wealthy industrialists in the 19th century. The fully furnished, 54-room mansion is placed in a wondrous landscape with breathtaking views of the Hudson River and distant Catskill Mountains. If offers a glimpse into a past world known by only an elite few.
Drive time: 1 hour, 10 minutes each way
Historic Towns
Albany – Glimpse the past in this 300-year-old city, originally settled by the Dutch, and rich in American history.
Drive time: 1:10 minutes each way
Cooperstown – The trip to the fabled birthplace of baseball includes:
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum – The site of the annual induction ceremony, the museum is dedicated to the history and glory of America’s past-time.
Drive time: 1:45 minutes each way
The Farmers’ Museum – A living history museum depicting 19th Century village and farm life that is also home of the Empire State Carousel.
Drive time: 1:45 minutes each way
Fenimore Art Museum – Some of the nation’s finest examples of American landscape, history and genre paintings, American folk art, photography and American Indian art.
Drive time: 1:45 minutes each way
Brewery Ommegang – Tour and tasting at the only Belgian-style brewery in America.
Drive time for all: 1:40 minutes each way
Saratoga Springs – Visit the Saratoga National Battle Monument and shop in the beautifully restored downtown.
Drive time: 1:20 minutes each way
Museums
Bronck House Museum– A complex of Dutch Colonial dwellings and 19th Century barns, including the oldest surviving Dutch House in the Hudson Valley. The site was operated as a working farm by 8 generations of the Bronck Family. The 1663 and 1738 dwellings are furnished with 18th and 19th century art, furniture, textiles, ceramics, and silver. The house barn has a varied collection of Greene County Memorabilia.
Drive time: 30 minutes each way
Thomas Cole National Historic Site – Residence and studio of founder of the Hudson River School of Painting. The house contains galleries of oil paintings and prints as well as rooms with Cole artifacts and period furnishings.
Drive time: 25 minutes each way
Zadock Pratt Homestead & Museum c. 1828 – Contains period furniture, artifacts from Pratt’s life, tannery exhibit, and other changing exhibits about local and regional history.
Drive time: 30 minutes each way
Firefighting Museum – The most comprehensive collection of firefighting memorabilia in the United States. The museum is a tribute to firefighters and a beacon for fire buffs from around the world. It’s also a treasure trove of artifacts and heroism, representing the history of those men and women who have interrupted their personal lives to protect the lives, property and vitality of their communities.
Drive time: 35 minutes each way
Old Stone Fort Museum & Historic Site – Preserves the rich, historic legacy of New York’s beautiful Schoharie Valley. Buildings include an early 1700’s home, 1780’s Dutch barn, 1830’s law office and 1890’s one-room school as well as the 1772 stone church that was fortified and attacked by British forces in 1780.
Drive time: 35 minutes each way
New York State Museum – Exhibits: The World Trade Center and 9/11, Thomas Cole and the Hudson River School Landscape Tradition, Harlem in the 20s, The History of New York City, The Cohoes Mastodon, Birds of New York, Native Peoples of New York, Adirondack Wilderness, and Contemporary Collection of Native American Crafts.
Drive time: 45 minutes each way
Norman Rockwell Museum – The Museum is located in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where Norman Rockwell spent the last 25 years of his life. His brilliant career spanned more than 60 years, leaving behind a legacy of images that helped define American identity throughout the 20th century.
Drive time: 1:20 minutes each way
Pleshakov 18th Century Piano Museum – Awe-inspiring piano demonstration & mini-concert by two world-renowned pianists.
Drive time: 30 minutes each way
Saratoga National Battle Monument – Site of the first significant American military victory during the Revolution, the Battles of Saratoga rank among the fifteen most decisive battles in world history. Here in 1777 American forces met, defeated and forced a major British army to surrender, an event which led France to recognize the independence of the United States and enter the war as a decisive military ally of the struggling Americans.
Drive time: 1:20 minutes each way
Saugerties Lighthouse – One of the oldest in the region, the present structure dating from 1869. This is a lovely and peaceful place to spend a little time, with Esopus Creek on one side and the Hudson River on the other.
Drive time: 60 minutes each way
Ukrainian Church & Grazhda – Imposing wood-carved basilica built entirely without nails, with hand carved and gold covered interiors.
Drive time: 20 minutes each way
USS Slater WWII Battleship – The Slater is a Cannon Class Destroyer Escort. Of the 565 destroyer escorts produced in World War II, USS SLATER (DE-766) is the only one remaining afloat in the United States, and the only one with original battle armament and configuration. These trim but deadly warships had the duty of looking out for enemy submarines and kamikazes as they escorted ship convoys across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Visitors have a chance to see what life was like for the sailors who manned these vessels when they come aboard this Cannon Class destroyer escort in Albany.
Drive time: 45 minutes each way
Shopping
Berkshire Outlet Stores – Offering over 60 outlet stores featuring a huge selection of designer brands and heavy discounts off retail pricing. All in a quaint village motif.
Drive time: 1:10 minutes each way
Hudson Antique District – Browse through 3 blocks of 30 antique stores ranging from flea market to high-end (six figures).
Drive time: 35 minutes each way
