Happy Trails

It is a beautiful winter and the Great Western Catskills are glistening with fresh snow. That means it’s time to gather up the friends and family for a weekend to refresh and recharge in the crisp winter air.  Fun and adventure are waiting on the slopes or the trails and with stay and play packages, cozy lodging and wonderful dining you don’t need and excuse to get away from it all.

Catskill Scenic Trail

While the age of train rides from New York to the Catskills has been eclipsed by buses and cars the romance of the rails is not lost, just updated! The Catskill Scenic Trail, the rail path of the former Ulster & Delaware Railroad has been reincarnated in a companion project with the Delaware & Ulster scenic rail-ride. This four season trail boasts 26 miles of hard-packed base that meanders through hill and dale from Roxbury to Bloomville and several towns in between.  A hike through the fresh snow and crisp winter air is the natures cure for shaking off the post-holiday doldrums. Even better, glide from town to town on cross country skis. Check out their website for a trail map at http://catskillscenictrail.org/.

Fueling Up

Start your adventure on the Catskill Scenic Trail off right with breakfast. Staying close to Margaretville? Try the amazing breakfast offerings at the Arkville Bread and Breakfast. They offer everything from eggs over easy to airy waffles and sausage.  In Roxbury, stop in at the  East Branch Cafe where you can  fuel up with a pile of warm and fluffy pancakes with local maple syrup and a steaming cup of fresh, hot coffee.  Hit the trail and hike on down the line for lunch at the Creekside Café where homemade soups and fresh, warm made-to-order sandwiches await hungry hikers.  As the sun sets over the beautiful mountains dinner beckons.  Spice it up with enchiladas and rice and beans at La Cabana in Fleischmanns or savory, home-cooked Italian at Mama Maria’s in Stamford. No matter what you are craving there is a restaurant to satisfy those hungry taste buds.

Recharging

A day out in the fresh air means a good night sleep.  Many of the local hotels and bed and breakfasts offer stay and play packages that meet every need. The historic  River Run Bed and Breakfast in Fleischmanns offers a “Taste of the Catskills” stay and play package with breakfast each morning and a special 5 course tasting dinner at the Andes Hotel with a two-night stay. Check into the conveniently located Margaretville Motel and enjoy free lift tickets for either Belleayre or Plattekill Mountains.

Weathering Storms. Silver Linings.

The Cheese Barrel in Margaretville

Water, water everywhere.  The lushness of the mountains, the verdant green of the hayfields - all fed by the bountiful water and land that filters it down to the rivers, streams and reservoirs.  The towns here have weathered floods big and small. Folks talk about the flood in '96.  The 2006 flood. Most scars are gone. Rivers are now lined with huge rip-rap boulders to protect their banks.  Farm fields have new crops planted.  Riparian buffers planted with bushes and grasses to hold the soil.

Floods make people come together and help each other out with a contagious sense of community and pride.  It's what makes our small Catskills towns so welcoming and tactile. All that strength and warmth at the same time. So Irene pummeled almost every town in the county, in some manner this past weekend.  But she really threw her might at the villages of Margaretville, Arkville, and Fleischmanns.  And while we all know in our bones that these towns will be rebuilt, there is the sense that the storm did have a silver lining.

The towns along the East Branch of the Delaware River are working together to come up with a recreation plan that accesses the river and uses it to promote tourism and recreational opportunities.  Looking at these rivers towns, not for their ability to move timber and farm products downstream, but to move kayakers and to encourage fishing, are strong forces that can shape how we rebuild these communities.

Welcoming travelers has been something Delaware County has done with pride since the railroad starting bringing city folk up to escape the heat of the concrete jungle.  It is something we will do this weekend for Labor Day travelers, and the next weekend, and for fall foliage and Columbus weekend and for generations to come.  We look forward to your supporting our communities as you travel here and promise we'll try our hardest to put the polish back on our main streets.  We'll see you in the mountains!!