Time To Hit The Trail – The Catskill Scenic Trail That Is
By CH Staff
There is nothing more beautiful in the Catskill Mountains than the open countryside. Patchwork fields and farming life are front and center, along with creative arts, shopping including locally harvested farm produce and crafts, and small businesses. There are top notch accommodations in the region (The Roxbury Motel and Stratton Falls come to mind, see Hotel Impossible TV Show’s Anthony Melchiorri review), and restaurants and café options to suit every budget, not just the well-heeled.
Getting out to explore the Catskill towns and countryside by enjoying the fresh air and health benefits of adventuring on a trail is a rewarding experience. And a 26-mile track that is reasonably flat t( thus easy to traverse for the less athletic among us), is the legacy of the 1866 founded Ulster Delaware Railroad in this stunning region of Upstate New York. Say Hello to the Catskill Scenic Trail {CST}, that thanks to the railroad’s discontinued use of the tracks in 1932, has forged a way forward for locals and visitors alike to enjoy a slower pace of travel through some spectacularly historical small towns in the Catskills on this 26-mile-long grand tour.
The 1990’s saw a resurgence of interest in the area following its previous demise following WWII, and other ‘car’ destinations rise in popularity as the playground for New York’s elite such as the Hamptons, Long Island, NY, that left it devoid of attention in the tourist guidebooks and place to be ‘seen’ following its heyday at the turn of the century for wealthy city folks to escape the confines of urban living. The area the trail navigates through boasts an interesting history, and there are guided tours available easily found with a little research. The regional history is very interesting.
While ladies promenading along the wide streets of Stamford, NY with parasols in hand and a beau on their arm has long gone, along with entertainment of the day such as the famed and the majority of the 14 hotels the small town once boasted have also disappeared, the region the trail encompasses from Roxbury, NY, to Bloomville, NY is still revered as a special area of interest.
Viewed from the high in the air in a jet, the mountains of the Catskill region appear as a collection of molehills bundled together through the glacial path of history. On the ground, the region offers stunning vistas, from the top of Mt. Utsayantha, located at the “Queen of the Catskills’ town of Stamford, (a spot easy to reach from the trail with a bit of effort to climb Tower Road), to the straight avenue graced with overhanging boughs of leafy trees in summer through the floodplains and gravel regions of Hobart and Kortright. The neighboring grass borders of some parts of the trail are awash with beautiful mauve and white phlox in late Spring, and the route is littered with small bridges and interesting wildlife that includes bald eagles, redtail hawks, an abundance of deer and occasionally see a black bear, fox, bobcat or coyote.
The West Branch of the famous Delaware river is the route along which the Catskill Scenic Trail or “Rec Trail,” as it is locally known, traverses over a mixture of ground surfaces. Some hard packed and some cinder covered, sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, the trail is accessible from NYS Routes 30, 23, and 10. Due to variant footing cyclists will do well to have aggressive tread tires on their machines and some powerful calf muscles and horse owners should consider having horses shod or use boots to protect the horse’s hooves.
Diverse pursuits that are kind to the environment at allowed on the trail. And the public is welcomed to enjoy hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, jogging, walking and cross-country skiing. In winter months the snowmobilers can be heard running their screeching machines ( group events allowed with special permission) along its route, the sounds whining across snow covered hills and fields as they race the flat spaces from dawn to dusk and even during the hours of darkness.
Due to increased pressure to allow the use of motorized equipment during all seasons by UTV/ATV riders, electric and dirt bike aficionados and the like, including some subterfuge activity to avoid road stops by police with the navigation of the trail by pick-ups and regular road use vehicles, certain parts of the trail have been gated to facilitate more control over the users’ activities. But these gates cause no obstruction to the person on foot or riding a bike as each has a go-around.
Theoretically the person sized gaps by the side of the locked gates are still user-friendly to horse riders though frankly many horses might balk at the limited space and certainly the use of the trail for carriage driving, which was previously an intermittent use, has been curtailed to some degree as special permission is needed to provide someone to open the gates on request. Notwithstanding the management team of the trail did offer a survey to gauge the feeling of the populace in regard to change of use for the trail to include motorized recreational traffic, and the consensus was to leave it as is, for safe use of people enjoying peace and quiet for dog walking, running and other less speedy and noise-driven activities.
The towns along its route can be further explored here. And there are lots of fun areas where you can enjoy a bit of shopping, relax and refresh and grab a bite to eat and a drink to drink, and that goes for horse owners too. Notably local business Catskills Junction, in Stamford, offers a water bucket to refresh horses and a refill for the canteen for their riders.
Owner of this relatively new business to the area is also an active member of the group “Friends of the Catskill Scenic Trail,” is Donna Kennedy. She explains all that is on offer:
“Catskills Junction, is a unique Artisan and Vintage Boutique and Event Venue, and sits right off the Catskill Scenic Trail, in Stamford NY at 28 RR Ave. Pet and horse friendly, you can ride right off the CST, rack up your horse, refill your canteen at our free water station, picnic in the yard or at one of the picnic tables and shop for an eclectic mix of hand-crafted and locally sourced candles, soaps, essential oil body products, jewelry, cards, honey, syrup, custom made kids gift boxes and a specially curated selection of vintage, clothing, jewelry and housewares.
Adjacent to The Shop is The Function, an all-season, indoor-outdoor private event venue available to rent for all occasions. Catskills Junction is also the headquarters to Friends of the Catskill Scenic Trail, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, enhancement, enjoyment and promotion of the Catskill Scenic Trail. Plan a ride on the Catskill Scenic Trail and stop midway at Catskills Junction and pick up a free CST Trail map and other Catskill resources to find out what's happening in and around the towns of The Catskill Scenic Trail. The Shop at Catskills Junction is open Thursday-Sunday 11-4, year-round. “
Along with ice-cream shops, breakfast bites and other diversions, the trail offers a multitude of opportunities to explore further afield.
Development and maintenance of the trail is undertaken by the Catskill Revitalization Corporation, based in Arkville, NY. The company is certainly much focused on development of the trail in Roxbury, NY at present, as explained during an interview by Director Todd Pascarella, who is Executive Director at the company and manages both the Catskill Scenic Trail and the Delaware & Ulster Railroad.
“We work on a limited budget to maintain the trail and work on the worst areas first. Recently we have been rebuilding the trail in Roxbury where the worst surface areas existed and drainage was a problem. This required heavy equipment to repair and remedy. Drainage being a big challenge.
Every year we do our best to keep the trail open despite our budget being very limited. Some of the surfaces on the trail are original and are old and in need of repair. We work with the local community to make repairs, such as the one by Blackberry Street that was recently completed to replace a 100-foot culvert that collapsed and was causing flooding to a farmer’s property.”
When asked about use of the trail by groups such as the horse associations that used to include it in their trail ride competitions and snowmobile groups that might wish to incorporate the CST in a run, Pascarella explained permission is necessary:
“Obviously liability insurance is required to be held by the operating organization to protect CST and the landowners from litigation. Permission is required for formal use and we welcome requests as we want to see the trail used.”
Improvements of the trail particularly certain areas that would benefit from resurfacing and bridges that need repair all cost considerable money to execute and to fund these expenses application for NYS $1m grant is in the works. In view of the potential use of the trail, particularly mentioned by Pascarella the region in Roxbury where restaurant owners and other business owners are very keen to see further development of services on the trail, the grant money if funded by the State would help the community grow its Agritourism presence and certainly provide much needed patronage of regional businesses all along the trail and to the Arkville Railroad {DURR} organization that is sister to the CST.
Rickety bridges and rustic aspects of the trail do bring a level of appreciation of a bygone era when walking the trail. But the updates that are planned will likely add much to restore both safety for users of the trail and help bring the region to back to its former glory as a destination for health, fun and entertainment.
Local organizations such as the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation have generously donated to needs for trail improvements. But more donations are needed to help defray the ongoing costs to maintain the trail In the Stamford area of the trail there is community help for local farmers such as the longtime community support folks at Prospect Farms, the well-known Billy Eklund and family {Eklund Farm Machinery, a source for everything farm and construction equipment including rentals}, and the ever-hardworking Albano Farm family {shop their home-produced meat products and local foods on Rt 23 close by the trail in Stamford} that chip in to donate time, expertise and equipment to remove trees and make repairs, such as the culvert one mentioned earlier.
But donations are much needed to keep the trail operational and to improve the user experience, and donations can be tagged/earmarked specifically for the CST use at the DURR donation website.
“All donations are much appreciated. We run on donations!” explained Pascarella, who is kept busy directing both the DURR train riding experience and the managing the CST.
There is work needed apparently on marking of the trails and designated parking areas and come clean up needed according to reviews posted on recent users on the AllTrails website. Though the complaints could perhaps be easily solved if users prepared for their trip by visiting the FAQ pages, downloading a free map and reviewing all the pertinent information needed at Catskill Scenic Trail website, but people don’t always do that. The website management does an excellent job of answering all your questions about the CST, and you can always stop in and visit with Donna Kennedy at Catskills Junction if you need more information.
