The Catskills and the Hudson River Valley

The Catskill Mountains lie in southeastern New York State. The area is known for the Catskill Forest Preserve, with its rich wildlife and hiking trails, and ski resorts including Hunter Mountain and Belleayre Mountain.

The Hudson River School Art Trail includes the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill village, plus sites like Kaaterskill Falls and Sunset Rock,

which inspired 19th-century landscape painters.

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The Catskill Park and Forest Preserve consists of 700,000 acres of land spread out through four counties: Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster.  5% is owned by New York City to protect four of the city's reservoirs that lie within the park and their respective watersheds.

 

Wildlife is abundant within the park, bobcats, minks, porcupines, fishers and the call of coyotes is often heard.  It is a birder's paradise, from tiny Caliope Hummingbird to the Bald Eagle, the Catskills has remarkable diversity. There are close to 400 black bears are living in the region. They are mostly solitary wanderers except with offspring who take well over a year to mature.  

 

The state operates numerous campgrounds and there are over 300 miles (500 km) of multi-use trails. It has approximately 50,000 permanent residents, bolstered somewhat by second-home ownership on weekends and in the summer, and attracts about half a million visitors every year.

 

The park is governed by Article 14 of the New York state constitution, which stipulates that all land owned by the state within the park cannot be sold, may not be used for logging and must remain "forever wild."