There’s absolutely nothing like summertime in the Hudson Valley. Like art? Fine wine? Fruit? Horses? Car racing? Want to bring the kiddos to pet a goat or drink award-winning whiskeys? With our suggestions, you can do something different and amazing every weekend all summer long; to do it all, you’ll need to add on a few midweek excursions. Adventures and warm welcomes guaranteed.
ACCORD SPEEDWAY
Old-school dirt-track auto racing happens here every Friday night, all summer long. There’s a snack bar, beer and hard seltzer; wear sunglasses and maybe a hat (things get dusty) and pick favorites to cheer for among the competitors putting pedals to the metal in seven racing divisions. Bring a bandana and maybe even earplugs and get ready for a good ol’ time.
299 Whitfield Road, Accordy
845-626-1494, accordspeedway.com
BAILIWICK ANIMAL PARK AND STABLES
Located on 300 acres in Catskill, Bailiwick was founded as a riding stable in 1963 and remains family-run. Guided mountain trail rides for every level of rider, pony rides, and a 40-acre animal park with over 30 domestic and exotic critters—from cuddly bunnies to Bengal tigers—are available on a drop-in basis; to take a riding lesson, play paintball on the five-acre wooded field, or camp, you need a reservation.
118 Castle Road, Catskill
518-678-5665, bailiwickranch.com
BROOKLYN CIDER HOUSE
Created by an inspired brother/sister team, this cidery has revitalized a vintage Hudson Valley orchard and added a farm stand, tasting room, and pavilion. Live music happens every Saturday afternoon; you can nosh on wood-fired pizza, burgers, and small bites, and wash it down with award-winning cider made using their own apples and wild yeast for a flavor that’s pure Hudson Valley.
155 N Ohioville Road, New Paltz
845-633-8657, brooklynciderhouse.com
EMERSON KALEIDOSCOPE
Created in a former grain silo, the Kaleidoscope offers a unique visual and auditory experience. It was once named World’s Largest by the Guinness folks (in 1997). This July will see the debut of a brand-new, flower-themed Kaleidoshow: a story told through music and fascinating fractals. Since it’s located at the Emerson Resort and Spa, you can shop, eat, and get a facial or massage without getting back in the car.
5340 NY-28, Mt Tremper,
845-688-5800, emersonresort.com/worlds-largest-kaleidoscope
HISTORIC HUGUENOT STREET
A 10-acre living history museum on the oldest street in the US to retain its original houses, HHS tells the stories of the Huguenot families who were the first New Paltz settlers, alongside the stories of the indigenous folks and African American slaves whose lives intersected with theirs. There are seven historic stone-house museums, a reconstructed 1717 French church, the Huguenot community’s original burying ground, and a replica Esopus Munsee wigwam.
81 Huguenot St, New Paltz
845-255-1660, huguenotstreet.org
HUDSON DISTILLERY & GRISTMILL
The 230-year-old Tuthilltown Gristmill got a fresh blast of historic relevance in the early 2000s, when a man named Ralph Erenzo fought to establish New York’s farm distillery law and brewed up the state’s first (legal) batch since Prohibition. Take the tour, taste some Hudson Four Grain Single Barrel, Half Moon Gin, or Apple Vodka (or try them crafted into cocktails at the bar) and explore the glorious meadows and walking trails beside the Shawangunk Kill.
14 Grist Mill Lane, Gardiner
845-419-2964, hudsonwhiskey.com/en-US/distillery
HUDSON RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM
The Maritime Museum is packed with exhibits that speak to the river’s industrial, maritime, and ecological history and offers classes in wooden boat building, sailing, and rowing. You can also take a wide variety of themed tours aboard the Solaris, a 100 percent solar-powered craft, from educational expeditions focused on indigenous history, shipwrecks, lighthouses, and industrial history to sunset and wine-tasting jaunts focused on sheer fun.
50 Rondout Landing, Kingston
845-338-0071, hrmm.org
KAETE BRITTIN SHAW
This showroom and exhibition space features functional cast porcelain tableware and vases, hand-built porcelain vases, platters, lanterns, and cups, and mixed media works that combine hand-built porcelain with river wood from the Rondout Creek, as well as an array of outdoor sculpture. Shaw’s works have been exhibited all over the US and featured in magazines since the 1970s.
1415 Route 213, High Falls
845-687-7828, kaetebrittinshaw.com
KELDER’S FARM
With over 30 attractions, Kelder’s takes agri-tainment to the next level, starting with Chomsky the World’s Largest Gnome. There’s a farmstand and pick-your-own opportunities, hayrides, food in the Pizza Barn and adult refreshment at the Loading Dock Tap Room, and much more: a Candy Cannon and an Apple Cannon, a Fishing Pond, a Petting Zoo, and all manner of things to jump and bounce on, climb up, slide down, and marvel at that your younguns will delight in for hours.
5755 U.S. Route 209, Kerhonkson
845-626-7137, keldersfarm.com
SHADOWLAND STAGES
Shadowland Stages is a renovated art deco theater showing professional productions of contemporary plays & musicals. It was started in 1985 by a collective of actors from NYC who moved to Ellenville and started producing theatre in a former vaudeville era space on the main street in town. In addition to its mainstage summer season, the theatre offers year-round programming and educational opportunities in their newly renovated, air-conditioned, historic venue.
157 Canal St, Ellenville
845-647-5511, shadowlandstages.org
MAGIC HILL
This wonderland of Midcentury goodies—vintage furniture, home decor, lighting, fashion and art—is a great place to browse and snack, a micro-department-store that features a juice bar and coffee shop. Upstairs, and open by appointment, is a gallery featuring impressionist works by co-owner Bruce Mishell.
328 Wall Street, Kingston
917-539-8057, magichillmercantile.com
OPUS 40
Dubbed “one of the largest and most beguiling works of art on the entire continent” by Architectural Digest and nicknamed the “Stonehenge of America,” the core of Opus 40 is a seven-acre sculpture created around and on a bluestone quarry by the multi-talented Harvey Fite. Come explore his megalithic magnum Opus, marvel at his works, and bring a picnic; besides the stone masterwork, there are various other sculptures and a small indoor gallery on the 63-acre site.
356 George Sickle Road, Saugerties
845-246-3400, opus40.org
PINKWATER GALLERY
An extraordinarily warm and welcoming gallery featuring a collective of contemporary women artists living and working in the Hudson Valley and Catskills, Pinkwater installs a new show every other month in which the gallery welcomes a guest artist, whose work is shown “in conversation” with the work of the collective’s artists.
56 North Front Street, Kingston
pinkwatergallery.com
PROSPECT HILL ORCHARDS
Prospect Hill is a seventh-generation family farm that’s been running a pick-your-own operation since 1982. In summer, you can gather peaches, apricots, plums, and nectarines (cherries end July 4, and apples and pears start in mid-September). They’ll even lend you a ladder. Simple Earth Cuisine’s Full Moon Dinners happen here each month; reserve early.
340 Milton Turnpike, Milton
845-795-0001, prospecthillorchards.com
RAIL EXPLORERS
Steel wheels on steel rails make for a smooth, easy pedal that’s free of obstructions and traffic; plus, there’s no need to steer, so you’re free to soak up the view. Rail Explorers’ Catskills Division offers an 8-mile, round-trip excursion along the Esopus Creek, on the tracks of the historic Ulster and Delaware Railroad. Rail Explorers’ Cooperstown Division offers two choices: the 12-mile Milford Track, or the 8-mile Charlotte Valley Express.
Catskills, Cooperstown
877-833-8588, railexplorers.net
SHAWANGUNK WINE TRAIL
There’s nothing like some mighty fine wine to bring joy to the world. The 13 wineries on this trail offer fine wine indeed, all of it served up for the tasting amid some of the finest scenery on this earth, in settings as unique as the wonderful vintners who create them. Ten transportation partners offer options that mean you can tour without having to draw straws for designated drivers.
845-256-8456
shawangunkwinetrail.com
STONE WINDOW GALLERY
Come marvel at handmade pottery by Brinton P. Baker, offered in his gallery that has been a cornerstone in Accord for over three decades. Elegant square plates, faceted mugs, and unique pieces abound, plus custom ceramics. Baker describes some of his work as “organic forms that look like Dr. Seuss went to Japan,” where he apprenticed with ceramicist Koichi Yamamoto for four and a half years.
17 Main Street, Accord
845-626-4932, facebook.com/StoneWindowGallery
WOODSTOCK BYRDCLIFFE GUILD
Byrdcliffe was the seed, planted in 1902, that sparked Woodstock’s growth into a famous art colony. The permanent collection includes nearly 200 examples of Arts and Crafts furniture, decorative arts, and two-dimensional works created during the Guild’s early-20th-century golden age; summer 2023 installations are “SELF: Portraits and Places” (through August 6) followed by “Here Now: Contemporary Photographers of the Hudson Valley.”
34 Tinker Street, Woodstock
845-679-2079, woodstockguild.org
WOODSTOCK GOLF CLUB
Join the club and experience this scenic jewel of a course, frequented by artists since 1929, along with streamside dining on the Sawkill Creek (the public is welcome) and professional-grade pro shop. This is the home of the nation’s longest-running golf tournament, the Woodstock Open. The founders of what was once called the Woodstock Country Club envisioned something exclusive and upscale. The artists prevailed, and the results are inclusive and fabulous.
114 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock
845-679-0432, woodstockgolf.com
WOODSTOCK MUSEUM
What better place to understand the seminal, dramatic time that was the 1960s than at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, site of the 1969 Woodstock music festival? There’s a permanent multimedia exhibit that tells the core story; the special exhibit for 2023, “The Place Where Peace Happened,” digs deep into the skills and tactics that made it possible for Wavy Gravy to exclaim, “We’re all feeding each other!” as a crowd of nearly half a million enjoyed four days of peace, love, and music.
200 Hurd Road, Bethel
bethelwoodscenter.org/museum
WOODSTOCK SCHOOL OF ART
Built and begun under FDR’s New Deal, this campus was leased by the New York City Art Students’ League in 1947 and became official headquarters for the WSA in 1980; pretty much throughout, it’s been run by artists for artists. You can study sketching, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and more in climate-controlled buildings with top-flight instructors, or just stop by to soak in this summer’s Instructors Exhibition of works by school faculty.
2470 Route 212, Woodstock
845-679-2388,
woodstockschoolofart.org
