Attractions in and around Lake Placid
Activities in Saugerties
Catskill Mountain Hiking Trails: Numerous hiking trails all around Catskill Park. The trails all vary in difficulty and attractions. There are hikes to waterfalls, fire towers, hotel ruins and mountain top lakes. Most popular hikes near the campground are: Katterskill Falls, Overlook Mountain and Huckleberry Point.
Saugerties Antiquing: The village of Saugerties now boasts some of the best (and still reasonably priced) antiquing in the Hudson Valley. Among the antique shops there are unique shops featuring food, baked goods, ice cream and homemade chocolate.
Saugerties Lighthouse: Five whale oil lamps with parabolic reflectors lighted it. The present lighthouse was built in 1869. It sits on a massive circular stone base sixty feet in diameter. The six-order Fresnel lens lights the harbor to direct river traffic when Saugerties was a major port with daily passenger boats to Manhattan and ferries to Tivoli. Automation of the light in 1954 made light keepers obsolete. The building was closed by the Coast Guard and fell into decay. Local historian Ruth Reynolds Glunt, and architect Elise Barry, succeeded in placing the Lighthouse on the National Register in 1978. This stimulated local citizens to restore the building. In 1986 the newly formed Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy acquired the Lighthouse and the adjacent wetlands. After extensive fundraising and restoration work the building was completely reconstructed. It contains a museum, a caretaker's apartment, two bedrooms and a living room. Models, displays of the reconstruction work, and Lighthouse artifacts are displayed in the building.
Saugerties Lighthouse Walk: The lighthouse trail starts just east of the Coast Guard station fence, about fifty feet from the road through a steel gate (usually open). Go at low tides (check tide tables) if you want to reach the lighthouse. At high tide you can get to the beach, but the trail will be flooded after that. The lighthouse trail passes first through a wooded tidal swamp with cottonwood, elm, white willow, and red maple. Wild yam vines with three-walled fall fruit trail over spice bush and witch hazel shrubs. In spring, jack-in-the-pulpits bloom in the rich alluvial soil. Edging the sunnier tidal channel are swamp dogwood and pussy willow shrubs, and late-summer flowers such as yellow, daisy like sneeze weed, misty magenta, purple loosestrife, and brilliant scarlet cardinal flower. Pickerel weed, arrow arum, and cattail grow in the deep muck f the channel itself. River ward of the channel the trail enters woods and angles off along a stretch of the spit's sandy north beach, The trail may seem lost among the tall loose strife and sneeze weed, but it becomes clear again as the spit narrows into a low shrub swamp (mostly swap dogwood and willows). Look in the debris piles for otherworldly, spiny gray sea pods of European water chestnut. It's a delightful introduction to an ecosystem unique in the Northeast.
Seamon Park: "A park, a breathing place, open and free at all times to every person." In deeding this property to the village in 1909, John Seamon's insight has kept Seamon Park a Mecca of tranquility in today's high-tech society. The Mum Festival, is held the first week of October, ushers in a month of leisurely strolls along paths lined with fall plantings, interspersed with thousands of rainbow-hued chrysanthemums. The festival features varied music: chamber, country, and Sousa marches. There are Colonial demonstrations, an art show, live animals, and puppets. The Mum Queen and her Court will distribute mum corsages. The park is open 9:00am till dusk. Picnic tables and stone fireplaces built by Camp Fire Girls are adjacent to a playground area. A gazebo allows privacy for reading and writing; park benches afford spectacular views of the Village and the setting sun. Seamon Park is the site where a sawyer operated a mill in 1652-1663 on a stream now the northern boundary of the park. An original wheel can still be seen near the site. School children donated pennies to purchase the "boy and girl under an umbrella" fountain near the front gate. A bronze tiered fountain on the upper level, circled with flowers, is a favorite for wedding pictures and ceremonies.
Garlic Festival: The tantalizing aroma of garlic permeates the air each September as thousands flock to the Cantine Memorial Field complex, Washington Avenue. Each year the annual Hudson Valley Garlic Festival is held on the last weekend in September. The Kiwanis Club of Saugerties adopted the festival at the request of Pat Reppert who could no longer accommodate hordes of garlic lovers descending on her Shale Hill Farm. Food vendors, area restaurants, caterers, and nonprofit community groups line the field offering everything from garlic snacks to gourmet entrees. Chefs' cooking demonstrations are continuous all day. Tons of freshly harvested garlic of every variety, garlic wreaths, and braids of garlic. as well as seeds, are available in the Garlic Farmers' Market Place. Half-hour lectures offer tips for small garlic patches to commercial growing and marketing and the medicinal uses of garlic. Morris street dancers, banjo bands, barbershop quartets, plus educational exhibits, an amateur cooking contest, craft and business booths of garlic or garden-related items, add up to a unique, unusual event.
Saugerties Spring Festival: This traditional event was created to herald the coming of spring and provide a series of events with activities of interest and enjoyment for all. As part of the Festival, a program to select a Spring Festival Princess and Attendants has been ongoing. The Princess program is open to all girls in the fifth grade of Saugerties schools. A princess and two attendants are chosen annually from applicants based on community service and the writing of an essay concerning their interest and concerns in the Saugerties community. The young ladies are crowned at a special reception and receive an array of gifts including savings bonds, jewelry and other items. The princess and her attendants reign over all festival activities.
Between the Tides Festival: The Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy announces their annual music festival at the lighthouse. The festival takes place in august at the Saugerties Lighthouse, on the Hudson River. The festival is a family-friendly, all-ages event that supports the continued preservation of the lighthouse. Celebrate the Hudson River and the historic Saugerties Lighthouse, a landmark of the Hudson River Valley.
Saugerties Festivals: Along with its premier Garlic Festival Saugerties also hosts numerous smaller festivals and street fairs. Some of these include: Mum Festival, Jazz Festival and the Saugerties Antique Car Show.
Hunter Mountain Festivals: Held various weekends April through October. The Hunter Mountain festivals include: TAP New York, German Alps Festival, International Celtic Festival, Microbrew and Wine Festival and Oktoberfest.
Woodstock Film Festival: A festival of films that brings many artists into the area for this annual event.
Annual Woodstock - New Paltz Arts and Crafts Fair: The Arts and Crafts Fair is held at the Ulster County Fair grounds Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. These fairs include Juried Exhibition area, Demonstration area, Handcrafted Specialty Foods and Heath Care Products, Crafts and Supplies.
Dutchess County Fairgrounds: Less than a 30 minute drive, the fairgrounds hosts many events during the summer. These events include to large craft fairs in June and October, the Dutchess County Fair in August and numerous smaller fairs during the year.
HITS's Equestrian Horse Show and Competition: There are numerous horse shows and world class competitions that take place just outside the village of Saugerties. |
