Insider Trading
Find out tips and secrets from Greene County insiders
Suggested Itineraries
Dariel Curren's Tip Sheet
Visitors to Greene County can now walk in the footsteps of America's first great landscape masters on the new Hudson River School Art Trail (www.thomascole.org/trail).
Recently designated as a National Recreation Trail, the trail features seven sites within 15 miles of each other that inspired Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Asher B. Durand, Jasper Cropsey, Sanford Gifford and other pioneering American artists with their majestic scenery. The sites you'll see on your visit include:
- Cedar Grove (www.thomascole.org), the newly restored federal-style home and workplace of Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School of art.
- Olana (www.olana.org), the 250-acre estate of Frederic Edwin Church, which includes Church's first residence and farm complex, a magnificent Persian-style villa and unsurpassed views.
- Kaaterskill Falls, a spectacular two-tiered waterfall that is the highest cascading falls in New York State.
- Kaaterskill Clove, Sunset Rock, North-South Lake and other oft-painted scenes.
Kaaterskill Falls
A spectacular two-tiered waterfall that is the highest cascading falls in New York State.
Muddy Cup
Cup of Joe As someone who can always use a good jolt of caffeine, I recommend you check out two new coffee houses on Main Street in Catskill. Retriever Roasters roasts its own beans and its tie-dye clad staff serves up great java in a laid-back atmosphere. I also love the coffee and comfy couches and chairs at the Muddy Cup Coffee House just down of the street.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site
Hudson Valley School Art Trail How cool is it to be able to walk in the footsteps of landscape masters? Head to The Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill and poke around the home and studio of the founder of the Hudson River School of art. (Check out his original paint brushes and palettes still covered in paint!). The pick up a great map of the Hudson River School Art Trail and check out sites like Kaaterskill Falls and Sunset Rock that inspired those first "eco-tourists."
Athens Village Walking Tour
Athens Walking Tour I love strolling through Athens. The tiny riverfront village has not one, but two historic districts with more than 300 buildings on the National and State Historic Registers! There's even a new self-guided walking tour that points out the best of the best. I also just learned that Tom Cruise's War of the Worlds and Meryl Streep's Ironweed were both filmed here. While you're there, check out Ursula's, a down-home diner on the waterfront with views of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse.