Anyone have anything to say about riding in the catskills? My dad and i are looking for a place to go and thought this would be a nice ride for an overnight trip, so looking at places stay things to see, roads to ride, places to eat and drink etc...

 

They're great! nice 2 laners through the mountains. I don't know where you're coming from, but a really nice ride is RT 30 starting at around East Branch, exit 90? off of RT 17 and heading in a north east direction. It follows the east branch of the Delaware River and winds for something like 300 miles up through the catskills, adirondacks all the way up to Canada if you want. It's a beautiful road along rivers, resevoirs and through the mountains. If it's too long you can always loop into Lake Placid for the night and then take 73 down towards 87 or 9 if your heading south again in the morning.
Good luck, you can't miss anywhere up there!

 

Ashokan reservoir, Peekamoose Campground(look for waterfalls and Blue Hole on the sides of the road) ,Platts Cove road-killer vertigo views, FrostValley road etc. Tons of nice riding you can't go wrong. The Catskills are great to get lost in because it's easy to find your way out when you want to. Eat in Phoenecia- it's like a wild west town with motorcycles on weekends

 

Plenty of places to "eat and drink" in Kingston which right off the NYS Thruway, exit 19. 20 mins west of there, you have Woodstock which connects to some nice back roads which you can ride to Phoenecia as mentioned. All depends how far you want to go.

Of course, cross a toll bridge when in Kingston and you will find Rhinebeck which can lead you to some nice roads also.

There is a newer motel in Kingston (Town of Ulster) which is next to a few places to eat and shop (mall, etc) which is nice if laying over for a night. Can leave the bikes parked, eat and slam down a cold one with no worries.

 

Is Uncle Pete's Campground still in Phoenicia on the Esopus River? Spent lots of weekends there many years ago. Rt 28 through the mountains is nice. Woodstock is a great stop.

 

Agree with all of these, you can't go wrong in the Catskills. My summer home is in Sundown, about a 20 minute ride through the Peekamoose to Route 28. Route 30 from Margaretville south by the Pepacton to Downsville is a nice ride also.

 

Catskill Gamefarm still there? Howe Caverns? Stop in Herkimer....dig for 'diamonds'.
Cooperstown is a must if you like baseball. My oldman was born in Downsville, so
he took me there once before he died. I was a kid, and I think someday I will ride through there sometime.

chuck

 

Catskill Game Farm closed a couple years ago, but the others are going strong (in fact they are making Howes Caverns bigger). Cooperstown of course is the Mecca if you are into baseball and Woodstock has a brand new Performing Arts Center.

 

I live about 40 minutes north of the Catskills and like everybody else has said, you really can't go wrong down there. Lots of great places to eat, drink, ride and sleep. Woodstock is a pretty cool place to visit but the cost for the exhibits seems a little steep (good though just the same).

 

Here are a few suggestions for roads:
IF you take 97 (which follows the NY/PA border) from port jervis going west, there is a fun stretch of road called hawk's nest. Take 97 to route 30. You will have a lot of pull offs for eagle watching. Lots of campgrounds in the area to give you an idea of what the area is like. Usually a lot of bikes on this road.

Take route 30 and make sure you go around pepacton resevoir. Lots of 30 mph sweepers in a 55mph zone (I think its 55)following the resvoir in a thick wooded area.

From 30, try and hit Nick's waterfall house off 990V outside of Gilboa. It's a bar built overlooking a waterfall. Hell, even if you dont drink go there for the view.

If you are lookin for somethin twisty, go 23A between Tannersville and Palenville. Watch out for pedestrians though. A lot of pull offs if you want to stop at bastion falls. You can hike up less than a mile to another set of falls. A few small towns surrounding the ski mountains on this route.

Route 23 is nice too. I would suggest running it west to east as I think it is a better view when running down the mountains. There is a pull off with a good view when you start getting close to route 32.

If you wind up on 28, then go 28A as an altrenate route. Some twisty spots and a pull of area overlooking ashokan resevoir.