Don't Go Home Yet: Why September Might Be the Best Time to Stay Longer at Belleayre Mountain
Labor Day is over. Your inbox would like you back…….We respectfully disagree.
September around Belleayre Mountain is one of those little Catskills secrets that makes you wonder why everyone's in such a rush to leave. The summer crowds thin out, the mountain air gets cooler, hiking suddenly feels fantastic again, and if you look closely, the first leaves are already starting to turn.
Belleayre Mountain has officially spotted the first signs of fall in the tree canopy. Not full pumpkin-spice explosion yet, but autumn is clearly warming up backstage. Which gives us a simple suggestion: stay another night. Maybe two. Your laptop will survive.
Hiking Right Now Is Pretty Dope
September was practically designed for hiking in the Catskills. Cooler mornings, warm afternoons, less humidity, deep green forest with occasional flashes of yellow and orange starting to sneak in between the trees. Belleayre has options ranging from easier walks to proper uphill climbs toward the summit, and hiking stays available right through the fall season. If hiking uphill sounds unnecessarily ambitious after breakfast, there's another magnificent invention: the gondola. The Catskill Thunder Gondola runs Saturdays and Sundays through October 11. Ride up, wander the summit, take in the views, have a picnic, then either hike back down or ride the gondola again like a civilized human being.
Doolittles in Fleischmanns
Then Go Discover Fleischmanns
One of the nicest surprises near Belleayre right now is what's happening just down the mountain in Fleischmanns. This tiny historic Catskills hamlet is getting seriously cute.
Main Street's been quietly filling back up with independent storefronts, food, music, and local character. Recent additions have joined established village staples, with Fleischmanns' newest gathering spot getting particular buzz.
Start at Doolittle's, part coffee shop, part general store, part "I absolutely did not need this beautiful little thing but I'm buying it anyway." Then wander around for whatever vintage like the Formerly , and other specialty shops catch your eye. Hungry? The Print House at 1070 Main Street bills itself as the only vinyl music bar in the Catskills, food, cocktails, and live music most weekends, and it's genuinely become one of the village's real gathering places. There's also San Mul, a fascinating little Korean kitchen and farm-shop concept with kimchi, banchan, and farm-driven prepared foods.
Fun fact: Fleischmanns keeps their Christmas decoration/stars up all year around!
What makes Fleischmanns particularly fun right now: it doesn't feel manufactured. It feels like a small Catskills village waking back up. A coffee shop here. A restaurant there. Music. New storefronts. Old buildings being loved again. Pretty soon we're going to have to stop calling Fleischmanns "the little town down the road."
The Best Part of September? You Don't Have to Do Much
That may be the whole point. Wake up slowly. Drink coffee outside. Hike Belleayre. Ride the gondola. Walk through Fleischmanns. Buy something completely unnecessary. Have a drink. Go back to Alpine Four Season Lodge, sit outside, make a fire, and watch the temperature drop while the Catskills go very quiet around you.
September up here feels spacious. And the first hints of autumn are already telling us what's coming next, because in a few weeks, those little yellow leaves become entire mountains of red, orange, and gold.
So maybe don't rush back to reality quite yet. Stay another night. The Catskills are just getting good.
Book your Belleayre Mountain escape, book direct for the best rates: Alpine Four Season Lodge
32 Galli Curci Road, Highmount, NY 12441
