The Catskills' Best-Kept September Secret: Come Now, Before Fall Gets Crazy
There's a very specific moment in the Catskills that doesn't get nearly enough attention. It's right now.
The summer rush is over. The serious leaf-peeping season hasn't started. The mountains are still beautifully green, the first hints of fall are beginning to show, restaurants and little towns are easier to enjoy, and you can actually hear the birds instead of the car behind you circling for the same parking space.
Welcome to the calm before the fall storm. And frankly, it may be one of the best weekends of the year to escape to Belleayre Mountain.
At Alpine Four Season Lodge in Highmount, we're heading into two weeks when our rates are among the best you'll find before autumn takes over the Catskills. Once the leaves really start changing, everybody suddenly remembers how much they love Upstate New York.
Our suggestion? Beat them to it.
September Weather Made for the Mountains
This weekend is shaping up beautifully for getting outside. Friday and Saturday around Highmount are expected to be mostly sunny and comfortable, daytime temperatures around 70°F, basically Mother Nature saying, "go hike." Bring a sweater for the evening, pour something good, sit outside and enjoy the mountain air. Sunday may turn a little more moody, which, frankly, the Catskills wears rather well.
Take the Thunder Gondola up the Belleayre mountain for lovely fews.
Ride Belleayre Before the Foliage Crowds Arrive
The Catskill Thunder Gondola is now operating Saturdays and Sundays, 10 AM to 5 PM, through Belleayre's autumn season. Right now you get the great views without the peak-October traffic, and you may already catch some of the first yellow and orange leaves sneaking into the landscape. Take the gondola up, walk around the summit, breathe deeply, remember why you left the city in the first place.
If you're planning further ahead, Belleayre's big Fall Festival weekends begin October 3-4 and continue October 10-11. Translation: the secret's still safe for another couple of weeks.
A Very Catskills Kind of Weekend
There's plenty happening without turning the weekend into an Olympic event.
The Phoenicia Playhouse is hosting a whole weekend of films as part of its 50th season. Friday brings "Man on a Mission," with a screening, Q&A, and community sing-along. Saturday gets wonderfully Catskills-weird with Phoenicia Dog Day, a 2 PM double feature opening with the world premiere of "The Dog Wedding of Cody + Daisy," a real 1994 local dog wedding, digitized from VHS, followed by the 1993 classic "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey." Yes. A dog wedding. This is exactly why we love Phoenicia.
Sunday morning, wander through the Phoenicia Outdoor Farmers Market, 10 AM to 1 PM, then head toward Big Indian for the Shandaken Summer Concert Series with The 209s, 1 to 4 PM.
Or take the slower route: coffee, a wander through Fleischmanns, a little antiquing, no agenda whatsoever, and the remarkable realization that nobody is asking you to join a Zoom call.
And This Weekend Has Another Meaning
Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown Friday, September 11 and continues through nightfall Sunday, September 13 this year. For guests celebrating the Jewish New Year, the timing feels especially fitting, a weekend traditionally associated with reflection, renewal, family, and the beginning of something new. There may be few better places to make room for that than surrounded by the forests and mountains of the Catskills. Shana Tova to everyone celebrating.
Come Before Everyone Else Does
Soon, Belleayre Mountain will turn gold, orange, and red. Route 28 will get busier. The cameras will come out. The foliage reports will start. And suddenly everybody will have the same brilliant idea: "we should go to the Catskills this weekend."
You could do that. Or you could come now.
Fleischmanns has that small Catskills hamlet charm.
Enjoy the hiking. Ride the gondola. Visit Phoenicia and Fleischmanns. Sit around the fire. Sleep late. Watch the first signs of fall arrive, and take advantage of some of our best rates of the season over the next two weeks.
Sometimes the best part of fall is getting here just before fall officially arrives.
Book your Belleayre Mountain escape directly at Alpine Four Season Lodge may we suggest The Little Love Bird apartment with its cozy porch access and IG worthy monkey lamps and disco ball!
Daniel & The Crew
32 Galli Curci Road, HIghmount, NY 12441
