3-minute read

There are a few weeks a year when these mountains stop being subtle. This is one of them. The hillsides around Belleayre are turning fast. Wedding cars keep going by with dresses hanging in the back seat. And after a packed opening weekend at the Fall Festival, the verdict is in: October has arrived, and it is showing off.

Last weekend was a good one. The weather cooperated, the mountain was buzzing, the beer was flowing, and we watched the stein-holding contest with growing respect. Holding a full stein at arm's length looks easy. It is not. Those are athletes.

Phonecia the charming hamlet in the Catskills

Peak Foliage Is Close

Every morning up here looks different right now. The green is retreating, the reds and oranges are taking over, and peak color is coming in fast. Which brings us to our one real piece of advice: come on a weekday.

Monday through Thursday in October you get the same mountains, the same colors and the same cold-nose morning air, minus the traffic. No circling the overlook. No 45-minute brunch wait. No stranger wandering into the back of every photo you take. Same show. Smaller audience.

Belleayre Fall Festival: Round Two

Missed the first weekend? You get another one. The Belleayre Fall Festival returns Saturday and Sunday, October 10–11, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free admission and free parking.

Live music, food, craft vendors, pumpkin painting, a climbing wall, disc golf, lawn games and kids' activities. Evil Genius Band plays Saturday, The 209s take Sunday, and Witches Along the Hudson perform both days. Brews & Views handles the grown-ups with local beer and cider.

And yes, the Stein Holding Contest is back along a pie eating contest. Train accordingly.

Last Call for the Gondola

This is the final weekend of the season for the Catskill Thunder Gondola. It runs Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through October 11, weather permitting. Adult round trip is $20, seniors and juniors $15, youth $5.

If you ride it once this year, make it this weekend. You'll be looking out over the Catskill Forest Preserve right as the color peaks, and the only climbing involved is getting into the cabin.

And Yes, Wedding Season Is On

You can spot it from the road. Dresses in garment bags. A groomsman trying not to crease anything. Flowers heading somewhere important. Someone sprinting back to the car for the card they forgot.

Fall has quietly become the best time to get married in the Catskills, and Highmount sits minutes from Belleayre, Pine Hill and most of the venues around them. That makes us an easy home base for a wedding party, the families, or the friends who just want a room near the action.

Come for the wedding. Stay the extra night. Recover in the mountains. We don't ask questions. If you're planning a wedding weekend, a room block or a buyout, get in touch early. October books itself.

A Little Frankenstein With Your Foliage

October around here gets appropriately spooky. The Phoenicia Playhouse is staging Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein through late October, so check their schedule for showtimes and tickets. The Phoenicia Farmers Market also runs Sundays at Parish Field into late October, with local makers, produce and the kind of food that ruins your lunch plans in the best way.

Either one pairs nicely with a drive down Route 28, which is itself worth the trip right now.

Grab a fee apple at the Discovery lodge at the Belleayre festival.

Don't Wait for Someone to Declare "Peak"

That's the thing about fall up here. One week it's the first yellow leaf. The next the whole mountain is glowing. Then one windy night and it's over.

So take the weekday. Stretch the weekend. Or come up for Fall Festival round two.

October doesn't last long in the Catskills, and neither does peak color.

Book Direct, Get Our Best Rate

Make Alpine Four Season Lodge in Highmount your home base for foliage, Belleayre, wedding weekends and everything else happening this month. Booking directly gets you our best available rate, with no third-party fees in the middle.

Book direct at Alpine Four Season Lodge →

Daniel & The CRew
Alpine Four Season Lodge
32 Galli Curci Road, Highmount, NY 12441

The Catskills Have Entered Their Main-Character Season