8 Things to Do In and Around the Catskill This Summer by Newsday
Two truly epic events in American history occurred 50 years ago this summer: the moon landing in July and the Woodstock Festival — “3 Days of Peace and Music” in front of a sea of humanity — in August. Americans have not been back to the moon since 1972, but this summer, they will be returning by the van and SUV-loads to the southern Catskills to relive, or just imagine, what it was like at the most famous rock concert of all time.
Ground zero will be the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the contemporary musical venue on the site of Max Yasgur’s dairy farm, where it all came together after local officials in Wallkill, where the festival originally was to be held, freaked out over crowd projections. Many visitors also will make their way to the artsy central Catskills village where it was conceived and whose name it still bears. Around the two are lots of things to see and do. Here are some suggestions.
Nostalgia buffs can literally travel back in time on the Delaware & Ulster Railroad (800-225-4132; durr.org). The two-hour narrated journey goes 12 miles up (and back) the bucolic East Fork of the Delaware River and costs $18 for adults, $12 for ages 3-12. Also available on selected weekdays is a $48 per person onboard lunch excursion on the domed “Rip Van Winkle Flyer.”
See the full Newsday piece here.