The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1927-11-03
Land Of Rip Van Wrinkle
Offers Motor DELIGHTS

The Catskill Mountain section of
New York State, "Land of Rip Van
Winkle"- is the extremely pictur-
esque portion of the great Allegheny
Plateau that extends eastward to the
Hudson valley.
The mountains lie mainly within
the counties of Delaware, Green and
Ulster, and attitudes ranging from a
few hundred to upwards of four thou
sand feet above sea level.
Scenery of the greatest beauty and
many points of historic and literary
interest mark this section. Washing
ton Irving, Cooper, Bryant and Long
fellow found inspiration here. Lakes
and streams abound, wooded glens,
picturesque waterfalls, rocky canyons,
open valleys, such as the Delaware,
with countless fertile farms, and in
contrast, narrow notches through
which the road passes in perpetual
shades-all these lend a stimulating
variety to the Catskill scene.
Fine state highways lead the tourist
through the more important sections,
reports the Automobile Club of Amer
lea, New York, and secondary roads
of good macadam, bring practically
all points of interest within easy
reach.
l. There are more than two million
acres of forest land in the Catskills.
Much of this virgin country is includ-
ed in the State Forest Reserve, which
is bounded roughly by Prattsville,
Windham, and Durham on the north,
Lexington, Westkill, and the East
Branch of the Delaware River on the
West, Palenville and the Ashokan re-
servoir on the East and Grahamsville
on the South.
The outstanding scenic features of
the region are in the State Forest
Reserve, including Black Dome, 1890
feet, Double Top, $500 feet and Slide
Mountain, 1920 feet, Kaaterskill Glove
with it's towering cliffs.
Some of the most attractive towns
are also within the boundaries of the
Reserve. Woodstock, for instance, a
live progressive and attractive COM
munity, and Fleishmann's, located on
the border of the Reserve.
Routes from N. Y. City
From New York city along the
West Shore of the Hudson, the route
will include Englewood, Tenafly,
Sparkhill, Nyack, Haverstraw, Stony
Point, Jones Point, Highland Falls,
and around West Point, over the
Storm King Highway to Cornwall and
Newburgh. Next town is Highland
then Esopus and Kingston.
This active, thriving city with mod
ern business houses, is also a hotel
center of note. In the old Senate
House, in Kingston, the State of New
York, as the new entity succeeding the
colony, had it's birth. The building
was constructed in 1876 and was par
TALLY burned by the British in TIT.
1t is now owned by the State and
houses a valuable collection of relics
and mementoes.
From Kingston, go northwest, past
the Ashokan Reservoir, for points in
the western Catskills. Run north to
Unionville where turn east will con-
meet with the Rip Van Wrinkle Trail
running from Saugerties to Palen-
vile and west through Kaaterskill
Glove, one of the scenic "high spots"
of the Catskills.
From Kingston, you can also run
through Stony Hollow and West Hur-
ley to Woodstock, at the foot of Over
look Mountain, amid scenery that is
quite delightful. A large artists col
ony gathers here in the summertime
and life is gay and healthful. This
is one of the growing communities of
the Catskills; new buildings each year
indicates it's increasing popularity.
With Woodstock as center, a num-
Der of fine trips can be made in all
directions. Northwest lie Lake Hill
and Willow, south there is the forty
mile circuit of the Ashokan Reservoir.
This great water reserve covers thri-
teen square miles and holds one hun
dred and twenty billion gallons of wa
ter for the use of New York city. 1t
is the worlds largest artificial lake.
Our route may be continued west
following the Esopus Creek to Phoen-
icia, past some road construction into
Shandaken, and on to Big Indian, Pine