Boating on the Hudson, near the Saugerties Lighthouse. (photo by Dion Ogust)
Is there anything not to love about this time of year? The weather is perfect and the scenery is truly worthy of every hyperbole you can name. Even the briefness of the season adds to its allure: blink twice and it’s gone.
Saugerties offers both the natural beauty of the region as well as the created beauty of its community-minded residents, who value the traditional but welcome the new and eclectic. So for those who are lucky enough to find themselves in the neighborhood, we compiled a few suggestions for ways to enjoy the fall season in Saugerties.
Falling Waters Preserve in Saugerties is open to the public year-round, from dusk to dawn, and they offer special guided walks, sponsored by the Esopus Creek Conservancy and the John Burroughs Society. The 161-acre Esopus Bend Nature Preserve in Saugerties offers four different trails on which to take an autumn hike. The Schroeder Trail follows an old farm road and footpath down to and along Esopus Creek; the Meadow Trail leads to a restored meadow and the area known as the cove, across from Saugerties village beach; the Wetlands Trail leads to the environmentally sensitive wetlands, with a view of a beaver dam; and the South Trail skirts the Esopus Creek south through a mixed hemlock forest, then turns inland into a ravine, following a year-round stream with a small cave and waterfall.
The trails are open daily from dusk to dawn. From the village, traveling south on 9W, cross the Esopus Creek Bridge and make a right onto Overbaugh St., a left onto Simmons Dr., a right onto Appletree Dr., and a left onto Shady Lane. Parking is very limited, so visitors are encouraged to park in the Saugerties Plaza parking lot or at the village beach and carpool to the Shady Lane entrance.
Visitors can also launch kayaks and canoes from the beach at the foot of Partition St. and paddle the 3.5 miles to the rapids. For more information on Falling Waters Preserve and the Esopus Bend Nature Preserve, visit www.EsopusCreekConservancy.org, where details of future guided walks, birding field trips, and kayak and canoe tours of the preserve’s shoreline will be posted as they are scheduled.
Listen to the music
The John St. Jam presents some of the area’s best musicians in an intimate, “living-room” setting on the 2nd Saturday of every month (and on the 5th Saturday, too, if one happens to occur). Two ‘rounds’ of four musicians each, with an intermission, play musical styles that range from folk to blues, and rock to ragtime. The location is the Dutch Arms Chapel at 16 John St. in the village, and the cost is $5, tickets available at the door only. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Baked goods and beverages are available. For more information, call 845-943-6720, email steve@johnstjam.net, or visit www.JohnStJam.net.