Real-estate clients show up from Brooklyn with huge enthusiasm for this area and absolutely no idea why. That’s what happens when an area develops “buzz.” They don’t know why it’s so great here, but they’ve heard it is and they’re in love before they even get off the Thruway.
Viewed from New Paltz, Bonticou is that first notable white outcrop to the north of Sky Top. Some accounts claim that it was named after an early surveyor; others that the Bonte Coe (Spotted Cow in Dutch) was, like the Gilded Otter, one of the ships that brought European settlers to the area. Whatever it means, locals tend to pronounce it “Bontikyew,” not “Bontikoo.”
Esopus Creek Conservancy is sponsoring a free guided kayak and canoe tour of Esopus Bend Nature Preserve on Saturday, May 13.
Save time and money this week by registering for Healthy Ulster Spring at Mohonk Preserve. From Thursday, April 20 through Sunday, April 23, Ulster County Residents simply show proof of residency, and they can hike and explore Mohonk Preserve for free for an entire month!
The three routes are called Manorville Loop, the Reservoir Loop, and the West Saugerties Road Loop. Each has stops along the way so bicyclists can enjoy the views and rest a bit. “These are all nice easy rides.”
Sunday, 3/12: Enjoy Daylight Savings Time and the Full Moon from a lovely perch with a 360-degree view in a park that you may not yet have discovered.
The Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership’s winter lecture series concluded last Thursday with “Fire on the Ridge,” a discussion of forest ecology and wildfire management with Gabe Chapin, forest ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, and Hank Alicandri, director of Sam’s Point in Minnewaska State Park Preserve.
The best way to make friends with a porcupine? Offer the apple-loving critters a Red Delicious apple, which according to Melissa Gillmer, head keeper at Bear Mountain’s Trailside Museums and Zoo, is their preferred variety of one of their favorite foods.
Held weekly each February, the “Secrets of the Shawangunks” 2017 series highlights glaciers, the American chestnut, porcupines and wildfires.
Some days it’s a snow globe, others a wet mess, but always an economy