Sullivan County has always held a reputation for idyllic respite. Decades ago, that might have meant a countryside escape from city heat with days by the lake and nights spent around a fire pit to the soundtrack of buzzing summer bugs. But today—well, it still does. Even with the addition of Wi-Fi, no matter how spotty, the sentiment remains the same: Sullivan offers the peaceful allure of an unrushed pace. Yet the region has also gradually evolved to become known as a destination for high caliber arts, award-winning dining, artisan-run shops, and other barely hidden gems, just as much as it has already been loved for its picturesque vistas and wide-open spaces.
"There have been a lot of significant transformations in many of our towns and within the Sullivan-Catskills as a whole," says Roberta Byron-Lockwood, president and CEO of the Sullivan-Catskills Visitor Association. "For instance, many of our businesses are independently owned by makers, artisans, and artists, so each visit is unique and you can find these truly one-of-a-kind treasures. It's smart growth; we've become a region known for its beauty as well as its immersive experiences for visitors."
As most Hudson Valley and Catskills areas have seen, there's been an influx of new residents, both permanent and part-time, since the pandemic. But even pre-Covid, Sullivan's growth has been more of a steady momentum than a surprising surge.
"We've had walkable main streets, picture-perfect mountains, and that unique sense of place where people are generally open and welcoming, but the region has been discovered and appreciated more and more by people who are increasingly looking for that simpler life," she says. "So now, towns like Roscoe, Livingston Manor, Wurtsboro, Mountaindale, Monticello—everyone is enjoying this wonderful growth. But we're not being over-developed with big-box stores. You've got your Dollar Generals, but most of these towns have their own anchors, like the Forestburgh Playhouse, Bethel Woods—each making their presence known as a centerpiece to towns that already have so much more to offer."
Hospitality Boom
But even without tourism-drivers like The Kartrite, a massive indoor waterpark-resort that's open year-round, Sullivan has a long history as a vacation destination that visitors often decide to call home. "We're a little county the size of Rhode Island, but also one of the biggest second-home destinations, and that continues to grow," Byron-Lockwood says. "It's that wanting for a simpler life. Around here there's a mindfulness of farms and makers, and we have miles of beautiful trails, but we also have some of the finest James Beard-nominated restaurants, yet far from the city rush—our version of a traffic jam is the local tractor parade. You can have an economical family-friendly visit, or the most luxury weekend getaway that you can imagine."
And even the luxe experiences have a range, from the casino and nightlife thrills of Resorts World Catskills, to the earthy wellness retreat Hemlock in Neversink, which opened last year on 230 acres. Co-founders Simms Foster and Kirsten Harlow Foster own Foster Supply Hospitality, which currently maintains five hotels including Hemlock, one restaurant, and Single Bite, a nonprofit working to provide aid for regional food insecurity. "Hemlock is similar to our other properties, but more at the luxury level; although, it's hard for me to call it luxury, because it's not that sort of white-marble retreat. It's nature focused, and very humble, but very intentional," says Kirsten Harlow Foster.
The pair started in the hospitality industry with the opening of the Arnold House, a boutique hotel, in Livingston Manor in 2014. But their local roots go much further back. While for some, building a life in the region has been about the escape; for others, it's about the return.
"Our kids are fifth-generation Sullivan County," she says. "Simms had experience in hospitality, restaurants, and nightlife for hotel companies in the city, and I'm an economist by trade, and we were visiting here often, looking to find ways to be more full-time up here to raise our kids. We started the Arnold House in a nascent market, but were very encouraged by what we saw, and how that slow growth continued to spark and encourage new businesses to invest in the area. Which, I feel like we even used to take for granted, until realizing that elsewhere it's getting harder to find that quintessential mom-and-pop-shop town."
And although the region is gaining more attention in the past few years, hospitality and happenings have long been a part of Sullivan's story. "In the 1960s there were more hotel beds in Sullivan County than any other county in New York, with more than 60,000 hotel rooms—but when we got married in 2013, we were struggling to put together lodging options for just our 110 guests," Foster explains. "Every weekend we'd come up and we knew that if we loved it, others would too, and maybe more hospitality could help the local economy—more jobs, new businesses. It's still an area where you can just get away from it all and be immersed in beautiful mountains, lakes, and meadows, but there's an eclectic mix of sophistication and local community here that makes it such a rich experience."
Natural Beauty
A prime example is the picturesque drive through the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area) that leads to Bashakill Vineyards in Wurtsboro. The drive takes you through the preserve, which, spread among more than 3,000 acres, encompasses the largest freshwater wetland in southeastern New York. The journey feels as though you're in the middle of nowhere, as its narrow, winding roads subtly approach the 10.5-acre farm-winery, which opened in 2015 and unobtrusively incorporates its natural surroundings into its own storybook setting: Walking paths that lead uphill to patio seating overlooking the mountains, cozy wooded nooks near a hosta- and wildflower-lined pond, and covered seating under a large rustic pavilion just steps away from a snack shack offering savory delights like pad thai shrimp tacos.
Winemaker Paul Deninno is from another multigenerational Sullivan family, and he has witnessed the area's slow-churned growth and embraces it. Although Bashakill Vineyards is a farm-winery that appreciates old world winemaking, they also utilize innovative techniques, such as creating an on-site wine-production barn fully insulated with geothermal heating and cooling. Here, they produce a variety of dry reds; dry, off-dry, and semi-sweet whites; sparkling wines; rosé; skin-contact (orange) wines; and infused flavors, the latter of which are made with ingredients either grown on-site, like sumac, or from local purveyors. To make their popular lavender wine, for instance, Deninno says they use five varieties of lavender from Winterton Farms in Bloomingburg—owned by lifelong Sullivan residents Deninno and Samara Ferris and located "right over the mountain" from the winery. "The lavender wine was my wife's idea; she's also our chef. I'm a wine purist and was initially totally against the idea of infusing anything in our wines," he says. "But the lavender really works so well with the Cayuga [grapes], which already have apple and melon flavors that blend in perfectly."
He also notes that a variety of distinctive businesses have sprung up over the years, like Double Up, a transformed double-decker bus-turned-cafe with a commercial kitchen on the lower level and seating up top. He cites the newer businesses as examples of positive ongoing change. "My mother was raised up here and told me stories about how beautiful the area was when she was a kid," he says. "I'm so happy to see the revival of the Catskills. Each year it gets better and better."
