COM M U N N IT Y
HUNTER
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Tell It on the Mountain By Anne Pyburn Craig
erched atop the eastern High Peaks of the Catskills, the town of Hunter includes the incorporated villages of Hunter and Tannersville and the hamlets of Haines Falls and Elka Park, lands so hilly and wild that indigenous folk hadn’t settled them. The Platte Clove, also known as the Devil’s Kitchen, requires absolute alertness from hikers and drivers alike, rife with perilous switchbacks and sudden drops—but oh, those views. This is the landscape that summoned artists to tramp into the wild in the 1800s and birthed the Hudson River School. Settlers showed up via either Platte, Kaaterskill, or Stony Clove and started subsistence farms; tanneries, lumber mills, and furniture makers arose among the ample hemlock, hardwood, and running water. At the end of the 19th century, railroads carried tourists to the mountaintops; tourism became and would remain the area’s lifeblood, declining when the Catskills fell out of fashion for a time and came roaring back with the coming of ski resorts on Hunter and nearby Windham Mountain. The boundless resourcefulness of mountain folks is no myth, and the 21st century has been defined by the community-building efforts of smart nonprofits. The Hunter Foundation, founded in 1997, works with businesses, the school district, and likeminded agencies to bolster vibrant
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communities. The foundation operates a farm, Fromer Market Gardens, which saw a 27-percent revenue increase in 2020 and donations of 500 pounds of food thus far during COVID; the Colonial Country Club, which recently instituted night golf and has seen membership soar and revenues up 44 percent; and the Tannersville Antique and Artisan Center, which has found purchasers for over 2,700 pieces from 35 members this year, all while officially shut down. All Hunter Foundation properties stay on the community’s tax rolls. In the works are a community kitchen and culinary hub, and the restoration of Tannersville’s Gooseberry Creek and Rip Van Winkle Lake for communal recreation. THE SCENE “I’d say Hunter has taken 2020 in stride,” says Jason Dugo, a 25-year area resident. Born in Rockland County, he first came to the area as a teen to ski and snowboard. Trained in hospitality, he traveled some, but the Catskills called to him and he now lives near the Hunter town line with his three kids and four dogs, selling houses. “We have four-season ecotourism to die for,” Dugo says. “But really, between swimming, hiking, camping, golfing, breweries, wineries, festivals—we used to have a shoulder season when it was slow, but that’s gotten a lot shorter.”
Besides hosting naturally socially distant fun like skiing and snowboarding, Hunter Mountain Resort is “capable of doing just about everything outside,” Dugo says, with patios, outdoor bars, and beer gardens, food tents, and roaring fire pits. “It’s a wonderful atmosphere,” he says, “and lots of people who have never even gotten on skis go just for the camaraderie.” The resort’s far from the only choice. Hunter’s dining scene in both villages is robust and practiced, with mainstays such as Maggie’s Krooked Cafe, Last Chance Cheese and Antiques, and Pancho Villa’s. Recent years have seen the addition of new favorites: Jessie’s Harvest House, Deer Mountain Inn, and Prospect at Scribner’s Catskill Lodge magnetizing a “whole new demographic, a new vibe. Hunter was already becoming a thumbtack on a lot of people’s world maps, and as people look to settle, the notoriety has stuck,” Dugo says. Cultural highlights include the Catskill Mountain Foundation’s Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter and the Orpheum Film and Performing Arts Center in Tannersville, both eagerly awaiting the abatement of the virus to roar back to life. The foundation also operates the Piano Performance Museum, a gallery and bookstore, and a natural farm and arts education programs at its Sugar Maples center
