The 20th Annual Catskills Lark in the Park is Saturday, October 4th through Monday, October 13th, 2025
The Catskills Lark in the Park was founded in 2004 to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Catskill Park. The Lark is a series of events celebrating the Park with a full range of offerings across the region. Since its inception, the Lark has brought together thousands of people that have participated in hundreds of events, all aimed at enjoying the recreational assets of the Catskill Park and Catskill Region. While the main organizing partners are the Catskill Mountain Club, the Catskill Center, the New York Jersey Trail Conference, and the NYS DEC, we couldn’t do it without the enthusiastic participation of so many volunteers.
*Posting of 2024 currently in progress. More events coming soon!
2024 Schedule
Click on events below to learn more and to register. You can also choose the Events Calendar view at the top of this page.
October 5
Hike to Echo Lake 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Vernooy Kill Falls 9:45 am – 12:15 pm
Catskills Trail Crew Work Day 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Kaaterskill Junction Hike 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Hike North Point to Stoppel Point 8:30 am – 2:30 pm
Cross Mountain Crusher
Saturday Ride with Overlook Bicycles 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
October 6
Dry Brook Ridge & German Hollow Trail Maintenance Hike
Hike to North Point with Painting & Drawing 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Woodland Valley Hike 10:30 am – 3:30 pm
Hike along Finger Lakes Trail to the Rock Rift Fire Tower, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
October 7
Windham High Peak & Burnt Knob Escarpment Hike 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Hike Headwaters Trails 10:30 am – 2:15 pm
Mushroom I.D. Hike to Red Hill Fire Tower 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Hike North Dome & Mount Sherrill 8am – 2pm
October 8
Mindful Observation Walk 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Loop de Loop Hike @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
October 9
Yoga for Gardening at Mountain Top Arboretum 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm
Giant Ledge Hike 10:30 am – 4:30 pm CANCELLED
October 10
Hunter Mountain Hike 10:00 am – 2:30 pm
Rochester Hollow Hike 10:00 am – 1:30 pm
Hike Southwest Hunter, Hunter, and Rusk Mountains 8:30 am – 5:30 pm
October 11
Devils Path – Sugarloaf Loop 8:40 am – 3:10 pm
Topo Map Reading for Beginners 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
October 12
Platte Clove Hike 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Indian Head Loop @ 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Saturday Ride with Overlook Bicycles
History in Bogs with Michael Kudish 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
October 13
Hike Pakatakan Mountain 10:00 am – 1:30 pm
Huckleberry Point/Devil’s Kitchen/Bridal Veil Falls 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Ashokan Quarry Hike 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
October 14
Hike to West Kill Mountain 8:30 am – 1:30 pm
Indigenous Peoples Day hike to Diamond Notch Falls 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Explore Nature & Conservation: A Guided Hike to North Point with the Catskill Summit Stewards, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
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Hike the Six CMC Hiking Trails and Earn a Star!
Introducing a new hiking program from the CMC, this hiking tour will take you on a journey touring the six remarkably varied trails built and maintained by the CMC in partnership with the NYCDEP, local governments and with the generous cooperation of private landowners.
Hike them all and for your efforts you can earn a beautiful embroidered patch. If you have hiked some of them previously, those count. Just finish the list, send in your application and we’ll send you your award at no charge. Click here for to learn how you can get you star!
Paddling
Paddling is a great way to enjoy the foliage and with easy social distancing! Explore one of the beautiful NYC reservoirs or take a trip down the East Branch of the Delaware like John Burroughs. See our paddling suggestions here.
Hiking
This Lark in the Park, take the trail less traveled. Since the pandemic started, the more well known Catskills trails have seen a significant increase in usage. We think it is more fun to explore the trails the crowds don’t know about. Check out our suggestions for those here.
Bike Riding
It’s hard to beat fall bike riding. The weather is cool and comfortable and the scenery is spectacular. Some of the best rides in the Catskills are found in the scenic farming valleys and around the reservoirs. Many of them are relatively flat or ascend gently towards the head of a valley on dead end roads. Check out where to ride by the pictured view and other great biking suggestions here.
Scenic Byways, Scenic Overlooks and Scenic Walks
Scenic drives are a great way to see big views and spectacular foliage while social distancing. To help you find some of the best, see our recommendations here. The Palmer Hill scenic overlook is pictured .
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Since its inception in 2004 to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Catskill Park, the Lark in the Park has brought together thousands of people who have participated in hundreds of events sponsored by dozens of organizations, all aimed at heightening awareness of the Catskill Mountain region of New York State.
Recognized as America’s First Wilderness, the Catskills have played a crucial role in forming our sense of wilderness as a place of intrinsic value that should be protected. Early American artists such as Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand and Frederick Church celebrated and popularized the notion of nature as sacred in their Hudson River School paintings. Similarly, authors such as Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant wrote stories, novels and poems that spread the word about the Catskills worldwide. A few decades later, Catskills native John Burroughs famously wrote about the area with the eye of a naturalist. One of the most important early writers of wilderness and nature, his articles were published in national magazines and his books sold widely. The modern conservation and environmental protection movements can be traced to the Catskills, in no small part as a result of these early works of art and literature.
Today we celebrate the Catskill Park and Mountains annually with the Catskills Lark in the Park. From hiking to paddling to cycling, and from natural history to human culture to stewardship service the Lark offers everyone opportunities to live and learn in and about nature. There could be no more appropriate place for this celebration than the Catskills. We hope you will join us.
The coordination of this event is managed by a partnership of the Catskill Mountain Club, The Catskill Center, the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The Catskill Park and its Forest Preserve is a 705,000-acre patchwork of public and private lands in the Catskill Mountain Region of New York State, including nearly 300,000 acres of public lands . The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for managing the forest preserve lands within the Catskill Park, which are designated “forever wild” in the New York State Constitution.. The purpose of the designation is to conserve these lands, to protect the environment and to provide public access to outdoor recreation. In addition to the Forest Preserve lands, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection owns and manages over 150,000 acres of land to protect New York City’s watershed for drinking water. The remaining land of the Catskills is owned privately and hosts services for visitors and residents, including lodging, restaurants, cultural institutions, farm stores and entertainment venues.