East Durham, New York, the Emerald Isle of the Catskills, has Irish festivals throughout the year. You'll find Irish music and dance festivals, including bagpipes competitions. The town, in Greene County, is two hours north of New York City and one hour south of Albany. The mountainous region also offers year-round outdoor adventures, from hiking to skiing.
Irish Heritage
Play Irish sports at The Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural and Sports Centre, which has fields for Gaelic football as well as hurling and rugby. You can also explore the The Irish Park, a one-acre map of Ireland made from red bricks. Annual events include Memorial Weekend Irish Festival, a summertime Irish Golf Tournament and Catskills Irish Arts Week.
Water Park
The seasonal Zoom Flume water park has a wave pool where kids can safely swim and ride waves. Ride giant water slides, including the thrill slide Grand Prix Splashway, where you race your friends. The Lagoon Activity Pool offers water basketball and spray fountains. Younger kids can float down the Lazy River or ride smaller scaled water slides. Adrenaline seekers can plunge down a 600-foot chute or ride in the dark through the Black Vortex.
Stay the Night
The Country Place Resort offers a bevy of activities, from a lake with fishing and paddle boats to a pool. The hotel has a bouncy house, playgrounds, bocce, basketball and shuffleboard courts and a softball field. You can also play hand ball, ping pong and pickleball, a paddle ball game that resembles tennis.
In the Mountains
Windham Mountain, about 13 miles from East Durham, has downhill skiing and snowboarding in winter, along with outdoor ice skating and snow tubing at the Windham Mountain Adventure Park. Extra-adrenaline-seeking skiers and riders can practice jumps into the Big Air Bag. In summer, the Adventure Park has rock climbing, paintball and a skate park accommodating skateboards, freestyle bikes and inline skates. You can also ride the scenic chairlift SkyRide.
Hike the Catskills
The Five State Lookout Mohican Trail goes right through East Durham. From this point you can see the Hudson River Valley and five states: New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont. The Catskill Mountains also have more than 50 mountain peaks; the highest is Slide Mountain, at 4,180 feet. Visit during the fall to hike and see the changing leaves; in winter, you can snowshoe on trails.
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