The Catskills Revival: What's Actually Changed

Part of: The Orthodox Guide to Wilderness, National Parks & Road Trips

Your grandparents honeymooned here. Your parents have stories about bungalow colonies and day camps with names that no longer exist. For decades, the Catskills felt like a fading memory — abandoned hotels, overgrown pools, a Jewish past slowly being reclaimed by forest.

That's over.

Something has shifted in the last five years, and if you haven't been up in a while, you'll barely recognize the landscape. New money. New energy. New families. And a very different kind of vacation than what your Bubby remembers.

A few things converged at once.

COVID. When Brooklyn families needed to escape cramped apartments in 2020, they drove two hours north and rediscovered the mountains. Many bought property. Some stayed permanently.

Remote work. Suddenly, spending a month in the mountains wasn't a fantasy — it was a tax write-off. Families started renting for entire summers rather than single weekends.

The pricing shift. A week at a kosher hotel anywhere runs $3,000-8,000+ per person. A Catskills rental with a pool, for the whole family, runs $3,000-6,000 total. The math speaks for itself.

New development. Developers noticed. Luxury bungalow colonies — which is an oxymoron your grandmother would find hilarious — are going up. Gated communities with pools, day camps, shuls, and food service, but you own or rent your own unit.

The old Catskills map centered on Monticello, Liberty, and Woodbourne. That's still the core, but the frum footprint has expanded significantly:

Established areas:

• Woodbourne/Fallsburg — The main strip. Kosher pizza shops, grocery stores, multiple shuls. Feels like a Brooklyn extension in summer.
• Monticello — Larger, more spread out. Walmart with a kosher section that could rival some city supermarkets in July.
• South Fallsburg — Yeshiva town energy. Multiple kollelim operate here year-round now, not just summer.

Growing areas:

• Hurleyville — Gentrifying fast. Art scene mixing with frum families.
• Kiamesha Lake — Former hotel territory being subdivided into housing.
• White Lake — Quieter, more rural. Families who want space and don't mind driving 15 minutes for a pizza.

The new frontier:

• Eastern Sullivan County — Toward Wurtsboro and Mamakating. Cheaper land, newer builds, and noticeably less crowded.
• Northern Orange County — Monroe/Kiryas Joel adjacent areas expanding outward.

This is where the Catskills now genuinely shines. In July and August, the food options rival some neighborhoods in Brooklyn:

• Multiple kosher supermarkets (full-service, not just a "section")
• Pizza shops, falafel joints, Chinese restaurants, steakhouses
• Bakeries doing fresh challah, danishes, and cakes daily
• Prepared food stores where you can buy complete Shabbos meals

Off-season (September through June): This is where it gets thinner. Most seasonal restaurants close after Labor Day. But — and this is new — a handful now operate year-round. The permanent community has grown enough to sustain them. Plus, the Trader Joe's in Middletown is a 30-minute drive and covers a lot of gaps.

For Shabbos: If you're staying in a rental with a kitchen, you can easily cook. If you want someone else to handle it, several caterers deliver complete Shabbos packages during the season.

This isn't 1975. You're not sitting on a porch all day (unless you want to, which is also valid).

Outdoor activities:

• Hiking: Countless trails within 20 minutes of any rental. Minnewaska State Park, Sam's Point, Bashakill Wildlife Area. The difficulty ranges from flat boardwalks (stroller-friendly) to legitimate mountain scrambles.
• Tubing: The Delaware River tubing outfits run from Memorial Day through September. Half-day float, zero effort, maximum fun for tweens and teens.
• Lakes: Plenty of small lakes with beaches. Some bungalow colonies have private lake access. Public options exist too — just scope out crowd levels for tznius considerations.
• Biking: The O&W Rail Trail is a converted railway that runs miles through the countryside. Flat, paved, perfect for families.

Rainy day / indoor:

• Bowling alleys, trampoline parks, arcades — especially in Monticello and Middletown
• Indoor pools at some of the newer developments
• The Bethel Woods museum (on the Woodstock concert site) is genuinely interesting for adults

Day trip to the bigger parks:

• Harriman State Park — South of the Catskills, massive trail system, multiple lakes
• Mohonk Preserve — Spectacular ridge hiking with Hudson Valley views
• North-South Lake — Gorgeous waterfalls and overlooks in the northern Catskills

This is the easiest Shabbos outside of a major city. Period.

In summer, you can't walk 10 minutes in Woodbourne without passing a shul. Minyanim run from 6am through 10pm. Every nusach. Every speed. You'll find your pace.

Off-season, the permanent shuls still operate — just confirm times before Shabbos. The year-round community is large enough to guarantee a minyan morning and evening.

Eruv: Multiple communities maintain eruvs during the season. Check locally — boundaries and reliability vary.

The Shabbos vibe: Unlike city Shabbos, there's a summer-camp feeling here. Kids run between houses. Seudah shlishis happens on someone's porch. Adults actually sit and talk. The pace slows down in a way that's hard to replicate in Brooklyn or Lakewood.

Everyone who visits twice starts thinking about it. Let's talk numbers honestly:

Renting:

• Peak season (July-August): $2,000-5,000/week for a house with a pool
• Off-season weekends: $500-1,500/weekend
• Bungalow colony unit (seasonal): $15,000-40,000 for the entire summer

Buying:

• A basic house needing work: $250,000-400,000
• A nice family home with land: $400,000-700,000
• Luxury new construction: $700,000+
• Bungalow colony unit (ownership): $150,000-350,000

The buy decision usually happens when your rental costs exceed $15,000/summer for three consecutive years and you don't see yourself stopping.

Be honest with yourself about what you want.

The Catskills are perfect if:

• You want an easy Shabbos with zero logistics
• You have kids who need other frum kids around
• You value community but don't want a structured program
• You want outdoor access without extreme remoteness
• Budget matters and you want to cook your own food

The Catskills might not be for you if:

• You want genuine wilderness (this is rural, not wild — you're always near a road)
• You're looking for adventure-scale experiences (try Yellowstone or the Canadian Rockies)
• You want to disconnect from the frum world entirely
• Crowds stress you out (July Woodbourne is... a scene)