Checked October 8, 2026. Hours shift with the season, so call before you drive.
Hunter is the Mountaintop’s working village. One Main Street along Schoharie Creek, a ski mountain at the end of it, and a three-screen cinema that the Catskill Mountain Foundation took on in the late 1990s, when Main Street was mostly for-sale signs. About 1,600 feet up and about 430 people. Tannersville is five miles east. Our cabin, Clove Creek, is in Hunter, NY too, twelve minutes south of the village in the Lanesville hamlet off Route 214.
It’s peak week. The state’s foliage report for October 7 to 13 has Hunter at 85 percent color. This is the town guide. For the slopes, lifts and ski season, see our Hunter Mountain ski guide. More towns live in our Catskills guide.
Hunter at a glance
- Go for: a waterfall in the notch, fall color from the lift and a beer-hall dinner on Main Street.
- Stay: two nights. One for the trail, one for the sauna.
- Car: yes. Trailheads, the mountain and Main Street are all a short drive apart.
- Signal: thin on Route 214 and gone in the notches. Download your maps in town.
- Dogs: Hunter Mountain Brewery has a pet-friendly deck, and both cabins below take dogs.
- Nearest trailheads to the cabin: Becker Hollow (5 minutes) and South Diamond Notch (10 minutes).
Things to do in Hunter, NY
1. Diamond Notch Falls from Route 214
Trail · Diamond Notch Falls from Route 214
- Distance: about 2 miles each way on the blue-marked Diamond Notch Trail.
- Terrain: a steady climb to the notch, then down to the falls. Rocky and wet in spots.
- Park: the DEC South Diamond Notch lot, 1.2 miles up Diamond Notch Road from Route 214. It’s small and the road is rough.
- Fee: none.
- From Clove Creek: about 10 minutes.
The Diamond Notch Trail started life as a road and became a trail in the 1930s. It climbs through a gap between West Kill Mountain and Hunter, passes a lean-to, crosses the Devil’s Path, and drops to Diamond Notch Falls, a pair of side-by-side chutes on the West Kill. It’s the hike we send Clove Creek guests on first: close, quiet, and a real walk in the woods.
The parking reality. The lots on both ends are small and fill by mid-morning on fall weekends. Don’t block the road or a driveway. If it’s full, drive back down to Route 214 and walk around Notch Lake instead (number 5 below). Trail details are on the DEC Hunter-West Kill Wilderness page.
What we bring for the notch
Map
Catskill Park Trails Illustrated Map
National Geographic #755, waterproof. The notch has no signal, and paper doesn’t need one.
Knees
Cascade Mountain Tech Carbon Trekking Poles
A pair of light poles for the rocky descent to the falls, and for Becker Hollow if you’re going big.
Light
LHKNL Rechargeable Headlamp, 2-pack
October light is gone by six under the trees. Two in the box, USB-C charging.
2. The Hunter Mountain Fire Tower
The summit is 4,040 feet, and its fire tower is the highest in New York, by the county tourism office’s count. DEC lists three ways up: the steep Becker Hollow Trail off Route 214 (5 minutes from the cabin), the gentler blue Spruceton Trail from the west, and the yellow Colonel’s Chair Trail from the top of the ski lift. Routes and the lift option are in our Hunter Mountain guide, and DEC’s notes are on the Rusk Mountain Wild Forest page.
3. Colors in the Catskills and the SkyRide
Hunter Mountain’s fall festival (it used to be Oktoberfest) has two weekends left: October 10 to 11 and 17 to 18. Entry is free, Saturdays run 11 to 6 and Sundays 11 to 5, and the Scenic SkyRide opens at 9 a.m. if you want the view before the crowd. Details from Great Northern Catskills; more color spots in Unplugged Cabins’ Hunter Mountain fall foliage guide.
4. A film or a play on Main Street
The Doctorow Center for the Arts (7971 Main St) holds the three-screen Mountain Cinema, a 165-seat hall and a piano museum. This month there’s Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys October 9 to 11 and an Amy Beach piano program on October 17. The foundation’s bookstore is a few doors down at 7950 Main. Our rainy-afternoon plan, every time.
5. Devil’s Tombstone and Notch Lake
Route 214 between the cabin and Hunter village squeezes through Stony Clove Notch past Notch Lake, where the red-marked Devil’s Path crosses the road. The campground there closed for the season on September 7, but the lake is still the easiest ten minutes of quiet on the drive.
6. Kaaterskill Falls, twenty minutes east
The falls belong to Tannersville. Parking there is strict from May through October, so read our Tannersville field guide before you go, and our Catskill waterfalls guide for the rest.
Hunter restaurants and coffee
Most of it is on Main Street (Route 23A). Midweek is thin, with the brewery closed Monday and Tuesday and the beer hall closed Wednesday, so plan food around it.
- Fellow Mountain Cafe (7883 Main St). Breakfast, lunch and Peaks coffee, open every day 8 to 3. Our first stop.
- M&J Bagel Store (7740 Main St). Bagels and breakfast sandwiches for the trailhead.
- Hunter Mountain Brewery (7267 Route 23A). Pub food, fifteen-plus house taps and a dog-friendly deck with a view of the mountain. It fills fast on weekends, so go early.
- Jägerberg Beer Hall & Alpine Tavern (7722 Main St). Schnitzel on Tuesdays, burgers on Thursdays, German dinners Friday, Saturday and Monday. Book ahead during fest season.
- Hunter Tavern (7433 Main St). A fireplace, s’mores and seasonal comfort food in a ’70s-style ski lodge. Thursday to Sunday evenings.
- Prospect at Scribner’s Catskill Lodge (13 Scribner Hollow Rd). The dress-up dinner with a mountain view. Reserve.
Where to stay in Hunter, NY
Our cabin · Hunter, NY · 12 minutes
Clove Creek Cabin
Between two creeks on Route 214: hot tub, sauna and an indoor fireplace, two queen bedrooms, an Ooni pizza oven and a Solo Stove fire pit on about 600 square feet of deck. Dogs are welcome when they’re on the reservation. Cell service is close to none on 214, but the Wi-Fi is strong and handles Wi-Fi calling.
It suits two couples who want Diamond Notch in the morning and the sauna by four.
Clove Creek is run by Unplugged Cabins, our sister brand.
Nearby · Tannersville · 10 minutes east
Blue Heron
A quiet two-bedroom cabin a five-minute walk from Tannersville’s Main Street. Sleeps four, takes dogs, and has a fire pit and a real workspace.
It suits a couple who want Hunter’s trails by day and a walk to dinner at night.
Rather a hotel? Hunter has Scribner’s Catskill Lodge and its cabins up the hill, Hunter Lodge on Main Street, and the slopeside Kaatskill Mountain Club. More options in our Catskill cabin rentals guide.
Coming soon · Jefferson, NY · about 55 min to Hunter
Juniper Ridge
We’re building a modern tiny cabin on Blenheim Hill, near Jefferson in Schoharie County, on about five private acres of maple, beech and birch forest. It’s a single-story, 361-square-foot studio with a full bath, a kitchenette and a small covered porch. The plan includes a hot tub under the trees, a wood-fired sauna, a fire pit and a private trail through the woods.
- Getting there: about 55 minutes from Hunter, west by Route 23A, Route 23 and Route 30.
- Close by: Mine Kill State Park and Stamford, each about 15 minutes away.
- Where it stands: footings went in in September, and the cabin is being built in the workshop now. The opening date isn’t set yet.
It suits two people who want a quiet woods base, with Hunter Mountain and the Devil’s Path within an hour.
It isn’t open yet. Join the list and you’ll hear first when it opens.
Juniper Ridge is run by Unplugged Cabins, our sister brand.
Pack for cold nights
The notch holds the cold long after the village warms up. Our packing list lives on the Gear page: camping essentials for cold nights, from a warm bed to a camp kitchen that actually works.
One perfect day
Bagels from M&J at 7:30. South Diamond Notch lot by 8:15, at the falls by 9:15, back at the car before the lot fills. Coffee at Fellow Mountain on the way through town. If it’s a festival weekend, the SkyRide after lunch; if it’s raining, a matinee at the Mountain Cinema. Sauna at four, then schnitzel if it’s Tuesday.
Hunter FAQ
Is Hunter Mountain open in October?
Not for skiing yet, but the Scenic SkyRide runs on Colors in the Catskills weekends, October 10 to 11 and 17 to 18 this year, opening at 9 a.m. Festival entry is free and the lift is ticketed. Check the resort’s site the morning you go, since wind can stop the lift.
How do you hike to the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower?
Three ways. Becker Hollow, off Route 214 near Hunter, is the shortest and steepest: a little over 2 miles each way and uphill the whole time. The blue-marked Spruceton Trail from the end of Spruceton Road is 3.4 miles each way on an old road, gentler but a longer drive around. On lift days you can ride the SkyRide up and take the yellow Colonel’s Chair Trail across to the summit trail.
How long is the hike to Diamond Notch Falls?
From the Route 214 side it’s about 2 miles each way on the blue Diamond Notch Trail, up through the notch and down to the falls, rocky in places. From the Spruceton Road end it’s about a mile, but that trailhead is roughly 45 minutes’ drive around the mountain from Route 214.
How far is Hunter, NY from New York City?
About 125 miles. Plan on two and a half to three hours by car from Midtown, via the Thruway to Saugerties and Route 23A up through Kaaterskill Clove, or the Thruway to Kingston and Routes 28 and 214 through Phoenicia.
Where should you stay near Hunter Mountain?
If you want quiet, stay just outside the village. Our cabin, Clove Creek in Hunter, NY, is about 12 minutes from Main Street, with a hot tub and a sauna. Blue Heron is a two-bedroom cabin in Tannersville, about 10 minutes east. Hunter’s hotels include Scribner’s Catskill Lodge, Hunter Lodge and the slopeside Kaatskill Mountain Club.
Are Hunter and Tannersville the same town?
Not quite. Both are villages inside the Town of Hunter, about 5 miles apart on Route 23A. Haines Falls and Elka Park are hamlets in the same town. Hunter has the ski mountain and the cinema; Tannersville has the painted Main Street and Kaaterskill Falls.