If you haven’t been upstate NY, you’re missing out. I’ve always said, some of the most beautiful places in the world exist right here in the good ol U S of A. And while I’ve seen a lot of it, New York is one state I am happy to call home. We have all four seasons. We have the biggest, best city in the world, oceanfront, Broadway AND – saving the best for last – mountains and countryside that is what storybooks paint as dreams. You basically can have it all here in New York, we’re lucky, and we know it. But I’m about to give a glimpse into the secrets we already know – why “upstate” is a hidden gem we sort of like to keep to ourselves, especially Ulster County. Only about a two-hour drive from the city, you’re in a forest oasis of lush greenery, steep mountainsides and bountiful farms and fresh veggies and fruits for miles. It’s almost out of a movie. And I’m about to expose one of our favorite little places to visit. Why? Because everyone should experience the joy, peace and fulfillment Ulster County provides. And you should support local – especially in times like these. As a city dweller, we couldn’t ask for a better destination to escape as city slickers.
Hiking, Biking and Bears, oh my!
Ulster County has a plethora of hiking trails for all ability levels. We’ve been checking all the fire towers off our list. Every time we head up here, we find another new trail to attempt. We see a lot of wildlife, waterfalls and just get to disconnect and talk to each other. If you’re a big hiker (or if you’re just getting started and need some tips!), follow me on All Trails and I’ll share all my favorite trails with you.
Quirky hipster heaven
A lot about Ulster County is that city people like ourselves visit (or live here) frequently, so you’ll find LOTS of comforts of the big city in the country – like really good food. And vegan. It’s not all hearty country plates up here and that’s part of its charm.
One of our favorite places to eat is Phoenicia Diner. Literally, if I am up this way, I’ll make plans to add this to our driving route – it’s that good. While you can’t eat inside just yet, they have a spectacular outdoor set up going – plus what’s horrible about eating outside in the mountains?! You can still get a lot of their great menu items including the muddly water (cold brew, local maple syrup, and almond milk) which is the best pick-me-up before a long hike. Carb up on their specialties like avocado toast and french toast – you don’t get more city than that!
On the bucket list:
While you’re here – try out some of the offerings of the area. The World’s Largest Kaleidoscope is right down the road (yes, it’s really a thing and super trippy!). Also, they have the railroad car tours. This is one thing I haven’t gotten to do yet since they’re always sold out! I’ve heard really great things about this (even with kids!), and it’s still on my list, so if you’re planning a trip up to Ulster County, be sure to call in advance and add this to your itinerary.
Horses and lodging
Maybe you didn’t realize, but Ulster County is home to not one, but TWO horse ranches made just for city folk. Both are amazing in their own ways, depending on the experience you want to have. Either way, I recommend you visit one of them (or both like we did!) and soon. Fall is coming and what is a better way to look at the foliage than by horseback?
If you want an all-inclusive resort with the amenities and views plus horses – Rocking Horse Ranch
Rocking Horse Ranch is for those city folk who want to leave the city, but not the luxuries of city living behind. Here they do it right. You get breathtaking views outside your window, delicious chef-inspired meals, an indoor and outdoor pool, plus horse-riding (one ride is included for each person in your stay).
We absolutely LOVED IT HERE. It’s worth every penny just for the views and the country hospitality. We felt totally safe with all their extra COVID-19 precautions, plus allowing the kids to free-range roam around the property. But let’s dig in a little deeper:
COVID-19 Precautions:
- temperature checks required by ALL attending guests before entering the grounds
- masks at all times except while eating or swimming
- hand sanitizer stations all over the place.
- lots of extra cleaning. We even saw the guy immediately wipe down the tubes we were riding down the hill once we got out.
Food:
- Breakfast is still buffet style inside but you are social distanced and there is staff to fill your plate. Guests do not touch anything.
- Lunch and dinner is served outside under a lovely dining tent based on reservation times to allow for spacing.
- Dinner is AMAZING. We had grilled salmon and vegetarian polenta which was delicious and fancy under the rooftop and lights.
- PS- they have a Chef tasting at 3pm at the pool each day which includes (free cocktails!) and tasty treats like cheeses, fruits, hummus and guacamole.
- SMORES! Free and every night at the cowboy campfire. Yes, he sings folks – it’s worth it just for this!
Rooms:
- Super clean and spacious. We even went when it was cooler out so we had our window open for fresh air. Plus you could see the stars right from it. **We did of course bring our own Lysol and supplies to wipe down things for the kids to be extra safe.
- They also have Wifi throughout the entire resort of those of us who can’t disconnect. Guilty – yes I was still working in bed once the kids fell asleep.
Amenities:
- Our favorite part! The kids spent barely a second in the rooms beyond sleeping there was so much to do – and NEVER on their phones.
- Mining for gemstones, arrowheads, and fossils – HUGE HIT!
- Kayaks, paddle boats, and a banana boat on the lake. Plus, you can feed the carp – big hit with the kids when they go on a savage feeding frenzy.
- Surprisingly, our kids were obsessed with the outdoor Checkers boards. They sat for hours playing each other so much that we decided we needed to get one for home.
- Mini Golf! A must.
- The pools. Indoor and outdoor with a indoor/outdoor hot tub that you can switch through a peep door.
- Bounce and rock climbing – another huge hit with the kids
Horseback riding:
- You get one ride included for each person with your stay with the option to add in more plus private lessons, etc. Max is 8 and he was able to go on a walk trail ride with us.
- They offer intermediate and advanced rides too (trot, canter and gallop) for those with more experience.
- Not sure you want to get on a horse? They have demonstrations on how to ride prior and also allow for barn tours and horseshoeing demos instead.
- They have pony-led rides for all kids 48″ and under, too.
- They also have horse-drawn wagon rides if you’d prefer to not sit on the horse just yet.
We LOVED the horse ride. It’s about a 45-minute long walk loop through the woods property and easy for beginners. The horses are well trained and used to to the trail so you don’t have to worry too much about controlling them. It’s a stress-free ride and I felt safe and comfortable with the staff around with Max on his horse in front of me too. Everyone here MUST wear helmets (provided). They also are providing disposable plastic caps to wear under them for all guests as a sanitary precaution.
If you want the real experience of the country and horses horses horses, plus a few activities on the side – Pine Ridge Dude Ranch
If you really want to leave the city behind and experience an authentic dude ranch, Pine Ridge Dude Ranch should be your destination. They still have great activities to do here but without all the frills. I loved this option because you really get to disconnect – as in NO WIFI except for in the lobby. Yes – and trust me, it’s worth it. Even I was a little upset at first but then realized – why do I need it??? This is what makes Pine Ridge great – they really remove you from your city comforts. And that’s what a dude ranch is all about – getting city slickers to see the read side of a ranch.
COVID-19 Precautions:
- temperature checks required by ALL attending guests before entering the grounds
- masks at all times except while eating or swimming
- hand sanitizer stations all over the place.
- They even had Lysol cans for you to disinfect your helmets before riding horses.
Food:
- Three meals a day here are included with your stay but it’s more of the cowboy chuck-wagon experience, so no fancy plates here just good ol BBQ and corn on the cob which is still delicious!
- I have to say, they even had a really good VEGAN option which surprised me for dinner – it was a stuffed portobello mushroom that was so good I didn’t even stop to take a photo of it before it was gone!
- All meals are outdoor buffet-style served to you by staff and head up – you’re in the country so meals happen for only one hour at the same time each day. So there’s no fancy way to choose your time. You eat when it’s mealtime. (8am, 12pm and 6pm).
- They do have a “chuck wagon” snack bar that’s open throughout the day for snacks if you need but we were offered more than enough food we never needed more!
- They have free sticks and marshmallows to roast on the campfire every night starting at 8pm. Smores kits are a small extra fee.
- I do want to mention they have the BEST OUTDOOR BAR. It has an impressive line up of IPAs, specialty canned wines (my fave!) and they even had Campfire Whiskey (if you haven’t had this – you don’t know what you’re missing!). They also have the most serene outdoor bar that is back towards the woods with hanging lights. It’s great for adults to chill and have a good drink while the kids run around.
Rooms:
- Nothing fancy here but you’re too busy to spend time in here right? It’s clean and spacious and the kids LOVED having bunk beds in the rooms to sleep in, I mean crash in.
- You can request a mini-fridge for your room for $25 (total for the stay).
Amenities:
- We loved walking around – a lot of the activities have the classic old-school country charm which really is what makes the place special.
- They have a fun playground, mini-golf, and outdoor games around the property which are visible via many of the rooms so you can let the kids roam safely.
- There is a great outdoor pool with slides that are fast and super fun. They have lifeguards on duty and also staff controlling how many people are in the pool area so they can abide by social distancing terms.
- They have tractor tours that take you down to a hidden pond with paddleboards (or you can hike down to it – probably about a mile).
- Archery! This was really cool and fun to shoot hay bales and balloons – Max loved it!
- Rock climbing and the bounce pillow!
- Lots of farm animals to play with – you can even go into the goats’ pen and pet them – they’re super friendly and Max spent a lot of time in here.
- You’ll get a daily itinerary of activities to participate in too like cowboy campfires, bouncy horse racing (which was SO MUCH FUN!) – we literally were outside from 7:30am till 9pm every single day before we crashed!
Horseback riding:
- You get one ride included for each person with your stay with the option to add in more plus private lessons, etc.
- Note that kids 8 and under are only allowed to do pony rides (unless they have experience on horses – such as Max).
- You can add on a lot of cool horse activities here throughout the day besides private lessons (which we recommend with the cowboy, I mean horse wrangler onsite!). Such as $20 per person to go into the horses stall and brush, feed and groom them. Very cool!
- Here we opted to do a trail ride every morning (and could have done more!) We loved the horses. Here, you get to see the horses in the corral prior to your ride so the kids would try and pick which one they wanted – or ride the same one from the day before which was cool because you got to really know your horse.
- You’re out in the country more here, so we saw tons of wildlife including a buck! just standing around in the woods. It was amazing.
- They staff are super friendly and chatty and we got lessons on how to control the horses even while on the trails. It was a lot of fun plus educational for the kids.
- So many options here – they do sunset rides (romantic and beautiful!), stable tours, advanced horsemanship lessons you name it.
I would recommend if you’re going up here to go for at least a long weekend if not a full week to really get immersed in the horse programs. We talked with some of the guests who were up here doing that – staying for a full week getting private lessons and rides and getting the kids really accustomed to the horses and ranch life. They even offer an own a horse for a day program to see what it’s like if you’re ready to take the leap into getting your own. Moving to Ulster County, anyone?
Not ready for horses, but want the farm life? Pick-your-own.
There are so many amazing farms up here with EVERYTHING imaginable from corn mazes to pick-your-own berries. One of our favorites is Kelder’s Farm because they offer all-in-one. Here’s all that we did in one afternoon!
- Pick-your-own apple orchard
- Pick your own berries and vegetables) we picked our own raspberries, corn, tomatoes, eggplant, herbs and string beans!
- Sunflower field where you can pick-your-own to take home.
- Corn maize
- Farm tube slides
- Bounce pillow
- farm tractor playground and mini-golf
- World’s largest garden gnome
- feed the animals such as donkeys, goats and calves
- outdoor checkers!
Also wanted to state how good the food was here! We had frozen lemonades and actual wood-fired pizza not to mention how good the corn-on-the-cob was – with a view!
Needless to say, we feasted and came home with a bounty.
Bonus – across the road is a little local secret- it is the BEST perogies in the area, maybe the state (I’m from Pittsburgh I know how to judge a perogie). Just trust me and go over and get some – they come in a Ziploc bag warm and ready to eat. Just know it’s no-frills here- you get what they have and they take CASH ONLY.
Already packing your bags to visit Ulster County? I don’t blame you – we will probably see you up there again this fall very soon!
Want more info on Ulster County? Visit their tourism site here.
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Ulster County Tourism, but all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting FootballFoodandMotherhood.com!
