Unique Excursions

As though it weren’t enough to be surrounded by the serene beauty of Sunny Hill Resort, you also can take short day trips to an exciting array of attractions near the Northern Catskill Mountains, including:

Historic Towns
Cruises
Special Lunches
Winery & Brewery Tours
Scenic Tours
Shopping
Casinos
Museums
Historic Mansions
Attractions
Ski Mountains

Historic Towns

Albany - Glimpse the past in this 300-year-old city, originally settled by the Dutch, and rich in American history.

Cooperstown (box lunch provided) - The trip to the fabled birthplace of baseball includes visits to:

* National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum - The site of the annual induction ceremony, the museum is dedicated to the history and glory of America's pasttime.
* The Farmers’ Museum - A living history museum depicting 19th Century village and farm life that is also home of the Empire State Carousel.
* Fenimore Art Museum - Some of the nation's finest examples of American landscape, history and genre paintings, American folk art, photography and American Indian art.
* Brewery Ommegang – Tour and tasting at the only Belgian-style brewery in America.

Saratoga Springs - Visit the Saratoga National Battle Monument and shop in the beautifully restored downtown.

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Cruises

Hudson River Cruise– View millionaires' sumptuous estates, picturesque lighthouses and quaint sleepy villages.

Lake George Cruise– Cruise the historic and scenic Lake George, The Queen of American Lakes.

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Special Lunches

Delaware & Ulster Rail Ride with lunch– Enjoy a nostalgic ride on a 1940s super luxury liner thorough the Catskills.

Lake George Cruise with lunch- Cruise the lake while enjoying lunch & entertainment in their elegant dining room.

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Wineries, Breweries & Tours

Alison Winery - Handcrafted wines that reflect the special climate and growing conditions found in New York.

Brotherhood Winery - In continuous operation since 1839- making the winery the oldest in the United States.

Rivendell Winery - High quality wines made in unique and proprietary styles - one of New York's most awarded labels.

Keegan Ales Microbrewery - Brewing award-winning beer for New Yorkers for generations.

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Scenic Tours

Fall Foliage – Enjoy the beautiful scenery on our comfortable resort shuttle bus.

Thacher State Park/Carrot Barn – John Boyd Thacher State Park is situated along the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the richest fossil-bearing formations in the world. Intriguing features include six miles of limestone cliff-face, rock-strewn slopes, woodland and open fields. The park also provides a marvelous panorama of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains. The Carrot Barn, a rustic farm stand, is known for its homemade carrot cakes.

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Shopping

Berkshire Outlet Stores - Offering over 60 outlet stores featuring a huge selection of designer brands and heavy discounts off retail pricing. All in a quaint village motif.

Hudson Antique District – Browse through 3 blocks of 30 antique stores ranging from flea market to high-end (six figures).

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Casino

Saratoga Gaming And Raceway

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Museums

Firefighting Museum - The most comprehensive collection of firefighting memorabilia in the United States. The museum is a tribute to firefighters and a beacon for fire buffs from around the world. It’s also a treasure trove of artifacts and heroism, representing the history of those men and women who have interrupted their personal lives to protect the lives, property and vitality of their communities.

Old Stone Fort Museum & Historic Site - Preserves the rich, historic legacy of New York's beautiful Schoharie Valley. Buildings include an early 1700's home, 1780's Dutch barn, 1830’s law office and 1890's one-room school as well as the 1772 stone church that was fortified and attacked by British forces in 1780.

New York State Museum – Exhibits: The World Trade Center and 9/11, Thomas Cole and the Hudson River School Landscape Tradition, Harlem in the 20s, The History of New York City, The Cohoes Mastodon, Birds of New York, Native Peoples of New York, Adirondack Wilderness, and Contemporary Collection of Native American Crafts.

Norman Rockwell Museum - The Museum is located in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where Norman Rockwell spent the last 25 years of his life. His brilliant career spanned more than 60 years, leaving behind a legacy of images that helped define American identity throughout the 20th century.

Pleshakov 18th Century Piano Museum - Awe-inspiring piano demonstration & mini-concert by two world-renowned pianists.

Saratoga National Battle Monument - Site of the first significant American military victory during the Revolution, the Battles of Saratoga rank among the fifteen most decisive battles in world history. Here in 1777 American forces met, defeated and forced a major British army to surrender, an event which led France to recognize the independence of the United States and enter the war as a decisive military ally of the struggling Americans.

Saugerties Lighthouse - One of the oldest in the region, the present structure dating from 1869. This is a lovely and peaceful place to spend a little time, with Esopus Creek on one side and the Hudson River on the other.

Ukrainian Church & Grazhda - Imposing wood-carved basilica built entirely without nails, with hand carved and gold covered interiors.

USS Slater WWII Battleship - The Slater is a Cannon Class Destroyer Escort. Of the 565 destroyer escorts produced in World War II, USS SLATER (DE-766) is the only one remaining afloat in the United States, and the only one with original battle armament and configuration. These trim but deadly warships had the duty of looking out for enemy submarines and kamikazes as they escorted ship convoys across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Visitors have a chance to see what life was like for the sailors who manned these vessels when they come aboard this Cannon Class destroyer escort in Albany, N.Y.

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Historic Mansions

Bronck House Museum - A complex of Dutch Colonial dwellings and 19th Century barns, including the oldest surviving Dutch House in the Hudson Valley. The site was operated as a working farm by 8 generations of the Bronck Family. The 1663 and 1738 dwellings are furnished with 18th and 19th century art, furniture, textiles, ceramics, and silver. The house barn has a varied collection of Greene County Memorabilia.

Clermont State Historic Site - Clermont was the Hudson River seat of the politically and socially prominent Livingston family of New York for more than 230 years. Seven successive generations of the family left their print on the architecture, room interiors, and landscape at Clermont. Today the 485-acre historic site appears much as it did in the early twentieth century, when the estate was the home of the last two generations to occupy the property: Mr. and Mrs. John Henry Livingston and their daughters, Honoria and Janet.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Home - This estate contains "Springwood", the lifelong home of America's only 4-term President. Also on the site is the Presidential Library and Museum, operated by the National Archives. Visitors may enjoy a guided tour of FDR's home, take a self-guided tour of the Museum, or stroll the grounds, gardens, and trails of this 300-acre site.

Lansing Manor - An early American country estate, built in 1819 by John Lansing. A history buff's dream, Lansing Manor is filled with authentic furnishings from the first half of the 19th century.

Martin Van Buren’s Home - The mission of Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is to preserve Lindenwald, the home and farm of the nation's eighth president. Martin Van Buren's life bridged the 80 years between the American War for Independence and the U.S. Civil War, the critical formative years of the American Republic. When coupled with its surroundings and vistas, Lindenwald appears as it did when Martin Van Buren lived.

Olana Estate – One of the only intact 19th century studio houses in the United States. It was created by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), one of the most renowned American artists of the Hudson River School. Church designed his house both as a work of art and as a home for his family. The interior rooms are intact and are furnished with an eclectic mixture reflecting high style "art" and inherited furniture, objects indicative of Church's interest in the history of civilization, and paintings by the artists and his friends.

Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site - Philip Schuyler (1733-1804), a descendant of Albany's earliest settlers, chose an 80-acre parcel of farmland just south of the city of Albany as the site for his home. Completed in 1763 and built in the elegant Georgian style, Schuyler's mansion evoked the praise of many travelers who described it in their journals. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Benedict Arnold were among Schuyler's visitors. Alexander Hamilton, who married Schuyler's daughter at the mansion in 1780, stayed at the house frequently.

Thomas Cole National Historic Site - Residence and studio of founder of the Hudson River School of Painting. The house contains galleries of oil paintings and prints as well as rooms with Cole artifacts and period furnishings.

Staatsburgh - (formerly known as Mills Mansion), is an elegant example of the great estates built by America's financial and industrial leaders during the Gilded Age.

Vanderbilt Mansion - The Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, New York is perhaps the best, most intact example of the types of estates constructed by wealthy industrialists in the 19th century. The fully furnished, 54-room mansion is placed in a wondrous landscape with breathtaking views of the Hudson River and distant Catskill Mountains. If offers a glimpse into a past world known by only an elite few.

Zadock Pratt Homestead & Museum c. 1828 - Contains period furniture, artifacts from Pratt's life, tannery exhibit, and other changing exhibits about local and regional history.

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Attractions

Delaware & Ulster Rail Ride – Enjoy a nostalgic ride on a 1940’s super luxury liner thorough the Catskills.

Howe Caverns - First discovered in the early 1800s, operators say it has become the second most-popular natural attraction in the state after Niagara Falls. Howe Caverns squeezes so many splendid works of natural art into its 3,000-feet-long series of galleries and passageways that it ranks among the top five "show caves" in America. You name it; it's got it, from stalagmites and stalactites to flowstone formations, an underground river and lake.

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Ski Mountains

Hunter Mountain - Hunter Mountain boasts renowned terrain for all abilities, an impressive vertical drop, and some of the most reliable snow conditions in the East!

Windham Mountain - Windham Mountain offers skiing, riding and winter fun for the whole family, just two hours from the New York metro area. With the Catskills’ highest vertical and 98% snowmaking coverage, Windham makes the most of Northeast winter.

Click here to check availability, request a reservation and start planning your Sunny Hill vacation.