Snowshoe The Catskills | Where To Rent Snowshoes
Posted by Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021 at 4:05pm
(Oh, how the photo above warms our heart - handmade snowshoes, snow, pretty trees, silent woods. Don't worry - we're not going to send you to rent these kind of snowshoes tough; just look at those bindings! These are here for the ambiance. Read on for where to rent snowshoes that reliably stay ON your feet.)
Please raise your hand if you are so, so tired of being cooped up inside...I'm imagining hands going up from Southern New Jersey to Albany.
The state of our social lives has kept us inside this year and I'll be the first to admit that it's getting to be a real drag. Sometimes the ski resorts are booked and as a last-minute planner I'm left without a lift ticket and avoiding the lodge and large groups of people takes a commitment I don't always feel I can keep. I could go skating, but the rinks are jam-packed with terrors on blades who aren't getting their usual hockey ice-time. I'm afraid that 10-year-old who just pushed his little sister is going to take me out! We've had so much lovely snow that last year's solution of hiking the same trails I do all summer with the addition of some down and wool hasn't been an option. "BUT WAIT", I said to myself last weekend after staring down the barrel of yet another novel and weekend with a steady heart rate of 63, "there's another option! SNOWSHOES!" Sadly I don't own any because they always seemed liked an extra thing - now they feel like a necessity and one that I can't wait for shipping on so I googled, "where to rent snowshoes in the Catskills" and effectively came up with nothing. I found it impossible to believe that no one rents snowshoes in the Catskills Mountains - so I went to my Local Expert family at Village Green and got the answers. I've been down the snowshoe rabbit hole and out the other end, feet clad in some surprisingly comfy sports equipment and ready to hit the trail. I'll share my findings with you so that you too can get outside!
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I have to be honest, even though I've lived here for years I really didn't have any idea that snowshoeing was such a thing in the Hudson Valley and Catskills. It is. There are endless places to snowshoe in the Catskills & 'Gunks and there are so many avid snowshoers that most of my favorite hiking trails have "been broken" (meaning someone already snowshoed them and there's a clear path), while others have been so well traveled that there's a packed "trench". The better packed a trail is the smoother going your snowshoe - and get this, snowshoeing can burn up to 1,000 calories/hour! If you've been looking for a way to earn your fondue, this is a pretty clear choice. Snowshoeing also has a romantic component. Snowshoes have been around for over 4,000 years. Making your way through silent woods in the same way the Native Americans who once inhabited them did is pretty cool. You'll see wildlife you don't see in the other seasons, views that are dramatically altered by the snow and you'll spend some quality soul-feeding time with the trees (for more information on the benefits of hanging out with the trees see my article on Forest Bathing). |
The other thing I like about snowshoeing is its accessibility. Pairs of snowshoes rent for around $25.00 a day. Invest in a pair and it's a single time investment, you can snowshoe to your heart's content forever without spending another nickel. Let's get to it!
Where To Rent Snowshoes In The Catskills & Shawangunks
Photo courtesy of Rock And Snow, New Paltz
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Windham Mountain Outfitters - WindhamThis easy to find hub of outdoorsyness rents out snowshoes for $25.00 a day. You can reserve your snowshoes and poles here. If you decide you'd like to purchase a pair after your outing they can help with that. Local Expert tip - they also have beautiful clothing so you can get outdoors in style. |
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Bearpen Mountain - PrattsvilleBearpen is the kind of Catskills small business we love. Family-owned and run by a father-daughter team they're open on holidays and weekends offering: fat-tire biking, cross-country skiing, curling, skating, tubing, and...you guessed it - snowshoeing. Snowshoes rent for $15.00 and an all-day pass to Bearpen for snowshoeing is $15.00. The lodge is closed for the 2020/21 season so pack your thermos and head out. Maybe you'll meet their mascot Speights on a trail. |
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Marty's Mercantile - West ShokanHere's another great Catskill's business. Marty's is the Catskills answer to David's General Store in Schitt's Creek but with yummy sandwiches! Marty's gets extra points for offering a snowshoe share! When you go in to borrow your snowshoes stock up on local soaps and pottery and yummy sandwiches for your day. Sign up for the snowshoe share via the instructions in their instagram post below:
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Catskill Outfitters - PhoeniciaCatskill Outfitters sits right in the middle of Phoenicia and offers fly-fishing tours, fly-fishing gear, local homegoods and snowshoe rentals. Call ahead to make sure that they have they have some available for you. |
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Potter Brothers - KingstonPotter Brothers has been a staple of the Catskills for decades, they're right off the Thruway which makes them any easy stop if you're going to take a hike with your snowshoes in the Woodstock area. They rent pairs of snowshoes for $24.00 a day and have the very friendliest of service. |
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Rock and Snow - New PaltzIf you're planning on going up something steep you should head to Rock and Snow in New Paltz - they rent standard snowshoes as well as mountaineering snowshoes that have heel risers that make it much easier to go uphill.
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Where To Go Snowshoeing In The Catskills
Photo courtesy of Martin Alcantara from the Catskills Trail Conditions Facebook Group
The 'Gunks and The Catskills have trails everywhere! The All Trails app is a good resource, an even better one is the incredible public facebook group Catskills Trail Conditions. Hikers (and snowshoers) post how they found the trails they were on that day so that you can get ideas and show up for your hike with the right equipment and expectations. It's awesome - I'm obsessed.
Snowshoe Appreciation
If you're not convinced, perhaps you need to steep in the romance of snowshoeing a bit. May I present snowshoe inspiration.
See you on the trails!
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