Description:

Spring is here and one of the prettiest places near Woodstock to enjoy Mother Nature’s beauty is the Ashokan Reservoir. Home to the drinking water for New York City’s residents, this site is also home to nesting Bald Eagles and migrating loons, ducks and other birds migrating northward. Completed in 1915 the reservoir has a 255 square-mile drainage basin and its deepest point is 180-feet, making this NYC’s deepest reservoir. The easy paved pathways make it accessible for walkers, runners and bicyclists, and the vast open spaces make it beautiful. Following the 9/11 attacks, the Spillway Road was closed off to autos, making yet another paved surface for pedestrians and bicyclists and also allows for relatively close-up views of the nesting eagles. Parking lots are about a mile in either direction of the nests, but the flat trail is well maintained. Direct water access on the Ashokan Reservoir is limited to those with fishing licenses and permits. This is one of the clearest views of the Catskill Mountains, a must-see spot for any visitors to the area. The nearby Ashokan Center offers educational programs for people of all ages, with a special emphasis on music as Molly Mason and Jay Ungar host fiddle and dance camps at this site. Ungar composed the ‘Ashokan Farewell,’ a waltz with beautiful haunting tunes, in 1982. Two years later director Ken Burns used it as the musical focal piece of his Civil War miniseries – ironically, it’s the only modern-day piece of music in the series, other songs are authentic Civil War era music. Despite the lonely longing of the song, in fact the Ashokan Center is a fun-filled spirited place, where nature and music and laughter abound.