We set out today to visit the Mohonk Mountain House near New Paltz, NY. We went in as Day Visitors and paid $21 each for that privilege which was well worth it as far as we were concerned. Guests staying in the House pay from $360 for a small room with no view to $661 for a king-sized bed with a view. As a guest visitor we were allowed to walk the grounds and all the many trails, swim, place tennis, or do any of the outside activities. You just can't wander around inside the hotel. The Mohonk Mountain House is buried in the trees and I don't know if there is anywhere that you can see it from the road. We were transported to the Picnic Lodge Day Visitor Center in a mini bus. It seemed to me that we were going way too fast for the curves we were on but we arrived safely.
This is the Day Visitor Center
The Day Visitor Center is very nice. They have a dining room and outside seating for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They restrooms are also large and clean.
Dining Room Inside the Visitor Center
Mountain Laurel was in bloom everywhere on the Mountain
This is the view of the back side of the Mohonk Mountain House. It is spectacular as you can see. It is also absolutely enormous. There is no way to even get a panorama of the building because it goes on and on.
It is possible to take a carriage ride around the grounds, but we walked.
We decided to take the trail that goes around the lake. It is about nine-tenths of a mile.
You can rent a boat, a kayak and I'm not sure what else. It was quite breezy today and looked like rain or else I might have been interested.
There are nice little places to sit all around the lake and above it on both sides. Visitors are encouraged to relax and enjoy themselves.
Looking back at another view of the Mountain House
Mountain Laurel
The Beach wasn't crowded today as it is a bit blustery.
Some of the trail
We took advantage of this little gazebo as it started to rain before we finished the trail. We joined another couple who were staying in the hotel. They come once a year or so and love it. I said it had to take a lot of people to keep this place in business as it has so many rooms. They told us there really are only about 300 rooms in the hotel and they were full this weekend. It looked to me like they had a 1000 rooms and there were hotel workers everywhere. I can't even imagine how many people they employ! We enjoyed our chat with the couple who lives in Long Island, however, it stopped raining after about 20 minutes so we were back on the path again.
The observation tower - the highest structure on the property - is being renovated so unfortunately, we couldn't go up into it. On a clear day you can see five states from the tower.
Back at the hotel and we wandered around to see the front.
This is the towel depository from the beach which is below us at this point.
The Tennis Courts
Right before we can to the tennis courts, we came across an outdoor buffet which just had so much food, you wouldn't believe it. I can't believe neither of us took any pictures of it. We thought we might have lunch there but for Day Visitors the cost was $55 each. It was included for the hotel guests.
Now we are coming around to the front of the hotel
The Valet is under the little roof behind the gazebo
Views from the front of the hotel of the Catskill Mountains
We wandered on down farther and came to the working area of the hotel.
The Boiler Room
We walked back to the Day Visitors Picnic Lodge and we each got a slice of pizza to fill us up. You could buy by the slice and the pizza was really good.
After a little food and some rest, we headed back out and took the Garden Trail. They have show gardens and a Maze that I wanted to see. My knee wasn't as thrilled with the idea, but it managed to make it to the gardens and back!
Garden Shop
I loved these little glazed ceramic mushrooms!
The Children's Garden
Grassy Couch
This is one of the dormitories for all the college kids that work for the complex. This is one of many of them. There are kids working everywhere, inside and out.
Horse Stables and Museum Barn
The Maze is behind this fence, however, it is an arbovitae and can't be trimmed so there is very little space left to wander inside the maze. It was too confining for me that is for sure!
We're not sure what the bush in the above picture is, but this is a close up of the flower. It is really quite lovely.
Inside the Maze
You can see the Mountain House from the Gardens
It was really a lovely day and we would highly recommend spending a day or more at the Mohonk Mountain House!
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