A Saturday in the Sullivan Catskills

The western frontier of the Catskills is trout country — the Beaverkill and the Willowemoc, the streams where American dry fly fishing was born, winding past hamlets that have quietly become some of the most food- and arts-forward small towns in the region. Add the Delaware River, a deep bench of breweries and distilleries built into old firehouses, and one of the most striking cideries in the country, and Sullivan County makes for a rich, scenic day. Here's a loop along the Livingston Manor–Roscoe–Callicoon corridor, with the Delaware River and the Woodstock site waiting at the edges.

Morning — Livingston Manor and the birthplace of fly fishing

Start in Livingston Manor, a creekside hamlet that's become a genuine destination for food and the outdoors. On the banks of the Willowemoc, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum is the world's largest center devoted to the sport — the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame, a bamboo rod-making workshop, casting fields, and two miles of trails on 53 acres. Even if you've never held a rod, it's a lovely, only-here kind of stop. Just up the road, the DEC Catskill Hatchery sits between the Beaverkill and the Willowemoc and is free to visit, with viewing areas and self-guided grounds.

If it's Sunday, the Livingston Manor Farmers Market sets up on the front lawn in the heart of the hamlet, May through October.

Late morning — a brewery on a mountain

Livingston Manor has two of the best breweries in the Catskills. Upward Brewing sits on a 120-acre nature preserve called Beer Mountain, with hiking trails, mountain views, a pondside fire, and beer made from the preserve's own spring water (its BaseCamp LagerBier took a World Beer Cup silver). In town, Catskill Brewery is a LEED-Gold microbrewery named Best Craft Brewery in the Hudson Valley at the 2025 Tap NY competition, with a taproom and beer garden. Either makes a great mid-morning stretch.

Midday — Roscoe, "Trout Town USA"

A short drive brings you to Roscoe, where the Beaverkill and Willowemoc meet at the famous Junction Pool. Lunch at Roscoe Beer Company, home of the Trout Town line in a converted firehouse with a seasonal beer garden and live music. Right downtown, Prohibition Distillery occupies a 1929 firehouse and VFW hall, making the award-winning Bootlegger 21 vodka, gin, and bourbon, with tastings daily.

Afternoon — Callicoon on the Delaware

Head west to Callicoon, a handsome hamlet right on the Delaware River. The showpiece here is Seminary Hill Orchard & Cidery — the world's first Passive House-certified cidery, clad in larch reclaimed from the old Tappan Zee Bridge, with a cathedral-ceilinged tasting room, an orchard-to-table restaurant, and a wraparound patio looking over the orchard and the Delaware Valley. It's worth the trip on its own. In the village, Callicoon Brewing pours ten taps in the 1880s Olympia Hotel overlooking the river, and Catskill Provisions makes its well-known honey whiskey in another former firehouse.

For provisions, Callicoon is farm-rich: Diehl Homestead Farm is a fourth-generation market open daily (maple, honey, dairy, eggs, meat, garlic), and Tonjes Farm Dairy is an eighth-generation raw-milk creamery making farmstead Gouda, yogurt, kefir, and fresh mozzarella.

If you've got more time

• The Bethel arm — Woodstock history. Catskill Distilling Company in Bethel makes Peace Vodka directly across the road from the original 1969 Woodstock site — now the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, with its excellent museum and summer concerts. The tasting room has an original art deco bar from the 1939 World's Fair.
• The Delaware River. Lander's River Trips has outfitted rafting, kayaking, and tubing on the Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River since 1955 — calm flatwater and a little whitewater at Skinner's Falls, with bald eagles overhead.
• Narrowsburg. One of the most creative small towns in the Catskills, with a Saturday market above the Delaware and the Catskills Curated maker collective for Catskills-made goods.
• Birding and a glass of wine. The Bashakill Wildlife Management Area near Wurtsboro is the largest freshwater wetland south of the Adirondacks, with flat towpath trails; nearby Bashakill Vineyards pours organic wines. (Note: Aaron Burr Cider, one of the most influential wild-apple cideries in America, is based nearby but has no public tasting room — worth knowing, not a drop-in.)
• Fiber farms. Rosehaven Alpacas & Fiber Mill and Tonjes Farm Sheep & Fiber, both near Callicoon, sell yarn from their own animals.

A few practical notes

The producer-only Sunday markets in Callicoon and Livingston Manor are highlights if your timing lines up — both are seasonal. Seminary Hill's restaurant and Upward's kitchen are destinations in themselves, so consider reserving on busy weekends. The fly-fishing museum is open Friday through Monday, April through December. As always with the breweries and distilleries clustered here, bring a designated driver. And cell service gets thin out along the Delaware, so download your route first.

The full Sullivan Catskills lineup is on the Almanac: Sullivan County craft beverages and markets.

Trout streams, a river, the best cidery view in the Catskills — one very good Saturday.