Adventurous Weekend Itinerary for Tannersville, NY

Planning a trip to Tannersville, New York, and looking for the best things to do?! From gorgeous hikes to scenic breweries, antique shops, and the best cafes and restaurants utilizing local ingredients – there’s something for everyone here!

Living in Connecticut, I love heading west to visit little mountain towns in the Catskills. ⛰

Tannersville, known as “the painted village in the sky” 🧑‍🎨, has the perfect combination of a mountain town feel (surrounded by the Catskill Mountains) with a bustling little Main Street.

Located in Greene County, Tannersville is a small village located in the Town of Hunter in the Catskills.

Main Street is lined with hundred-year-old buildings painted bright, lively colors sporting eye-catching signs and decorative shutters.

The small business district boasts a variety of boutique shops, antique stores, and fantastic restaurants. GreatNorthernCatskills.com

I’ve been through the area a ton from hiking Kaaterskill Falls and chipping away at the Catskill’s 35 mountains above 3,500 feet.

We most recently spent a weekend in Tannersville and outlined below is the perfect itinerary with various ways to spend your time and the best restaurants to choose from/

So let’s get to it!

3-Day Weekend Trip Itinerary for Tannersville, NY!

🗓 Day 1 (Friday) Arrival Hike & Dinner

A short hike upon arrival at the beautiful North-South Lake Campground!

🌲North-South Lake is the biggest and most popular state campground in the Catskill Forest Preserve, offering extraordinary scenic beauty, and historical sites, such as: Alligator Rock, Kaaterskill Falls, and the former site of the Catskill Mountain House. NY State Park Website

After driving in after work on a Friday, we stopped for a short hike at North-South Lake Campground located right in Tannersville to stretch our legs, see some views, and get ready for an exciting weekend ahead!

If you don’t want to hike I still suggest driving in to park and check out the picnic table area and views around the lake.

🥾Hike Option 1:

Artists Rock and Sunset Rock via Escarpment Trail, 2-mile loop, Moderate

At just 2 miles with an elevation of about 350 ft (and estimated to be one hour), this is the perfect hike to do to celebrate your arrival in Tannersville. And it’s even better if you can do it for sunset!

Even if you can’t get there for sunset time you’ll love the views of North and South Lake which you would have seen when you first drive in and park.

🥾Hike Option 2:

Artists Rock, Sunset Rock, and Newman’s Ledge via Mary’s Glen Trail, 6.2-mile loop, Hard

Have more time? Try this 6-mile loop with 790 feet of elevation gain (estimated at 2.5 hours) which, like option 1 above, gives you views from Sunset Rock PLUS the expansive Newman’s Ledge lookout.

Dinner: Mama’s Boy Burgers 🍔🍦 6607 Main St, Tannersville

Nothing says a fun weekend trip like a burger! And not just any burger because I don’t just eat any red meat! 👀(They do have sandwiches, salads, and even vegetarian burgers here!)

Mama’s Boy only uses the best & local ingredients – a special blend of grass-fed, grain-finished, hormone-free Black Angus beef from JFF Farms, a family-run farm just 6 miles away! 😱

And for their ice cream and milkshakes they use ingredients from local creameries.

I recommend eating here night one to acquaint you with the small and wonderful community feel of Tannersville.

🗓 Day 2 (Saturday)

🥾Morning Hike!

Giant Ledge, Moderate to Hard, 3 miles or 6.3 miles

The hike linked above is for Panther Mountain and Giant Ledge. But Giant Ledge (pictured above) is just 1.5 miles into this hike and the ledge faces east toward sunrise!

You can turn around after the views at Giant Ledge making it 3 miles or keep going to Panther Mountain making this a 6.3-mile round trip hike.

With cliffs at Giant Ledge facing east, we took advantage of this premier sunrise spot and got there before the sun came up! 🌅

☕️ Coffee and Breakfast: Pantry on Main, 6022 Main St, Tannersville

I LOVED the lattes and breakfast items at The Pantry in downtown Tannersville.

In addition to full breakfast & lunch menus, they also have takeaway prepared meals, fresh fish, local meats, and other specialty foods!

Their muffins, cookies, and other baked goods are great to get to go here. And of course, the full coffee bar!

You can sit and order or get your food at the counter.

It gets busy on the weekends and there are tables outside for when it’s nice out!

Afternoon Activity Choices ; Breweries, Antiquing, & More

🍺 Breweries

If visiting a brewery is something you’d like to do when visiting Tannersville then you’re in luck with 5 breweries close by! 🍻

We went to West Kill Brewing which is just 20 minutes from downtown Tannersville and it was a whole experience…

With outdoor seating, music, a food truck, and a view of Hunter Mountain – this was a great place to relax and spend some time.

West Kill Brewing, West Kill	21 min from Tannersville	4.8 ⭐️’s on Yelp
Hunter Mountain Brewery, Hunter	4 min from Tannersville	3.4 ⭐️’s
Woodstock Brewing, Phoenicia	21 min from Tannersville	4.8 ⭐️’s
Rip Van Winkle Brewery, Catskill NY	14 min from Tannersville	4.1 ⭐️’s
Old Factory Brewing, Cairo NY	24 min from Tannersville	4.2 ⭐️’s

Go antiquing!

If visiting Tannersville and shopping around for your next treasure is something you enjoy doing, then you’re in luck!

Here’s a list of antique shops in Tannersville:

• Tannersville Antique & Artisan Center, Tannersville (open everyday)
• Mystery Spot Antiques, Phoenicia, (opens in April on Sat + Sunday)
• Hunter Antique Mall & General Store
• Mower’s Saturday Sunday Flea Market, Woodstock (opens in May on Sat + Sunday)
• Shop Little House, Woodstock (closed Tues + Weds)

Shopping 🛍

There are lots of cute shops along Main Street in Tannersville. From local art and sustainable gifts at the Kaaterskill Shoppe to Camp Catskill Ethical Outdoor Shop for all your outdoor adventure needs!

It’s just fun to stroll up and down Main Street and pop into the various stores.

🌯 Tannersville Dining 🥙

Where should you go for a nice meal in Tannersville?!

There are several restaurants to choose from right downtown. We did not eat dinner out and instead got Mexican to go from Pancho Villa’s Mexican Restaurant. (Next time I’d like to try a different spot!)

Below are the highly rated restaurants in Tannersville with the rating from Yelp included so you can make your best choice! 🙂

• Tabla Catskills, Italian & Tapas – 4 ⭐️’s
• Nat’s Mountain House, American – 4.3 ⭐️’s
• Jessie’s Harvest House, New American – 4.5 ⭐️’s
• The Notch, Asian Fusion & Japanese – 4.3 ⭐️’s
• Selena’s Diner, Diner Food – 4.2 ⭐️’s
• Last Chance Tavern AKA Last Chance Antiques & Cheese Cafe, 4.1 ⭐️’s
• Pancho Villa’s Mexican Restaurant, Mexican, 3.7 ⭐️’s

🗓Day 3 (Sunday)

Of course, we had to start this day before we headed home with another sunrise hike!

You can just do this one when you wake up for a morning hike. 🙂

🥾Short Morning Hike: North Point, 3 miles, Moderate

There are two pretty lookouts here at the top of North Point. While it wasn’t the best place to watch the sun come up (there wasn’t a super clear shot facing east) there was a huge ledge with wide-open views facing north.

🥾Another Morning Hike Option: Kaaterskill Falls, 1.6 miles, Moderate

If you haven’t seen New York’s tallest waterfall then this would be a great thing to do when visiting Tannersville, NY, since it’s just outside of town.

If you want to see the falls but want a longer hike, check out the 4.8-mile loop of Kaaterskill Falls and Inspiration Point which has an EXCEPTIONAL view!! Wow.

I loved this hike and would love to do it again someday! Imagine in the fall. 😍🍁

☕️ Morning Coffee & Donuts 🍩

Also, before you hit the road to go home I suggest the highly rated and popular Fred’s Donuts & Good Coffee which even has a drive-up window making it super convenient. (Closed on Wednesdays)

And they’ve got more than just drip coffee here, take your pick from a long menu of speciality lattes like the local maple latte or turmeric latte!

You can even order online which may be a good idea as the line of cars was pretty long when we arrived thinking this would be a quick stop! In fact, they were out of the glazed donuts when we got there at 9am. 😱

That’s it folks, I hope you enjoyed this weekend itinerary for Tannersville, New York!

I hope you have multiple ideas of where you’d like to go and eat. And I hope you’ve been inspired to try one of the nearby hikes, too!

I know you’ll enjoy this small town in the Catskills as much as I did. I know I’d love to go back!

Comment below if you have any suggestions to make this Tannersville guide better or after you visit any of the places above!

Have fun out there!! 🥾🥾

Want more New York road trips that aren’t far from CT?!