This audio edition of John Burroughs’ classic essay, "Pepacton: A Summer Voyage," is the story of Burroughs’ journey down the meandering river he called Pepacton, the name native people gave the stream. Burroughs was in his 40s when he made the trip, on a raft-type craft he fashioned himself, a grown man playing Huck Finn, traveling his personal Mississippi.

This 19th-century Catskills tale is pure Burroughs, filled with the values and ideas that are at his core: simplicity of life, joy in small things, harmony with the natural world, connection with people, and outdoor adventure.

Original 2-disc set, produced in partnership with the John Burroughs' Woodchuck Lodge, is available at Silver Hollow Audio. 

Thousands infected, businesses shuttered, social distancing, and closed schools. In this special, unscheduled episode, listen in on 5 interviews on the pandemic, and how the Catskills are responding. 

• Lissa Harris, reporter for The River Hudson Valley Newsroom

Thanks to our interviewees; stay healthy, everyone.

Produced by Silver Hollow Audio

The Catskills, with its beautiful scenery and quirky towns, offers ready-made backdrops for movies and TV. Add talented local crews and substantial tax credits, and it's no wonder increasing numbers of film and television productions are setting up here. In this episode, we speak with the Hudson Valley Film Commission's Laurent Rejto, and with a local innkeeper whose B&B was a key location for an upcoming film about werewolves. 

Thanks to our sponsors, the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway and the Phoenicia Playhouse.

We tour "the loop," of Routes 25 and 23c, that connects Haines Falls to Tannersville, via the mountaintop. Hear from Cyndi LaPierre and Dede Thorpe on historic homes and the origins of Onteora Park; famed residents like Maude Adams (Peter Pan); visiting the Mountain Top Arboretum; and a church that served as a quarantine during the 1914 influenza epidemic (history certainly does repeat itself).

In 1976, renowned artist Jan Sawka fled communist Poland with his wife Hanna, and baby daughter, also named Hanna. They eventually settled in High Falls, NY, and Jan would draw inspiration for his paintings from the Ashokan Reservoir and Catskills Mountains. We spoke with Jan’s family at an exhibition of his work at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, at SUNY New Paltz.

In this episode, hear from Jon Ham and Bob Gildersleeve about the grand hotels that attracted visitors at the turn of the century, and the trains that got them there. Also... "mutton?!" How one hotel's refusal to serve chicken led to the construction of a famous competitor. 

In this episode, you’ll hear from historian Cyndi LaPierre on the history of the word "Catskills," and if you’re wondering why Kaatscast starts with a “K,” instead of a “C,” this segment should help clear things up. In the second half of the show, we’ll travel to Kaaterskill falls with geologist Bob Titus, who takes us back even further, to when the Catskills felt more like … the Bahamas!

Welcome to Kaatscast –– a biweekly podcast delivering interviews, arts, culture, and history, from New York's Catskill mountains. Please subscribe, and be the first to hear all the great content, from quick interviews with Catskills locals, to full-length audio driving tours and fully-produced audiobooks.

In this first episode, we take you on a tour of the Northern Catskills’ Mountain Cloves Scenic Byway. You can listen anywhere, but for the best experience, it’s designed for a westward drive from Palenville, NY, to Hunter, NY, on Route 23a. This is the main stretch. In future episodes, we’ll post side excursions, so please don’t forget to hit that subscribe button.

In this episode … learn about painter Thomas Cole and the Hudson River School, then we’ll delve into the cottage communities of the late 1800s, with a current Twilight Park resident. From there, we speak with a New York State forester on the history of the Catskill Park.  Then we’re off to Tannersville, to meet the mayor, followed by a chat with Hunter Mountain’s Gary Slutzky.