Town of Hunter ‘formally opposes’ restricting access, virtual public hearing scheduled

In the last ten years, the average total daily traffic on Route 23A in the Town of Hunter has increased by 60-percent. On the weekends, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, pedestrians arrive in droves – up to 3,000 visitors per day! – walking along the steep shoulder of that traffic-filled road, overflowing parking lots and toilet facilities, and going off trail to avoid the crowd, all to catch a glimpse of New York State’s tallest two-tier waterfall, Kaaterskill Falls.

Catskill Park’s Kaaterskill Clove and the Adirondack High Peaks are some of the most highly visited regions in the state, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic sent people upstate and outdoors. The result, though, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), has led to “each location experiencing the compounding effects of traffic and parking congestion, potentially unsafe conditions along busy state highways, crowded trails, summits and other points of interest, and physical degradation of trails and other facilities.”

To help curb the impact to these natural areas, while still offering safe access to the public, a new Visitor Use Management (VUM) report complied by an advisory group offers several recommendations including an advance reservation system with timed-entry passes for visitors during peak season, complete with gates checking for valid passes at three entry checkpoints throughout the Kaaterskill Clove area. In addition to registering in advance, signage to notify daytrippers of the new system on the main roads leading to the falls, and cooperation to limit private parking lots would reduce overall crowding at the site, according to the report.

But local officials in the Town of Hunter say, “restrictive access is not the right solution.”

“Communities like Hunter rely on responsible visitation tied to these public lands,” a letter from the town to the DEC says. “Restricting access to one of the region’s primary destinations will have real consequences for local businesses, jobs and the broader economy.”

“Such a system will not resolve the underlying challenges, but instead shift and intensify them.”

Officials with the DEC say “the release of the report does not signify DEC adoption of the recommendations. The reports represent one set of tools and recommendations that DEC will utilize in future land management decision making.”

A virtual public meeting on the Kaaterskill Clove VUM report will take place on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 6pm. (Join the meeting using this link.) Comments on the report may also be submitted by email to forestpreserve@dec.ny.gov. Deadline for comments is June 1, 2026.

When Franklin Died
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 from 7 to 8pm
Cost of admission: Free with registration required
Virtual
On April 12, 1945, with victory in Europe all but assured, Franklin Roosevelt was felled by a stroke. FDR Library Education Specialist Jeffrey Urbin highlights the events surrounding that sad and historic day. Register

Spring Into Happiness – Laughter Edition
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 1pm
Cost of admission: Free for Dutchess County residents over 60
Wallace Center, FDR Library, Hyde Park
The Dutchess County Office for the Aging will present humorous motivational speaker Charles Marshall. Seating is limited. Sign-up by calling the OFA at 845-486-2555.

Starman Screening & Filmmaker Q&A at RPI
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 from 4:30 to 7pm
Cost of admission: Free
RPI's Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media & Performing Arts Center, 50 8th St, Troy
Academy Award®-nominated director Robert Stone is coming to RPI’s campus for a special screening of his film Starman, followed by a live Q&A. A New York Times Critics Pick documentary, Starman follows the journey through time and space experienced by Gentry Lee, a science-fiction writer and Chief Engineer for Planetary Exploration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The documentary uses stunning visuals and personal storytelling to reflect decades of space exploration, from the Viking and Voyager missions to Lee’s collaborations with Arthur C. Clarke. The event is set against a backdrop of a new era in space exploration and a deep RPI legacy in the field, reflected most recently in NASA’s Artemis II mission around the moon, commanded by RPI alumnus Reid Wiseman ’97. Website

A Night with Steve Earle: A Benefit Concert for Clearwater
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 7pm
Cost of admission: $110
TEMPO Performing Arts Center, 29 Wurts St, Kingston
Join master singer-songwriter Steve Earle for an intimate solo and acoustic concert to benefit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. A protege of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, Steve Earle quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, The Pretenders, and countless others. In 2020, Earle was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. And in 2023, Steve was honored by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music. This concert will benefit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a member-supported nonprofit dedicated to protecting the Hudson River through education, advocacy, sailing, and music, and is a project of the Clearwater Festival. 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of founder Pete Seeger’s first fundraising concerts for the sloop, and the start of Clearwater’s musical heritage that continues to this day. This concert is made possible by the support and partnership of Radio Kingston and TEMPO Performing Arts Center. Website

Virtual Volunteer Information Session
Thursday, April 30, 2026 from 5:30 to 6:30pm
Cost of admission: Free
Virtual
An opportunity to meet the staff of The Olana Partnership and the Olana State Historic Site, ask questions, and learn more about volunteer opportunities. Volunteers welcome visitors and provide basic information, answer questions about Olana and the local community, assist with public educational programs, special events, administrative tasks, and share the history of the rich collections and exhibitions. Register

The Art of Producing
April 30, 2026 from 6-9pm
Cost of admission: $100
10 Main St Suite 501, New Paltz
Join Peter for a 3-hour course on how he got his start, key highlights from his career, the nature of film producing, and the current state of the film industry. Participants are encouraged to watch the films Little Miss Sunshine, The Farewell, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood in advance for added context, but it is not required to fully engage in and enjoy the conversation. He will also discuss the development and production process behind these three films—tracing their journey from initial idea or script to the screen. There will be ample time for questions and discussion. Concessions will be available. Website

Highlights of Hudson Valley Sports History
Thursday, April 30, 2026 from 7 to 8pm
Cost of admission: Free with registration required
Boardman Road Branch Library, Poughkeepsie
Did you know ice yachting on the Hudson River was once a popular pastime? Or that two of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s cousins were champion women’s tennis players? Join ambassadors from the Sports Museum of Dutchess County as they present on the deep history of sports in the Hudson Valley! This discussion highlights sports figures whose careers took root in the local area, including Light Heavyweight Champion boxer Melio Bettina, US men’s national soccer team captain Tyler Adams, and women’s sports trailblazer Patsy “Pat” Zerbe, as well as other generational athletes. A slideshow featuring artifacts from the museum’s collection will accompany the discussion. Presented by Bill Ponte, President, Sports Museum of Dutchess County and Morgan E. Maier, Board Member, Sports Museum of Dutchess County. Registration required. Register

Croton’s Creative Women
On view through April 2026
Croton Free Library, Ottinger Room, Croton-on-Hudson
Website

Walkie Talkie with Us: Historic Rondout Walking Tours - Wurts St. Hike
Friday, May 1, 2026 at 10am
Cost of admission: $10
Hudson River Maritime Museum, 50 Rondout Landing, Kingston
The Hudson River Maritime Museum has announced Walkie Talkie with Us, a new and novel series of educational historic strolls and more vigorous walks in the Kingston Rondout area. Led by an HRMM Educator and avid walker, each 1 -3 mile walk will explore a different neighborhood or street in the Kingston waterfront area (Rondout), uncovering stories behind historic homes and buildings, local landmarks, and the people who shaped Rondout’s past. Walkie Talkie with Us is different from other walking tours that provide a walk/stop/talk format which are generally anaerobic. Walkie Talkie with Us tours maintain a gentle yet continuous pace which are more aerobic, with the Educator turning, walking and talking, to share stories and local historical musings with the group. Two routes will be offered on a rotating monthly basis, including a less strenuous “stroll” and a more rigorous “hike,” which will include the steep incline of Wurts Street. Routes will be chosen for walkability and seating opportunities, ensuring comfort and inclusion for all participants. Register

Rhinebeck Car Show and Swap Meet
May 1-3, 2026
Cost of admission: $18, $30 two-day pass, $40 three-day pass, free for children ages 12 and under
Dutchess County Fairgrounds, Rhinebeck
Saturday’s Rod and Custom Dust Off is devoted to hot rods, street rods, customs, race cars, and compact customs/pickups; Sunday’s show is for unmodified antique and classic vehicles manufactured up to the year 2001. Website

Solaris Solar Powered Tour Boat Season Begins
Friday, May 1, 2026 from 1pm-5pm
Cost of admission: $35
Hudson River Maritime Museum, 50 Rondout Landing, Kingston
Bookings are open for the season! Join the HRMM May 1 through October 31 aboard the first 100-percent solar-powered cruise boat licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard as a passenger vessel Tour aboard the Solaris allow you to enjoy the area's wildlife, historic Hudson River lighthouses and unique views of the Rondout Creek and Hudson River as you glide silently through the water. Tour ranges from Lighthouse Tours & sightseeing lectures to karaoke & birdwatching plus more. All Solaris cruise tickets include free admission to the Hudson River Maritime Museum! Website

Dirt: The Secret Life of Soil Puppet Workshop and Performance
Friday, May 1, 2026 from 4-6pm
Cost of admission: Free
Pershing Park, 49 Pershing Avenue, Poughkeepsie
Where does food “come from” and from what is it made? Here’s a lively primer for urban bumpkins and upcountry gardeners alike. Fusing cutting-edge science and age-old puppetry, DIRT takes audiences on an extravagant journey of discovery into the Great Underneath—revealing the epic alchemy of plants, the fungi’s dance of mutual delight, and the microbes’ herculean labors. Featuring live music and a myriad of puppet figures ranging from 12 inches to 12 feet tall, the show reminds earthly residents of all ages how profoundly essential is the ground beneath their feet. Register

Lesser Mysteries at Opus 40
Friday, May 1, 2026 at 6pm
Opus 40, 356 George Sickle Road, Saugerties
Cost of admission: $44
This spring’s Lesser Mysteries will culminate within Harvey Fite’s monumental stone earthwork at OPUS 40 for an evening of improvised music, shared ritual, and living myth. We can’t think of a more resonant place to explore the questions at the heart of Lesser Mysteries: What is beginning? What wants to be born through us? What are we dreaming into being? The gathering will feature a living score performed by members of Moonraker — whose last concert was more than two decades ago — alongside Hudson Valley duo miyaxx and a constellation of regional artists. Join us beneath the Full Flower Moon to practice the art of bringing the unseen into form — remembering that the world our hearts know is possible begins in community. Website

I Love My Park Day
Saturday, May 2, 2026
Various locations
Participate in beautification events at over 100 state parks, historic site and public lands across New York, from beach clean-ups to trail restoration to native flower plantings and more. Website

Riverkeeper Sweep
Saturday, May 2, 2026
Various locations from NYC to Troy
Help clean up the Hudson River. Find a spot near you: Website

Spy Games
Saturday, May 2, 2026 from 8am to 5pm
Mechanicsville
Cost of admission: $150
Gather clues and solve puzzles in this unique city-wide escape room style event. Gather your team of fellow spies and uncover the plan before it is too late! Locally designed and run, not app based. Please note: Cost is per team (up to 4 people). Registration closes April 22, 2026. There is no on-site registration for this event. Website

Columbia & Greene County Veteran Stand Down
May 2, 2026 from 9am to 1pm
Cost of admission: Free
1 Main Street, Catskill
Join Columbia & Greene County Veterans for a Veteran Standown – support, resources, and good vibes in person!

First Day of Public Tours at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary
Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 10am
Cost of admission: $20
2 Rescue Road, High Falls
Join the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary for the first day of public education tours! Meet some of the rescued residents who call the Sanctuary home, and learn more about the work the organization does. Kid-friendly and private tours also available. Website

I Love My Park Day at Trailside Museums and Zoo
Saturday, May 2, 2026 from 11am to 3pm
Cost of admission: Free
Trailside Museums and Zoo, 3006 Seven Lakes Drive, Bear Mountain
We’re spring cleaning at Trailside Museums & Zoo! Help us get our trails and grounds in tip-top shape for the busy season. We’ll be pulling invasive plants, cleaning up our trails and doing some native planting! All ages welcome, children 15 & under must be accompanied by an adult. Volunteers should bring water in a refillable bottle, sunscreen, sturdy shoes and your favorite work gloves (gloves will be provided for those that don’t bring them). Register

Let's Bike Hudson Valley – Poughkeepsie
May 2, 2026 from 11:30am to 3pm
Cost of admission: Free
Malcolm X Park, 131 Mansion Street, Poughkeepsie
3 river cities. 3 days. 3 amazing rides. Join one (or all!) of these free bike rides and get plugged into the many physical and mental benefits of cycling. Plus: Enjoy free swag, bike tune-ups by Bikeway, demonstrations, and more! Website

Opiod Overdose Response Training
May 2, June 6, August 1, October 3, November 7 and December 5, 2026 from 1-2pm
30 Harriman Drive, Goshen
Learn basic information about opioids and how they work, overdose trends in Orange County, signs of a potential overdose, how to use Narcan spray. Every participant will receive a free Narcan kit. Register

Pete Seeger Birthday Sail
Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 5pm
Cold Spring Pier
A music sail in celebration of Pete’s birthday (May 3) with Lisa Pellegrino of Soil and Soil. Tickets

Hudson Valley Marathon
Sunday, May 3, 2026
Walkway Over the Hudson
1-Mile, 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Marathon; Half Marathon and Marathon runners will compete on USATF-certified courses, with the full marathon serving as a Boston qualifier. Website

After a long, snowy winter and less than spring-like temperatures last week, the sun is starting to feel a bit warmer today, the hummingbirds are starting to make their return and the viburnum outside my office window is now in full bloom, its aroma an overwhelming welcome with the slightest gust of wind.

“It’s the season of emergence. Of noticing what is beginning, and what wants to be born through us,” says Hudson Valley-based artist and composer Kelli Scarr.

After two sold-out performances at the Widow Jane Mine last fall, Scarr calls spring “the perfect container” to explore the collective reemergence, and has been offering events throughout the early weeks of the season to offer ways to reconnect and reorient ourselves through ritual, music and shared experiences. The spring-fed event series, Lesser Mysteries, shaped by Scarr in collaboration with mythologist Dr. Catherine Svehla and ritualist Mary Evelyn Pritchard, will culminate under the Full Moon at Opus 40 on Friday night, as Scarr creates a living score with Moonraker, who hasn’t performed in concert in over two decades.

“It’s not about delivering a message,” Scarr says. “It’s about opening a field. If someone leaves with even a slightly clearer sense of their place within what’s unfolding, that feels important.”

Read more about Lesser Mysteries with our Q+A with Scarr below:

HVNY: Can you tell us a little bit about Lesser Mysteries, and how the spring season plays a role in the work?

Kelli Scarr (KS): Lesser Mysteries is a springtime initiation into a larger cycle of transformation. The name comes from the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were sacred rites in ancient Greece that honored the cycle of life, death, and rebirth through the myth of Demeter and Persephone. In that tradition, initiates first gathered in the spring for the Lesser Mysteries, a time of purification and orientation before entering the deeper ceremonies, the Greater Mysteries, in the fall. This project extends that lineage into the present, asking: What would an Eleusinian Mysteries for our time look like? Spring becomes the perfect container for that question. It’s the season of emergence. Of noticing what is beginning, and what wants to be born through us. Lesser Mysteries invites people to step into these questions together.

HVNY: How do you expect Opus 40 to play a role in the performance?

KS: We really couldn’t imagine a more perfect place. Like Widow Jane, Opus 40 was once a site of extraction that has been transformed, through decades of creative devotion, into a cultural sanctuary. That arc of transformation feels deeply aligned with the heart of this work.

I don’t want to reveal too much, but I will say that Opus 40 is not a backdrop. It’s an active participant in the ritual :)

HVNY: What do you hope to cultivate with the audience during this experience?
KS: A sense of aliveness. And connection. We are living through a moment where many of the structures we’ve relied on are no longer holding. There’s a lot that is ending. And also a lot that is trying to be born.

We take our cue from myth and leave space for people to make their own meaning. It’s not about delivering a message. It’s about opening a field. If someone leaves with even a slightly clearer sense of their place within what’s unfolding, that feels important.

HVNY: Who, do you think, would benefit from exploring Lesser Mysteries?
KS: It would benefit people who are looking for a more communal way to be with what’s happening in their lives and in the world right now. It’s also for anyone who wants to mark the arrival of spring the way our ancestors once did, through music, movement, and shared experience. You don’t need any background in ritual or mythology. Just a willingness to show up with curiosity and participate.

I love to share that my plumber and my yoga teacher were both there last year. We’re creating a space where we remember how not separate we are.

Read our full Q+A with Scarr, and get info on all of this week’s upcoming Lesser Mystery events, including Seeds for a Living Score, an open rehearsal where people can witness the music taking shape before it’s activated at Opus 40, on the website:

Winter is so last season, but before we say buh-bye, vote for your favorite winter photo from your fellow HVNY readers:

• Magnolias and cherry blossoms in full bloom in Valhalla at The Kensico Cemetery. Other special blooms on site include andromeda, camellia, pussy willow, P.J.M rhododendron, American dogwood, crabapples, forsythia, red maple, and eastern redbud serviceberry.

• In Montgomery, early blooms are appearing on lilacs and tulips at Orange County Arboretum, while magnolias and cherry blossoms have finished blooming and are now past peak. In Yonkers, cherry blossoms and lilacs are in full bloom, and early blooms are appearing on magnolias, at Untermyer Gardens Conservancy.

• At Lasdon Public Gardens & Veterans Memorial in Katonah, magnolias, cherry blossoms, and tulips are in full bloom, and early blooms are appearing on lilacs. The Azalea Garden has early blooms at peak and shows a lot of color in buds.

• In New Paltz, cherry blossoms are in full bloom, early blooms are appearing on magnolias and tulips, and lilacs are budding, at Mohonk Mountain House. The Mohonk Tulip Festival takes place through May 11.

• At Clermont State Historic Site in Germantown, saucer magnolias are in full bloom, and early blooms are appearing on lilacs. Also at the site, Alice Livingston's 1930's Wilderness Garden is full of blooms this week, including Thunberg's meadowsweet, American plum, redbuds, and fragrant Korean spice viburnum.

• In Tarrytown, observers at Lyndhurst report that cherry blossoms and lilacs are in full bloom.

• In Kerhonkson, tulips are in full bloom at Kelder’s Farm. The farm is currently hosting the Hudson Valley Tulip Festival, through May 10.

Capture spring around the Hudson Valley and submit your (1) best photo to photos@hvny.info. Original photographs from 2026 only. Please limit any filters/retouching, and include your full name + location, if it’s a public place.