Location: Liberty
Top Things to do in Liberty
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Top 9 Things to do in Liberty, United States
Liberty in United States, from Nouth America region, is best know for Mountains. Discover best things to do in Liberty with beautiful photos and great reviews from traveller around the world here!
Restaurants in Liberty
1. Walnut Mountain Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 15 reviews
Reviewed By mrjoef - Lubbock, Texas
If you happen upon Liberty, New York with surrounding hills exploding in color and are looking for a satisfying way to spend a few hours, find Walnut Mountain Park, enjoy the exercise and take a hike. Although Sullivan County, NY offers the natural beauty of upstate rural countryside intersected by scenic roads, rugged hamlets and villages, there are few places to stop the car, put on a day pack and actually escape into the region’s natural beauty.
Walnut Mountain Park is apparently a local community endeavor located southwest of Liberty, NY on land heavily forested with mature maple, oak and hickory surrounding areas of exposed granite and slate. From a grassy park area containing picnic tables, fireplaces and playground equipment, trails varying in difficulty from steep mountain bike paths to gradual carriage trails lead up into forested terrain, probably 600 or 800 feet to the summit with it’s accompanying views stretching out many miles onto the surrounding countryside. Most of the more than 5 miles of trails are easily identifiable with various colored markers allowing the hiker their choice of length and/or difficulty of exercise. Forested surroundings are natural and superb, the views at the top are well worth the effort.
Pack a lunch. Somehow the good people who designed the park were able to lug picnic tables to the two scenic locations at the top of Walnut Mountain Park. There may be no place around more perfect to share a meal with a friend in a natural setting.
2. The Museum at Bethel Woods
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 424 reviews
Reviewed By RexT - Ottawa, Canada
The idea of visiting the Woodstock site has been in the back of my mind for decades. I am a child of the 60s and that event had a huge impact on me personally. I had initially assumed that a trip there would mean looking at a farmer's field in the middle of nowhere. Boy was I wrong.
On a beautiful sunny October day, we spent 5-6 hours pouring over many state-of-the-art exhibits in this lovely museum which REALLY captures the spirit of "Woodstock" and of the 1960 music scene. It was not busy that day so we felt like we had the place virtually to ourselves.
It was a thrill to walk the hills where the event actually occurred and to visit the monument. My only (minor) complaint is that it would have been nice to somehow mark exactly where the stage was. We had a good general idea, but a flagpole or two might make for a nice addition.
Long story short, I can happily check this off my bucket list. This visit exceeded ALL of my expectations. Kudos to the organizers and administrators!
3. Catskill Art Society Art Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6 reviews
The Catskill Art Society is based in the CAS Arts Center, located in the lovely hamlet of Livingston Manor, NY. Our vibrant, newly expanded 4,500+ square foot multi-disciplinary facility with lots of natural light, loft-like ceilings, and beautiful natural bamboo flooring includes a designated fine arts gallery, a large multi-purpose space, a pottery studio, a painting studio, and two studio classrooms. The CAS Arts Center is wheelchair accessible.
Reviewed By dchemist - Greensburg, Pennsylvania
My spouse and I went to the Catskill Art society to see a photography exhibition od till man Cranes Pt prints. The exhibition was excellent but the Art Center was also excellent. well designed space and pleasant staff Not particularly large. check their website. Well worth a stop if you are passing by on route 17 in New York
4. Grossinger Country Club
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2 reviews
Reviewed By deedee1951 - Chappaqua, New York
Althouth the Grossinger's Hotel is in ruin, the golf course was in excellent condition. It is challenging but fair. Lots of water and traps but not undoable with proper club selection and course management. It is right off rt 17 so an easy 90 minutes from nyc . They are part of the Hudson Valley Calendar golf card with a nice discount. There is a driving range, putting ,sand trap and chipping practice areas.
5. Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 381 reviews
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit cultural organization committed to inspiring expression, creativity, and innovation through the arts. Located at the site of the 1969 Woodstock festival in Bethel, NY., just 90 miles from New York City on a lush campus featuring bucolic countryside views, the center is comprised of the Pavilion Stage amphitheater that accommodates 15,000, an intimate 440-seat indoor Event Gallery, and the award-winning Museum at Bethel Woods. The center offers a diverse selection of popular artists, culturally-rich performances, and educational and community programs that inspire creative expression and civic engagement to enrich the human spirit. Bethel Woods is exemplary in its efforts to engage, inspire and advocate for the accessibility of the arts for all ages and to connect with community partners to broaden programmatic reach and to strengthen support and resources for its activities.
Reviewed By Sicarrie - Hitchin, United Kingdom
I had long wanted to see where Woodstock took place and was able to grab the opportunity on a sunny Wednesday morning in September. We’d allowed ourselves three hours before we needed to head off, which we thought would be plenty of time. To be honest, we could have spent much longer here.
The museum is beautifully done and more comprehensive than expected; starting with the cultural changes in the 1950’s that led to the Woodstock generation and why it happened. It was hugely informative, well laid out and utterly fascinating. I had assumed we’d whistle through ‘a museum about a festival’ in 30 minutes. Wrong. There’s a few short films along the way, so leave plenty of time. The final 20 minute film (about the music) before the exit is excellent. We actually ran out of time to really appreciate the additional exhibition in the additional space below the museum.
A quick trip out to the memorial plaque is a must for a photo, but you get a much better feel for what it could have been like from the top of the field behind the museum. There’s a nice ‘You are here’ picture from 1969 to help you see where you are. We grabbed some lunch from the café and sat out on the grass of the original festival bowl (which is well away from the new venue), looking down to where the stage once was and the lake beyond. Funny how an empty field can be so captivating.
Three hours came and went far too quickly and we needed to be away. I could have stayed sat in that field for the rest of the day. It’s such a beautiful and evocative place – I hope to go back one day. If you have any interest in Woodstock, then this is worth the effort to get to. It really is outstanding given it is just about three days in August nearly fifty years ago.
6. Hurleyville Arts Centre
Overall Ratings
5 based on 1 reviews
Reviewed By Gabriel E - Mongaup Valley, New York
I am so used to travelling to Manhattan to meet Pilar after work and go see some overpriced show…surely enjoyable but indubitably overpriced every time. We’d always get back home to Sullivan County late at night and exhausted from the journey. When rumor of an Art Center in Hurleyville being built started making the rounds I for one was overjoyed. Yes, we already have a wonderful cultural hub here in the form of Bethel Woods and we have enjoyed quite a variety of performances there, but it’s always nice to try something new out. So, last night was it; our first foray into the unknown, analogous to virgins at the Rocky Horror Picture Show, we had no idea what to expect. And if you’ve no idea what I mean by that, well then, go see the Rocky Horror Picture Show!! (Forestburgh Playhouse AND Bethel Woods!)
It was FREEZING and we were disappointed to find that the parking lot was rather dismal in size, and packed to the gills already, half an hour before show time. We easily found parking up the street though, and would not have minded the short trot back were our frostbitten hineys not about to drop off from the cold.
We entered the main hall of the Hurleyville Art Centre, got our tickets at the will call desk, and waited to be let upstairs where the performance was to be. Met our eye doctor there, Dr. Isseks from Liberty and engaged in small talk until it was time. Let me tell you – Hurleyville most certainly hired a brilliant architect to design this building – what a truly spectacular architectural venue it was turning out to be, and built so that EVERYONE, from the fully abled to the physically incapacitated, could enjoy it, and the design incorporations are so subtle that one does not notice unless one is specifically looking. For example, the rest room doors are extra wide yet they are inconspicuous and do NOT have those GLARING “Handicap” signs on them. A significant plus for the otherly abled amongst us, I think. We walked up the main stairs to the second floor, still smelling of fresh paint and new construction, into a lobby where we were met by enormous wooden doors reminiscent of the massive doors to Erebor in The Hobbit, as remembered by Thorin II Oakenshield! Through those doors went we and into an enormous hall, high ceilings towered above and splendid ….crystal snowflake chandeliers (for lack of a better description) hanging high. The first thing which came to mind as I stepped inside was the grand ballroom dance scene from The Sound Of Music.
Ok, enough with the Center and on to the performance. As the title states, we went to see The Dali Quartet and they had with them, Pedro Giraudo, a guest bassist as well as the choreographer Edgar Osorio and his lovely companion, Valerie Levine. They performed a total of ten pieces. I’ve never before reviewed a performance of this nature therefore I think I’ll just share moods and contemplations which I experienced with each piece.
With the very first fiery notes which blazed off the violin strings we were swept into the melancholy then jolted to the tempestuous. This was the String Quartet No. 3 in E Flat Major, 1. Allegro by Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, which set my toes and fingers tapping.
This was followed by a sudden rush of cosmopolitan living…rush rush, breathless and exhausted and ready for that end of day martini…shaken and not stirred, acknowledgments to Pedro Giraudo and his masterful A Octavio Brunetti!
And then…the echoes of a thousand sorrows piercing to the deepest depths of the soul, courtesy of Carlos Almarán and his ballad, La Historia de un Amor (The Story of Love) from the 1956 film Bolero.
Imagine the cruelty of emerging from the above just to be thrown into a cacophony; a dissonance of trivialities; such brazen excitement and frenzy, and with like abruptness one envisions the sun peering through the foggy mountains of a brisk Catskill fall morning whilst enjoying the first steaming espresso of the day on the back deck gazing thoughtfully into the early morning mist. That would be Claude Debussy’s String Quartet in G Minor, Op 10; II. Assez vif et bien rythmè (Fairly lively and well paced.)
This followed by the solemnity of quiet steps through the forest – the sky shimmers – walking deeper and deeper into the dark. Thank you Pedro Giraudo and your touching Con un nudo en la garganta. (With a knot in the throat.)
Imagine this if you will – A boorish, jostling, piercing dissonance subtly congruous. They joust back and forth; the violins versus the viola. A maddening rush. Alberto Ginastera’s String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20: I. Allegro violento ed agitato. (Joy violent and agitated.)
This was followed by the first dance performance of the evening; a delightfully mischievous foray onto the dance floor by Edgar Osorio and Valerie Levine performing their interpretation of Danzon Almendra, a fiery piece by the famed Cuban composer, Abelardito Valdes.
Suddenly and without a moment to recover, we were swept away to a sultry Argentine night and found ourselves swaying to the sound of romance as we were immersed in the exotic tango by Carlos Gardel, El Dia Que Me Quieras (The Day That You Love Me from the 1935 film, Tango.)
After such an experience, the next piece was curiously anti-climactic in a way. A joyful tango through which the two dancers told a story of fiery passion; of a harmonious union, right there in front of us…almost scandalous! La Luciernaga by Jose Dames and Jose Amigo.
The above fulfilled the obligations of the program but the night was not yet over as our artists graced us with one more treat.
La Cumparsita by Julio Iglesias, a fun and energetic tango performed wonderfully by Edgar and Valerie.
So, I ask, where else can one enjoy such an exclusive evening for twenty bucks? Yep – that was it – twenty (20) bucks ($).
After the show, we quickly trotted across the frozen street to The Pickled Owl where it was nice and warm, for coffee and a snack. See the images and drool.
All in All, an extremely enjoyable evening with Pilar and our guest from Kingston, Father Arthur Rojas. The Hurleyville Arts Centre is a beautiful venue with wonderful programming accessible to everyone and I daresay destined to be yet another in the rapidly growing list of Sullivan County “go to” destinations!
7. Catskill Distilling Company
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 56 reviews
Farm Distillery located across the street from the entrance to the Woodstock Museum and the Bethel Performing Arts Center. We make and sell handcrafted Spirits from NY State Farmers products including Peace Vodka, Curious GIn, Wicked White Whiskey, Righteous Bourbon, Defiant Rye Whiskey, Fearless Wheat Whiskey, One and Only Buckwheat and Bosco Monte Vecchio Grappa. Open Weekends and by appointment for tours, tastings and purchases. Tasting Room open for special events and available for private events and features the restored bar from the 1939 Worlds Fair in Queens. Dancing Cat Saloon next door for great local fare and live music and Stray Cat Gallery and Alley Cat Art & Antiques across the street for Woodstock collectibles, arts, local crafts, local history, handmade jewelry, awesome artwork and antiques. Check site for site for add'l info. open times and connections to all of our social media.
Reviewed By nyackgirl47 - Nyack
The Dancing Cat came first, followed by the distillery. They make a lot of great liquors, but the Peace Vodka is my favorite. You can taste at the distillery, and then go next door to the Saloon for a "Summer of 69" made with the Peace Vodka!
8. CD Trips
CD Trips is your common denominator for organized, hassle free and fun trips that give back to the community. We provide opportunities to see baseball, football, broadway, sightseeing locations and the historic scenery of the Hudson Valley. The bus trips, including the 9/11 memorial and museum and other notable attractions originate in Sullivan County NY and pick up along the traveled route.
9. Sonoma Falls
Overall Ratings
4 based on 5 reviews
Sonoma Falls is a beautiful outdoor destination spot in Upstate New York. Enjoy miles of hiking trails, 7 tiers of waterfalls, and fish the stock ponds. We also have a bakery/cafe that serves breakfast and lunch all day. Dine inside or take it outside for a picnic.
Reviewed By Ron G - Saddle Brook, New Jersey
We were looking to do some sightseeing while in the area and saw some advertising for this attraction. It is a little difficult to find and requires driving over an old scary wooden bridge to get to the front gate. Unfortunately, it was closed (during business hours) with no explaination. I am not sure if it is permanently closed, so I would advise you to call before.
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