Get out on the water with some kayaking, canoeing, or stand-up paddleboarding from The Chestnut Inn’s 400 feet of shoreline along Oquaga Lake. Nestled at the foot of the Catskills, this serene private lake is the ideal place to watch the sun rise or set over the trees. Alternatively, for those hoping to cool off during the sweltering summer months, it also offers excellent swimming. Oquaga Lake is so postcard-perfect, in fact, that it even served as a backdrop for scenes from the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, when the titular character and her family spend a summer in the Catskill Mountains.

Enjoy a bit of old-fashioned fun and some friendly competition with a game of cornhole. Available at The Chestnut Inn for guests to play, this wholesome lawn game offers guests the perfect opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends while reveling in the area’s abundant natural beauty.

Embark on a day trip to visit the cradle of American art. Glimpsed by British expatriate Thomas Cole as he traveled by steamship up the Hudson River in the autumn of 1825, the pastoral landscapes of the Catskills and other mountains in the area were the muses behind the country’s first artistic movement: the Hudson River School. Today, travelers can be inspired by the same majestic vistas that launched the mid-19th-century art movement with a trip along the Hudson River School Art Trail. Not only can art enthusiasts visit Cedar Grove, the former home and studio of Thomas Cole in Catskill, New York, but they can also retrace the footsteps (and brushstrokes) of some of the movement’s most famous artists and paintings. The Trail begins at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, roughly a two-and-a-half-hour drive from The Chestnut Inn.