Columbia County has a wealth of attractions for visitors and residents. Catamount Adventure Park (catamounttrees.com) defines itself as an aerial forest adventure and offers 11 courses that include two 2,000 feet zip line courses. The park is open in the summer, fall and spring seasons. The Hudson-Chatham Winery (hudson-chathamwinery.com) has been open since 2007 and features hand-crafted wines, cheeses and desserts. There is an onsite vineyard and guests are offered tours of the facility. Hudson Cruises (hudsoncruises.com) operates a paddle wheeled 120-passenger vessel that travels along the Hudson River as the captain educates guests on the history of the Hudson River Valley.
If you enjoy swimming in natural environments, there are three locations in Columbia County that are recommended for this: Knickerbocker Lake, Lake Taghkanic State Park (nysparks.com) and Taconic State Park (nysparks.com). Boating enthusiasts may launch their watercrafts from Queechy Lake, Lake Taghkanic State Park, Kinderhook Lake, Copake Lake or from Front Street into the Hudson River. You may fish from your boat but a New York State fishing license is required.
Mountain bikers can explore one of the many state forests. There are also several trails for regular bicyclists. Golfers can enjoy several rounds of golf at Undermountain Golf Course (undermountaingolf.com) or Winding Brook Country Club (windingbrookcountryclub.com); both are 18-hole facilities. Birding can be enjoyed at any of the four state forests within Columbia County. Western Riding Stables (westernridingstables.com) offers horseback riding lessons, trail rides and trips. May through October typically offer the best weather for hot air ballooning. There are two companies that offer hot air balloon rides in the region: Float on Air Balloon Company (floatonair.com) and Russ Barber Hot Air Balloon Rides (balloonbedandbreakfast.com).
Columbia County has its own professional orchestra -- Columbia Festival Orchestra (columbiafestivalorchestra.org) -- that performs events year round. Four Nations Ensemble (fournations.org), another group of classically-trained musicians, perform the masterpieces of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Hudson Opera House (hudsonoperahouse.org), Mac-Haydn Theatre (www.machaydntheatre.org), The Chatham Film Club (thechathamfilmclub.com) and the Carrie Haddad Gallery (carriehaddadgallery.com) all host summer events annually.
