Recently in Outdoor Fun Category

On Tuesday, September 29, you're invited to a fully supported bike tour in Washington County that will have you exploring the farms and fields of the Battenkill Valley. Participants in this unique "food cycling tour" will learn first hand from local growers and producers what it takes to produce quality wholesome products.

Spoonful Catering's own Susan Quillio will showcase turning farm fresh products into a delicious meal that we will enjoy at the conclusion of the ride. Please visit www.visitbattenkillvalley.com for more details.

Tickets are on sale for Salem's second annual HarvestFest, on Saturday, September 12. Come celebrate the end of the 2009 growing season with local food, music, art and activities for the entire family. Explore the all day HarvestFest Marketplace beginning at 10:00 am or join us for a "Farm to Fork" Dinner and Barn Dance which gets underway at 6:00 pm. All events take place at Salem Art Works on Cary Lane from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. HarvestFest is sponsored by the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce.

The HarvestFest Marketplace is open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and there will be many opportunities to sample the summer's bounty, with local produce and homemade goodies for sale. The natural beauty of southern Washington County has drawn a variety of creative people to the area, and HarvestFest will also showcase the talented residents who live here, with locally made arts and crafts for sale. Visitors can also walk through Salem Art Works' sculpture park and galleries

HarvestFest concludes with a "Farm to Fork" dinner made from locally grown food that begins at 6:00 pm and features the music of three local bands, BlueGrassic Park , Dirty Old Strings and Moe Harrington and the White Chapel Band. Eat and dance to great local music until 10:00 pm. Beer and wine available for purchase.

Admission to the day time activities is free. Dinner is $20 for adults; $6 for children under 12; and free for children under 5. Tickets for music only starting at 8:00 pm are $10. Tickets for the dinner are available at area businesses or can be purchased at farmers markets throughout southern Washington County. For information call Salem Art Works at (518) 854-7674 or visit www.salemnychamber.com.

It's Washington County's own "acoustic sunrise." Every Saturday, starting June 20th, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., visitors and residents alike can shop a local farmer's market while enjoying the acoustic sounds of local entertainers. The Summer Sounds of Salem takes place on Salem's Main Street and is being sponsored by area merchants and the Glens Falls National Bank.

The list of performers includes: Raychel Cuite Trio, Rich Wirsing, Bluegrassic Park, Johnny Hancock, Al & Kathy Bain, Dirty Old Strings, Matt McCabe, Woodchuck's Revenge, Ramblin Jug Stompers, Zuela, and Moe Harrington & White Chapel Band. The final acoustic concert will take place on Saturday, August 29th. The Summer Sounds of Salem is part of the 2009 Journey to Washington County where life is the journey. For more information, please visit www.washingtoncounty.org.

For over a century, the Washington County Fair has been a showcase of ingenuity and innovation. A unique opportunity for the Washington County community to come together to celebrate its agricultural heritage. Best of all, everyone's invited to the Fair Grounds, in Greenwich, August 24th - August 30th, 2009, to experience all of the excitement.

4-H displays, great rides, food, entertainment and more animals than you can imagine. Tractor pulls, a demolition derby, a firefighter show, dog agility demonstrations, and an ATV pull are just a few of the special events that take place on the fairgrounds. Visit the fair's website at www.washingtoncountyfair.com to join the countdown to the fair, to get directions, or just to learn more.

Just a couple of years ago, Golf Digest rated the region that includes Washington County as the second best place to live if you are a golfer. This rating took into consideration the number of courses, the availability of tee times, the affordability of greens fees, and of course the caliber of the courses themselves.

For example, the Kingswood Golf Course, in Hudson Falls, NY, is a beautiful 18-hole championship golf course nestled between the Adirondack Mountains and Vermont's Green Mountains. Kingswood is a superbly conditioned links style course that features bent-grass fairways, rolling hills and grassy knolls. This course itself was rated 4-stars by Golf Digest.

The Pole Valley Players Club, in Hartford, NY, was designed by golf professional Steve Forbes along with on site advice from world renowned architect Geoff Cornish. The course features 30+ sand traps, natural ravines, rivers and ponds, and large greens that average 5,000 square feet. The greens at the Pole Valley Players Club are among the best in the area and the views are spectacular!

The 2009 Tour of the Battenkill cycling race is rapidly approaching on April 18-19.  The event will start and finish in Cambridge, NY. This event is the largest cycling race in North America with 2000+ cyclists and 50,000 spectators expected to witness one of the most challenging and scenic races in the sport of cycling. The race covers 62 miles of Washington County.  

The Villages of Cambridge, Greenwich and Salem and the Hamlet of Shushan will feature Hot Spots - safe interesting places to watch the race.  The hot spots will have race memorabilia, community information, food and beverage for spectators. To learn more about the Tour of the Battenkill go to www.tourofthebattenkill.com .

Sometimes the greatest pleasures come from the simplest things - a clear sky, a cool breeze and the catch of the day, your catch, that is. Washington County offers access to Lake George and Lake Champlain with each offering incredible fishing opportunities year round.

The spectacular views of mountains exploding from the water create the perfect backdrop for the world class smallmouth bass fishing on Champlain and the exhilarating ice-fishing on Lake George. There are also Northern Pike, land-locked salmon and more that have people falling for this place hook, line and sinker.

As they say when in Rome...when in Washington County, snowshoe. Or snowmobile. There are literally hundreds of miles of trails for snowmobiling, the Washington County Association of Snowmobile Clubs not only maintains the trails, they offer a map that allows visitors to connect the dots of their own adventure.

And as far as snowshoeing, between the 446 acre of trails and scenic outlooks at Carter's Pond, the 38 acres at East Bay and the 435 acres facility at Carter Pond Wildlife Management Area, there isn't a fishing, hunting, hiking or trapping itch that you won't get scratched.

If ice fishing is your game there are no less than 21 sites listed with the DEC that can help you get started, right down to the species of fish you can expect to (and legally)  catch.

For leaf peeping you need only set foot, or tire, in Washington County to find an abundance of foliage worthy of gasps and exclaims. The work will be in deciding whether to tour the countryside or take it all in from the charming sidewalks and neighborhoods of the villages in the County.

Orchards boasting entertainment and corn mazes abound throughout the county. Simply plan out your choice of dining or shopping and you're sure to find apple picking and corn maze explorations to complement your itinerary.

There's even the opportunity to wrap in a bit of history at the Moses Vegetable Farm, which once belonged to Grandma Moses herself.