North-South Lake
| North-South Lake | |
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View from Sunset Rocks
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| Location | Greene County, New York |
| Coordinates | 42°11′56.87″N 74°2′27.86″W / 42.1991306°N 74.0410722°WCoordinates: 42°11′56.87″N 74°2′27.86″W / 42.1991306°N 74.0410722°W |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 83 acres (34 ha) |
| Average depth | 5.6 ft (1.7 m) |
North–South Lake is an 1,100-acre (4.4 km²) state campground in the Catskill Forest Preserve near Palenville, New York operated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation near the site of the historic Catskill Mountain House overlooking the Hudson River. The escarpment on which the lakes are located is at 2,250 feet (685.8 m), 1,700 feet (518 m) above the valley floor, providing a view of five states in clear weather.
The area is rich in history. It was a favorite subject of painters in the Hudson River school, particularly Thomas Cole. For a long time, the prestigious resort hotels in the area made it synonymous with the Catskills.
Today, the area provides hiking, swimming, boating (no motors), and fishing.
The North–South Lake area is not only the beginning of the recreational history of the Catskills, but "America's First Wilderness."
This goes back to the years before the Revolution, to 1753, when early naturalist John Bartram visited the area with his son to collect samples of balsam fir, which was sought for its alleged medicinal properties. While the seedlings he gathered failed to flourish in Britain when replanted by his patrons, his account of the expedition, "A Journey to Ye Cat Skill Mountains with Billy," became popular in the colonies and in Britain.
In the early years of the 19th century, American artists seeking a subject matter unique to the new nation were drawn away from New York City and up the Hudson Valley. There they focused on the wildness of the landscape where mountains drew close to the river, first in the Hudson Highlands and then, further north, the Catskill Escarpment, where mountains rise to nearly 4,000 feet (1219 m) from a flat valley floor. Their work was known, at first derisively, as the Hudson River School and eventually became America's first homegrown artistic movement.
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Wikipedia