After relaxing at the Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery from our last posting, take Little York Road north for a driving expedition full of surprises. Winding through the foothills of Mt. Eve and Mt. Adam, look for the scale model of a church marking a peaceful Lutheran graveyard, and just beyond on the left, a roadside cemetery with stones from the 1800s.
Turn left at Mt. Eve Road and prepare to be transported into a veritable Eden--is it California? Spain? Italy? Welcome to the agricultural paradise known as the Black Dirt Region. A far-reaching flat plain rolling up into gentle hills, this was a glacial lake from 12,000 years ago.
Then the waters receded, leaving up to 12 feet of jet-black organic decay. Reclaimed by Irish, Polish, German and Italian immigrants, these "drowned lands" now support a major onion crop, along with carrots, lettuce, corn, and as we happily discovered, pick-your-own strawberries.
We love hikes--we love big payoffs on hikes even more, and this is one of the best. To reach the trailhead, take County Road 16 off Route 23A in Tannersville, NY, then follow Elka Park Road as it turns to dirt and then park just beyond Roaring Kill bridge. Follow the trail and then go left at the first trail junction. A couple of moderately easy miles up delivers you to the spiritual collection of chairs, thrones, tables and structures built by persons unknown from the remnants of an old bluestone quarry. The views are outstanding, and for an afternoon, anybody can be can king, queen--or in this case, prince of the Catskills. 
For cooling off, Pine Hill Lake at the foot of Belleayre Mountain off Route 28 is just a leap away.
