New York's Four Season Nature Theme Park
Belleayre Mountain isn't just for skiing. It's aptly called Nature's Theme Park featuring a multitude of activities year-round, with swimming, fishing and boating at the Pine Hill Lake, camping and hiking in the adjacent Big Indian Forever Wild Forest, chair-rides to the top of the mountain for glorious views of the surrounding Catskill Mountains and a wide variety of concerts presented by the Belleayre Conservatory. Visit Belleayre Mountain's Summer links page for more details!
New York's Winter Snow Park
Belleayre Mountain, New York's Winter Snow Park, is owned by the State of New York and operated by the Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). It is located on 2,193 acres in the heart of the Catskill Mountain Forest Preserve on land designated as "forever wild". Having the highest skiing elevation in the region, and a perfect northeastern exposure, Belleayre boasts the best possible natural snow coverage. With 96% snowmaking, state-of-the-art grooming and its expert veteran staff, the resort is often the first Catskills' area to open and the last one to close.
Belleayre Mountain is located in Highmount, NY 35 miles west of Kingston via Route 28, 2 hour from Albany and 3 hours from NYC. Full Moon Resort is right "around the corner" about 10 miles from the ski center.
Belleayre has been rated "the number three value among the best ski areas in the East" (Ski magazine, Nov., 2000) and is recognized as "the best place to learn to ski in the East" (Skiing magazine).
In State Fiscal Year 1997-98 a capital improvement program was initiated by Governor George Pataki for a series of enhancements to be made at Belleayre Mountain. By 2004, than $8 million had been invested for major improvements at the Ski Center, including construction of two new super-quad chair lifts; the addition of more than 3 miles of new trails and terrain; construction of the new Longhouse Lodge; additional parking; and $1.5 million in upgrades to the water and septic system. 
In 2001, the ski center officially dedicated the Dot Nebel Trail, a double-black-diamond expert trail named for Dorothy "Dot" Nebel, the Olympian skier who helped design the original trails at Belleayre and served as the director of the Belleayre Mountain Ski School for 17 years. In addition, a new parking lot was constructed at the base of the Tomahawk chairlift which provides parking for 450 cars to accommodate skiers utilizing Belleayre's upper western trails. More recently, a bigger and better half-pipe was added and the terrain park was expanded and relocated. Belleayre Mountain is once again proving to be the front door to the Catskill Forest preserve, with innovative new programs, such as the winter Interpretive Trail, that redefine the traditional role of the ski area. In 2007, the Super Chef lift became a high speed detachable quad
capable of getting to the top of the mountain in 5 minutes. In progress is a $10 million facelift of Belleayre's baselodge, the Discovery Lodge, slated for completion by winter 2009
Interactive Belleayre Mountain Trail Map >
Belleayre offers a number of special programs throughout the winter season, including:"Just for Kids" Learning Circle
and "KidsCamp" programs, which offers full-day clinics with low student-instructor ratios for children aged 4-12 (skiing lessons) and 7-12 (snowboard lessons) and seasonal programs such as the Alpine Development, a new Freestyle program, NASTAR, and Adult Weekend and Midweek Workshops as well as special Women's Seminars, group and private clinics (skiing, snowboarding, telemark skiing, and x-country).
From its origin as a ski center with five trails, a single summit lodge, an electrically-powered rope tow and the first chair lift in New York State, Belleayre now has 77 trails,
parks and glades, eight lifts, and four lodges. In 2000, Belleayre Ski Center unveiled the "Beast of Belleayre," a tank-like skier transport vehicle that provides expert skiers with access to the adventurous terrain of Cathedral Brook trail in the Glen. The mountain has an elevation of 3,429 feet, a vertical drop of 1,404 feet and more than 171 skiable acres, including the 2.27-mile-long Roaring Brook trail, the longest, skiable trail in the Catskill range. Belleayre also has 9 kilometers of cross country skiing trails. Ski conditions at Belleayre can be checked daily via the internet at www.Belleayre.com or by calling the ski center at 845-254-5600.
Summer 2008!
Belleayre Conservatory Music Festival
The Belleayre Conservatory, a not-for-profit arts organization, was founded in 1992 with the mission to present, promote and support cultural programs that will encourage the use of Belleayre Mountain as a vital resource for our Catskill region.
The conservatory is committed to presenting celebrated artists from all over the world in this beautiful, unspoiled mountain arena, only two-and-one-half hours from New York City.
Visit the Music Festival website for the complete 2008 event listings.
The summer 2006 performers included such greats as Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Larry Gaitlin, Roseanne Cash,and Brandford Marsalis. Also featured this year was the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and "Skate & Break"! The Urban Funk Dance Spectacular.
The 2007 schedule included such reknown artists as Dr. John, Roberta Flack, Dianne Reeves and Los Lobos.
Please note that the Belleayre Conservatory is not under the direction of the NYSDEC.
Visit the Belleayre Mountain Home Page >
Full Moon Resort Home Page >
Full Moon Resort Winter Sports page >