North-South Lake

North-South Lake is not a lakefront-living market, and this guide says so up front. The lake — two shallow basins in the Catskill Forest Preserve — is DEC public land run as North-South Lake Campground: 219 sites across seven loops, two lifeguarded beaches, a non-motorized boat concession. No marina, no camps-and-estates ring, no restaurant with its name on the water. What it has instead is proximity — the closest true mountain-lake experience to New York City, a two-and-a-half to three-hour drive, making it a weekend-carload destination the way the Adirondacks serve Boston. The identity is hiking, not boating — Sunset Rock and Boulder Rock deliver the Hudson River School views that predate the Catskill Mountain House (1823–1963, gateposts only remain). Kaaterskill Falls, one of New York's tallest waterfalls, sits a mile beyond — genuinely dangerous off-trail, worth taking seriously rather than treating as a photo op. Down the mountain, Tannersville and Hunter carry the restaurants, coffee, breweries, and the actual short-term rental inventory this platform connects to — ten to fifteen minutes from the campground gate. Come for the trailheads and the drive-up convenience; stay in town for dinner.