The area
Ancram is the quiet corner of Columbia County: farms, stone walls, and back roads that most Hudson Valley visitors never find. This is where we actually send guests, grouped by the kind of day it is. Hours were checked in September 2026 — check again before a long drive.
Arrival night
- 11 min
Copake General StoreCopake
Dry goods, produce, and hot sandwiches, salads, and pies to go. It is the closest thing to a grocery store, and it will feed you tonight.
Tue–Wed 9–5, Thu–Sat 9–6, Sun 9–3. Closed Monday.
- 12 min
Church Street Deli & PizzaCopake
A deli that also makes pizza, not a pizzeria. It is the only hot takeout this close, and it is dark on Mondays — which matters if Monday is your arrival night.
Tue–Sun 8 AM–8 PM. Closed Monday.
- 18 min
Hillsdale Fine Wine & SpiritsHillsdale
Buy the wine on the drive in. By the time you have unpacked and lit the fire, it is shut.
Closes 6 PM most nights; opens at noon Sunday and Monday. Sources disagree on the rest — call 518-325-4010.
- 20 min
Herrington'sHillsdale
A real lumberyard with a hardware store attached, on a contractor's schedule. The place for the fuse or fitting you forgot, before four on a weekday.
Mon–Fri 7–4, Sat 7–3. Closed Sunday.
Saturday morning
- 6 min
Ronnybrook Farm StoreAncramdale
The dairy is practically the neighbour. Glass-bottled milk, yogurt, and ice cream from the cows you drove past.
Mon–Fri 9–4, Sat 9–2, Sun 10–2.
- 7 min
Herondale FarmAncramdale
Pasture-raised beef, pork, lamb, and chicken from the farm itself. One open day a week, so the meat run is a Saturday-morning errand.
Farm store Saturdays 9–3, year-round. Online orders with curbside pickup any day.
- 15 min
Chaseholm Farm CreameryPine Plains
Raw milk and their own cheeses, on the honour system. The only stop on this page still open after six.
Self-serve farm store, daily 8 AM–8 PM. Cash box.
- 16 min
Millerton Farmers MarketMillerton
Big enough to replace the grocery run rather than supplement it. Go at ten; the bread goes first.
Saturdays 10–2, 16 May to 28 November 2026, at 6 Dutchess Avenue. A smaller indoor market runs in winter.
- 17 min
Copake Hillsdale Farmers MarketHillsdale, at Roeliff Jansen Park
Smaller and slower than Millerton's. The one to stroll, not the one to plan a meal around.
Saturdays 9–1, 16 May to 21 November 2026.
A long walk, a swim
- 8 min
Harlem Valley Rail Trail, Undermountain Road accessAncram
The trailhead inside the Town of Ancram. Flat, paved, car-free — the cabin's two bicycles were bought for this. It runs from Wassaic to Copake Falls.
Dawn to dusk, year-round. Free. No toilets at this lot.
- 8 min
Lake Taghkanic State ParkAncram
The swimming lake in the same town as the cabin. Kayak and rowboat rentals at the boathouse; a weekday after the gate crowd thins is the day to go.
Swimming at West Beach only: weekends from late May, daily late June to 7 September, 10–6. $10 per car on swim days. East Beach is closed.
- 15 min
Taconic State Park, Copake Falls — Bash Bish FallsCopake Falls
The walk to the 60-foot falls from the New York side is a real ravine trail, not a boardwalk. Boots, not the sandals you wore to the sauna.
Sunrise to sunset, year-round. Ore Pit Pond swimming in summer, 11–7, when lifeguards are on.
- 22 min
Olana State Historic Site, carriage roadsHudson
Five miles of carriage roads around Frederic Church's house, with the river and the Catskills laid out below. Worth the drive at the end of the day even if you never go inside.
Grounds and trails free, daily 8 AM to sunset. House tours are paid, Tue–Sun 10–4 in season, and sell out.
The one nice dinner
- 15 min
Stissing HousePine Plains
The reason people drive to Pine Plains. Reservations open thirty days out and go; take the fireplace room, and know the tavern side is loud on a Saturday.
Thu, Sun, Mon 5–9; Fri–Sat 5–9:30. Closed Tue–Wed.
- 16 min
WillaMillerton
In the old 52 Main space. Small seasonal plates and a smash burger; the room is small, so book a weekend table.
Tue–Thu 5–9; Fri 5–10; Sat lunch 12–3, dinner 4–10. Closed Sun–Mon.
- 23 min
Swoon KitchenbarHudson
The Warren Street table when you want a kitchen rather than a scene. It has been one of Hudson's steady rooms for well over a decade.
Wed–Thu 4–9, Fri 4–10, Sat 12–10, Sun 12–9. Closed Mon–Tue.
- 18 min
Hillsdale HouseHillsdale
The one you can usually walk into on a weeknight. Wood-fired pizza, prime rib on weekends, and a bar that opens at four.
Mon, Thu, Fri kitchen 5–9; Sat 12–9; Sun 12–8. Closed Tue–Wed.
- 16 min
Oakhurst DinerMillerton
Not the nice dinner; the breakfast. Muddy boots and a tired kid get the same welcome as a date. Ronnybrook soft serve.
Thu–Mon 8 AM–8 PM. Closed Tue–Wed.
Rainy day
- 9 min
Hillrock Estate DistilleryAncram
Field-to-glass bourbon and rye, 3.5 miles from the cabin. Book the tour: you watch the barley being floor-malted, which almost no one else in the country still does.
Tours daily 11–5, by reservation only.
- 15 min
Oblong BooksMillerton
Small enough to browse completely in twenty minutes. The right size of errand for an afternoon that is only half rained out.
Daily 10–6.
- 22 min
Warren Street, HudsonHudson
Sixty-odd antique dealers and galleries on one street. Mid-week, half of it is shuttered; go Thursday to Monday.
Most shops Thursday–Monday, roughly 11–5. Many close Tuesday and Wednesday.
- 35 min
Crandell TheatreChatham
A single 446-seat screen showing one film at a time. If it is the film you want, it is the best room for it within an hour.
One screen; showtimes vary. Check the listing before you drive.
- 37 min
Coco's CandyGreat Barrington, MA
The wall-of-licorice shop everyone still calls Robin's Candy; it changed hands and names in late 2025. Pair it with a walk down Main Street.
Mon and Thu–Sun 11–5. Closed Tue–Wed.
With the dog
- 18 min
Roeliff Jansen ParkHillsdale
Easy loop trails through hayfields and a fenced dog run. Signs ban wading in the creek; this is a walk, not a swim.
Dawn to sunset, year-round. Free.
- 14 min
Copake Veterinary HospitalCopake Falls
The area's vet since 1947, AAHA-accredited since 2024. For anything that is not an emergency.
Mon–Fri 8–5, Sat 8–1. Closed Sunday.
- 20 min
Agway, MillertonMillerton
A working farm co-op. Purina, Blue Seal, and Nutrena rather than anything boutique — exactly what you want when you have forgotten the kibble.
Mon–Sat 8–5, Sun 9–3.
Practical
- 5 min
Ancram CITGO (Taconic Mart), Ancram. Daily 5 AM–9 PM.
The only gas in the Town of Ancram, and it closes at nine. After that: Stewart's in Pine Plains or Route 22 near Millerton.
- 22 min
Columbia Memorial Health, Emergency Department, Hudson. 24 hours.
The nearest ER. For anything short of serious, Columbia Memorial's Rapid Care in Copake is closer.
- 45 min
Animal Emergency Clinic of the Hudson Valley, Kingston. Overnight on weeknights (evenings only Wed–Thu); 24 hours Sat–Sun.
The nearest walk-in animal emergency clinic that lists Ancram in its service area. It is a real 45 minutes across the river; treat it as the backup.
- 27 min
Wassaic station, Metro-North Harlem Line, Wassaic. Trains about every two hours off-peak, every half hour at weekday rush. Just over two hours to Grand Central.
The end of the Harlem Line. Doable without a car from Manhattan, but someone has to be driving on this end.
- 23 min
Hudson station, Amtrak, Hudson. Waiting room daily about 5:15 AM–11:30 PM.
About two hours from Penn Station on the Empire Service — the faster rail option from Manhattan proper.
Drive times
- 3.5 miHillrock Estate Distillery, Ancram
- 7 miHarlem Valley Rail Trail — 6–8 miles; the Millerton trailhead is the closest access.
- 15 minPine Plains
- 15 minMillerton
- 25 minCatamount Mountain Resort
- 25 minHudson (and Amtrak)
- 25 minHillsdale
- 25 minRhinebeck
- 30 minRed Hook
- 30 minWassaic (Metro-North)
- 35 minGreat Barrington, MA
- 2 h 5 minNew York City