T+L Reports: New York Natural

Sure, there's a fitness center, but who needs it? After a day of rappelling the glacial outcroppings of neighboring 12,000-acre Minnewaska State Park Preserve, guests at Minnewaska Lodge—75 miles north of New York City in Ulster County—are more inclined to put their feet up by the woodstove. Each of the 26 guest rooms offers dramatic views of forest or the Shawangunk Mountains, which have some of the best rock climbing in the Northeast. Central to the lodge is the three-story cathedral-ceilinged great room, decorated with mountainscapes from the colony of photographers and painters who call the Hudson River valley home. At breakfast, the chef—who studied at the nearby Culinary Institute of America—whips up flaky raisin scones and scrumptious carrot-cake squares. Maybe you will need that workout, after all. Minnewaska Lodge, 3116 Rte. 44/55, Gardiner, N.Y.; 845/255-1110; www.minnewaskalodge.com; doubles from $125.