New Life For Abandoned Zoo-The Old Catskill Game Farm

UPDATE as of 2/5/21 statement release from the Old Catskill Game Farm:

After the closure of The Catskill Game Farm in 2006, the property remained vacant until 2012 when it was purchased by Ben and Cathy Ballone. During their 8 years of ownership they implemented self-guided tours for those wishing to visit the property, as well as established and maintained four TENTRR glamping sites for guests to experience the outdoors while enjoying comfortable surroundings. Eventually they were able to pursue their longtime dream of renovating the existing giraffe barn to create the Long Neck Inn. Opening in 2019, the Inn proved to be the missing piece for the historic property and operated under the supervision of Cathy until the sale of The Old Game Farm and Long Neck Inn to Sidney Blauner in November 2020.

The future of The Old Catskill Game Farm is bright, with Mr. Blauner planning to provide more adventurous activities to guests, such as mountain biking, archery and miniature golf, in addition to the upscale accommodations currently offered.  Plans are also in the works to provide a relaxing mountain home for a litany of animal life, including horses, peacocks, poultry and bovines.

Mr. Blauner is intent on continuing the Lindemann’s legacy, as well as preserving this hallmark of midcentury American attractions. The opportunity to witness nature reclaiming a property that was once so abundant with life—both human and animal– is inspiring and encourages the new owners to recreate a sense of wonder and excitement for future guests.

Staff:

The Old Catskill Game Farm is able to boast not only an impressive property with beautifully upscale accommodations coupled with top-notch hospitality, but also a talented and hardworking staff to compliment it. The staff includes two Paul Smith’s Collegegraduates, Ian Palmateer (’07 ORM) as on site Head of Security for The Old Catskill Game Farm and Inn, as well as Kristin (Bell) Forster (’05 HRM) as Administrative Assistant/Guest Relations. The housekeeping department is headed by Starlyn Palmateer, who is assisted by Iris Nusom.  Starlyn and Iris go above and beyond to provide guests with an unmatched level of cleanliness and hospitality during their stay.

The Old Catskill Game Farm Inn is spearheaded by Moshe Toledo, who acts as both General Manager and live-in Innkeeper. He has continued the Inn’s tradition of offering guests a warm and friendly welcome, as well as working hard to provide a relaxed and inviting environment throughout the duration of their stay. 

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Original Post-

The Old Catskill Game Farm is currently offering a chance to walk the abandoned zoo. If you are brave, you can even rent a tent site through tentrr.com or stay in the old Giraffe house that has been converted into an awesome place to spend the night. However, our family picked the self-guided tour and it’s an awesome experience.

Getting to the Old Game Farm-

It’s fairly straight forward following the directions to get to the location. Just don’t turn into Bailiwick Animal Sanctuary. In order to reach the Old Catskill Game Farm, keep driving down the road. It feels as if you are driving forever. However, eventually, a sign on the left will appear. Follow the road and park in the lot. Walk the road up to where self-guided tours begin and check-in.

What to Expect at the Zoo-

You need to register in advance and must wear your mask when social distancing isn’t possible. Many people kept them on the whole entire time they were there.

A lady will give a quick speech about the rules on the tour and what to expect. The key take away points I got were as follows-

• There are over 100 buildings/structures

• a friendly dog roams the property

• don’t go in buildings that are locked or boarded-up

• Be mindful if you open a door to close it on the way out so that animals have a harder time getting into the building.

• Don’t take anything off the property or bring it to the people running the farm to show them that you found something cool. Everything has its own place.

And What Abby Girl Suggests-

• Prepare yourself for anything. Will explain later in the post.

• Wear sensible shoes. Even boots.

• Bring a flashlight or make sure you have one on your phone

• Be ready to wander for miles. I’m usually on it with recording miles and completely forgot until the last section. That alone recorded at just over a mile. I’m guessing we walked at least 4 miles total!

• Watch out for nettles. A nettle rash is unpleasant. In fact, if it isn’t too hot, we suggest pants.

• bring water

• Watch where you walk. Remember, this is an abandoned place.

WATCH THE VIDEO!

The Unexplained and Paranormal-

We went on a nice sunny, warm day. It wasn’t exactly the backdrop for paranormal and unexplained experiences. Yet, they happened.

The Faded Pictures-

We were going from building to building. As we walked along the path, my husband stopped at a window and looked white as a ghost. He is not easily spooked and hard to convince of unexplained/paranormal experiences. He called me over and we stood there staring because in the window the two faded photos from long ago. The two faded photos displaying an image of a little girl who looked exactly the same as our daughter. This is after, ours was way too comfortable frolicking the grounds as if she had been there before. Abby, age 4.5, also randomly blurted out that this person could be dead. Eerie words coming from a child’s mouth.

The Dancing Trees-

We were curious. So we followed the edge of an animal enclosure up to a wooded path. It was different than many of the other wide open and paved paths. This was a forest trail and a lot of uphill following along the backside of the animal enclosures. It eventually stopped with a hunting camp to the right side of us.

As we followed the path back down. One single tree branch started shaking. It didn’t shake as if the wind was doing it. This was more like a hand was on it and was moving it up and down. It also wasn’t going at the speed of the branch in front of it. It then stopped and we see the same thing happen to the next tree that was to the side of us. As I turned around myself, the rest of the woods was oddly still. No wind at all was going through the woods. You can see some of it on the video posted to our Youtube channel. However, the video doesn’t even show what we saw. So weird.

The Strange Smell

After the tree experience, we stopped in our tracks to this sour smell that we cannot explain. We have no idea what it could have been and it faded away as fast as it came to us.

The Baby Carriage-

One of the last buildings we entered, there was a baby carriage at the very end of the building. I told Abby to go stand by it so I could take a picture. She absolutely lost it. This is a kid that just got done exploring some creepy, dark places with no fear. She was screaming and beyond terrified. Then minutes later, she crept over to it and peered in.

Overall Vibe-

Perhaps it’s just the overall vibe. However, you can’t help but feel as if you are not alone when you are wandering the grounds. Many buildings, it looks as if everyone just vanished. A chair sitting in a corner. A shovel propped up or a feed bucket just sitting right where it had always been.

Some more points-

• We saw our first porcupine! So you still might see some animals roaming the property.

• The suggested donation is $20 and no professional camera. They prefer a higher suggested donation or taking the photography tour if you want to use a better camera.

The Old Game Farm History

The Catskill Game farm opened in the early 1930s and shuttered its doors in 2006. It holds many memories for many people. My husband went as a child as well as several of my friends.

It originally only had a few types of more ordinary animals. However, in the late 1950s, the US Department of Agriculture recognized it as a zoo and more exotic type animals were allowed. It was the first privately owned zoo to reach this merit. When it closed, there were around 2000 animals on the property with approximately 150 species! It was also home to the famous April the Giraffe. Read More.

Final Thoughts

The Old Game Farm is an awesome place to go visit for all those explorers and adventurers at heart. So go spend the day at the Old Game Farm and be prepared for anything to happen whether it is a branch waving hello or a porcupine popping out of an abandoned structure.

Want more places with interesting vibes ? Read this post!

Three Hudson Valley Hikes with Odd Vibes

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