Next to the West Shokan post office, at 4075 Route 28A, the counter starts serving at 6:30 on weekday mornings. Hudson Valley One describes the building as the hamlet's only general store in the early twentieth century, back when the Ashokan Reservoir was being built. It has since gone by Skin's Place, the American General Store, the Good Stuff Cafe and Country Store, and most recently Marty's Mercantile. Since this summer it has been Good Friend Cafe and Market, run by Jeremy and Marta Baumann. The couple moved to West Shokan in 2023 after years in New York City. The Overlook reported the grand opening on July 4.
The store matters this month because of timing. Along the Route 28 corridor, the dated fall events are packed into the next two weeks. After October 18, the calendar has nothing confirmed until a Pine Hill reopening that two official sources date differently. Most fall guides skip that stretch. It is when the year-round places on the corridor carry the season by themselves.
The mountain's season ends next Sunday
Belleayre Mountain's Fall Festival runs over two weekends, and the first one is this weekend. The dates are October 3, 4, 10 and 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission and parking are free. The mountain promises dozens of food, beverage and craft vendors from the Catskills and Hudson Valley, live music all day, and lawn games and pumpkin decorating for kids. Belleayre calls it the "official send-off to the summer season" and the "official pre-winter get together." Brews & Views runs on the same four days, with tastings of local craft beer and cider.
The Catskill Thunder Gondola ends with it. The 2026 autumn schedule is weekends only, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., from September 7 through October 11, and it depends on the weather. No November public events appeared on the mountain's calendar. The 2026–27 ski opening day is listed as "TBD," pending weather, conditions and snowmaking. After October 11, the mountain itself goes quiet for an open-ended stretch.
October 18 asks you to pick one
The corridor's last big date falls one week later, and it lands on a crowded Sunday for Ulster County.
The Ashokan Rail Trail 7th Anniversary Walk and Ride runs from noon to 3 p.m. at the Boiceville Trailhead, 5080 NY-28A in Olive. The county's program is short and specific:
- 1 p.m. Celebratory remarks
- 2 p.m. Group ride for bikers, handbikers, unicyclists and more
- 2:05 p.m. Group ramble for walkers, trackchair users and more
Witch Butter plays Appalachian music, and Little Rye Bakehouse brings pumpkin pie and festive drinks. The event is free, but the county asks people to reserve a spot through Eventbrite. Parking is at Onteora High School, and cyclists are encouraged to ride in from other trailheads. That last detail fits a trail with more than one way in. The Boiceville lot will be the busy end that afternoon.
Two other events compete for the same day. The 29th Annual Rosendale International Pickle Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ulster County Fairgrounds, 249 Libertyville Road in New Paltz. The Woodstock Film Festival also wraps up that day. It runs Wednesday, October 14, through Sunday, October 18, at venues that include the Woodstock Playhouse on Mill Hill Road and the Rosendale Theatre at 408 Main St. From western Ulster, the pickle festival is a trip across the county. The rail trail event is a few miles up 28A from West Shokan. It is also the only one of the three that costs nothing and runs just three hours, so a Sunday morning screening in Woodstock and an afternoon walk in Boiceville can both fit.
What carries the corridor after the 18th
Once the dated events are over, two places along 28A keep regular schedules regardless of what's on the calendar.
The first is the trail. Ulster County lists the Ashokan Rail Trail as open year-round. The anniversary event celebrates a trail people can use any day. Late October and early November, after the festivals and before ski season has a date, are when that matters most.
The second is Good Friend, and its hours are set up for exactly this kind of off-season week. Per Hudson Valley One:
| Days | What's open | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday–Sunday | Full breakfast | From 6:30 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. on weekends, until 1 p.m. |
| Thursday–Sunday | Market and counter drinks | Until 4 p.m. |
| Monday–Wednesday | Market and drink counter, no full breakfast menu | Not specified |
A front porch snack shack sells grab-and-go items. The menu is mostly biscuit sandwiches. A classic or herb biscuit with egg and cheese costs $7, and $9 with bacon or sausage. The $12 chef's special is egg, cheese and bacon on a sourdough English muffin with fresh greens and sweet pepper jam. The bakery case has biscuits, cinnamon rolls and English muffins, and the drinks run to hot and iced coffee, tea and lemonade.
The schedule fits the trail calendar. Thursday through Sunday, breakfast is over by 1 p.m. and the market stays open until 4. A morning walk out of the Boiceville trailhead and a stop in West Shokan fit in the same few hours, and the market is still open on Mondays through Wednesdays when the breakfast menu is not.
The next thing in Pine Hill has no firm date
Farther west on Route 28, the corridor's next opening is real but not yet scheduled.
Foster Supply Hospitality runs The Arnold House, Hemlock Neversink, Kenoza Hall and The DeBruce. It has bought The Belleayre Lodge and the Pine Hill Arms, two long-running Pine Hill properties that face each other across the road. The Pine Hill Arms is at 288 Main St. In January, The Overlook reported the sale as still under contract with renovations waiting on the closing. That status changed when Hudson Valley magazine reported the purchase complete in September.
Here is what's planned, according to Hudson Valley magazine's September 22 report:
- The restaurant. The former Pine Hill Arms space will serve "elevated all-American comfort food with alpine classics."
- The look. Mid-century, with a clean but cozy cabin feel, earthy colors and retro touches.
- The lodging. Thirteen places to stay, including standalone cabins and Airstreams, plus a wellness area built around a large barrel sauna cantilevered over a deck with mountain views.
- Later phases. More rooms on the second and third floors of the restaurant building.
The lodge's own site says the Pine Hill Arms will reopen as a restaurant for lodge guests and the local community. Ulster County Tourism describes it the same way. For people who live on the corridor, that public restaurant is the part of the project that matters.
The opening date is less settled. Ulster County Tourism says the lodge will "officially reopen in October 2026." Hudson Valley magazine says both properties are "poised to reopen in November." The lodge's homepage says only "Coming Fall 2026" and gives no day. As of October 4, none of these sources confirms that either building has opened. The reopening falls somewhere in the same open-ended window as Belleayre's ski opening. If it comes in November, the Pine Hill Arms would be the first new place to eat at the western end of the corridor after the gondola stops.
Hudson Valley magazine's suggestion for a Pine Hill visit is the Giant Ledge hike in Big Indian, about 15 minutes away. It describes the hike as moderately challenging at 3.2 miles and calls the view one of the best in the Catskills. That hike, the rail trail and the West Shokan counter don't depend on any calendar. They are what the corridor offers between October 18 and whenever the Pine Hill Arms and the lifts open.
The dates on one list
- October 10–11: Belleayre Fall Festival and Brews & Views, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Catskill Thunder Gondola's autumn season ends October 11, weather permitting.
- October 14–18: Woodstock Film Festival, including screenings at the Woodstock Playhouse and the Rosendale Theatre.
- October 18: Ashokan Rail Trail anniversary, noon to 3 p.m. in Boiceville, free with reservation. The Rosendale International Pickle Festival runs the same day in New Paltz, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Thursday through Sunday, every week: Breakfast at Good Friend in West Shokan until 1 p.m., with the market open until 4.
- Fall 2026, no confirmed day: The Belleayre Lodge and Pine Hill Arms reopening in Pine Hill. Belleayre's ski opening is also still TBD.
The Route 28 corridor has its own seasonal rhythm, and the same goes for owning property there. Part of the year draws a crowd, and part of it runs on the year-round places along 28A. If you're weighing a home, a second home or a rental between Olive and Pine Hill and want to know how those seasons affect your plans, One Stop Realty represents buyers and sellers exclusively, with no dual agency. Schedule a free consultation.
