Jimmy Fallon. Now that we got that out of the way, there are lots of other things to talk about in Saugerties. After crunching a year’s worth of social media data (from parts of 2015 and 2016), we’ve compiled the 12 most-Instagrammed places in Saugerties.
Inclusion on this list means that the location is a visually-appealing place that makes people want to broadcast where they are to the world. After doing similar posts for places like the Hudson Valley, Poughkeepsie, Kingston, and Woodstock, we feel that it is a reflection of real-world tourism and economic activity, especially by millennials (who are pretty important as the largest and spendiest generation).
Saugerties is a place that is rich in artistic value; art is a huge part of their successful village-wide First Friday events. So it’s fitting that this post is brought to you by Ink Inc. Tattooing of Saugerties, whose mission is to help make Saugerties a destination for the art of tattooing. Their new space on Partition Street is the sister location of Ink Inc. in Kingston, and retains some design touches of its barber shop past in a beautifully redone interior.
Onto the list. Note: we didn’t catch Opus 40 and Catskill Animal Sanctuary in our Hudson Valley’s Most-Instagrammed list because they were just outside of the radius that we were pulling from; sorry!
1. Catskill Animal Sanctuary
Photo by @kellyvitko
Whether or not you’re into the vegan lifestyle, you have to admit: interacting with farm animals can fill your heart with joy. CAS has over 300 of them, ranging from baby goats to a giant pig named Sister Mary Frances. Between seasonal weekend tours for the public, overnight stays at their Homestead, memberships, group trips, and even special events like onsite yoga sessions, there are lots of opportunities for people to come take pictures with cute animals.
Over 2100 pictures were geo-tagged here.
2. Opus 40
The story with Opus 40 is that in 1938, a Bard professor and sculptor named Harvey Fite purchased an abandoned bluestone quarry, and hand-built a wooden house on the property. That summer, he was performing sculpture restoration work in Honduras and learned about the dry-stone construction techniques of the Mayans. Until the day he died in 1976 (in a fall onto rocks at Opus 40), he dedicated his life to single-handedly applying ancient techniques to single-handedly arranging millions of stones just so. The results are stunning. In addition to the massive sculptures, there’s also a Quarryman’s museum, occasional events and concerts, and even a $200-a-night Airbnb rental.
Almost 1200 pictures were geo-tagged here.
3. Saugerties Lighthouse
The Lighthouse made our Hudson Valley’s Most-Instagrammed Places list at #31. Almost 800 pictures were geo-tagged here.
4. HITS Horse Shows
HITS made our Hudson Valley list at #35. Over 700 pictures were taken here.
5. Diamond Mills Hotel & Tavern
HITS’ wildly successful horse shows have created a huge demand for hotel rooms in Saugerties and Ulster County. Diamond Mills Hotel, owned by the same people from HITS, offers 30 rooms with waterfall views in a boutique style hotel and tavern. They also do lots of weddings in their event space; so between waterfall views, a beautiful interior and weddings, this place is involved in a lot of Instagram photos.
About 300 photos were geo-tagged here.
6. Cantine Field
The field is just outside of the main drag of the village and is host to Saugerties’ biggest non-HITS events, like fireworks on July 4th, monthly food truck events, the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival (which has its own spot on this list), and the Craft Brew Boogaloo.
Just under 200 photos were geo-tagged here.
7. Kiwanis Ice Arena
The arena has a constant stream of people who are coming in for youth hockey, birthday parties, public skating sessions, and Saugerties Nightmares Women’s Hockey team games. Congratulations to the Nightmares on a hard-fought 2-2 tie against the Troy Frozen Assets.
About 110 photos were geo-tagged here.
8. Bluestone Roasting Company
Opened in 2014, this brunch palace is located in the heart of Saugerties and roasts their own in-house coffee. They’re open every day, even when the leaf-peeper, horse enthusiast, or Brooklyn weekender crowd isn’t around. Equally inviting to both locals and tourists.
About 90 photos were geo-tagged here.
9. Miss Lucy’s Kitchen
Open Wednesday through Sunday, Miss Lucy’s Kitchen is located on Partition Street in Saugerties. The owners previously had a decade-long restaurant venture in the West Village, and in 2003, were early adopters of the upstate farm-to-table comfort food model.
About 80 photos were geo-tagged here.
10. Hudson Valley Garlic Festival
Garlic on everything? Garlic on everything. The first garlic festivals in Saugerties were grassroots efforts in the early 90s. Once they went viral (pre-Internet), festival founder Pat Reppert passed on the event to the Kiwanis Club of Saugerties, who grew it to its current weekend-long extravaganza that attracts tens of thousands of people. Garlic poutine, garlic cider donuts, garlic fish tacos and garlic caramels are just some of the oddities that can be devoured.
About 70 photos were geo-tagged here.
11. Saugerties Senior High School
Saugerties sometimes has a rough time in the headlines; it seems to have bad luck in terms of which stories about it go viral. But one of the most positive and shared stories out of Saugerties in recent memory was the news that the Saugerties School District won a $744k grant to build a greenhouse, garden and farm stand on the Saugerties High School campus. We’re not sure when that’ll actually be built, but it will look great on Instagram!
About 60 pictures were geo-tagged here.
12. Esopus Bend Preserve
The preserve is home to 160 acres of hiking and scenery, about a mile from the Hudson River. About 60 photos were geo-tagged here.
