Catskill Mts., Rip's Rock, (Where Rip Van Winkle Slept 20 Years)
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving was published to international acclaim in 1819. Set in the Catskills, an amiable Rip wanders off in the woods with his dog Wolf to escape his wife’s nagging and to avert “all kinds of profitable labor” only to encounter a silent group of short, bearded men playing nine-pins. After drinking some of their liquor he falls asleep for twenty years. Upon waking, he returns to his village to learn that his wife has died, the American Revolution has occurred and that he must face the fact that many of his former friends have either died, moved on or simply do not recognize him. The short story is an American classic.
The Rip Van Winkle Tavern, more popularly known as the Rip Van Winkle House, was located in Sleepy Hollow on North Mountain, part of the Mountain Turnpike (also known as Mountain House Road, Old Stage Road and Old Mountain Road) to the Catskill Mountain House. Legend has it that the nearby Rip’s Rock, located uphill and to the left of the remaining foundation, is the very spot where Rip Van Winkle took his twenty years’ nap.
