Above: Perch Lake and Pepacton Reservoir by Corneel Verlaan. Photo submitted to the 2013 Catskills Great Outdoor Experience Photo Contest.
Boating on Catskills reservoirs in 5 Steps
The reservoirs hold drinking water for eight million people, and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is pretty obsessive about keeping them clean. So before you get out on the water, you'll have to jump through a few hoops. You have to have a permit and a steam-cleaned vessel processed by an authorized steam-cleaning vendor. And you must use a DEP-approved launch area for putting in and taking out your boat, which can only be a kayak, canoe, rowboat, scull or sailboat. Read more