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| Welcome
to Cooperstown and to Leatherstocking Country, NY!
Welcome to the best cycling in the East and to unspoiled,
rural, "Norman Rockwell" Americana! As Bill Strickland proclaimed in his review of Cooperstown in the November 1994 issue of Bicycling magazine: The road riding here rivals any eastern touring hotspot. The area is less touristy and developed than, say, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. And while the mountains may be only half as high as Vermont's, there's plenty of challenging climbing and New England hospitality. So move over Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and move over, Green Mountain State; here comes Cooperstown to claim its rightful place as the backroads bicycle touring capital of the East! Cooperstown is located in Otsego County, in upstate New York. Otsego and surrounding counties geographically define Leatherstocking Country, the home of the characters immortalized by James Fenimore Cooper in his Leatherstocking Tales. Leatherstocking Country is a rural, scenic wonderland bordered by Albany to the east, Utica and Syracuse to the west, and Binghamton to the south. Cooperstown is a quaint village of 2500 inhabitants nestled at the southern shore of nine-mile-long Lake Otsego. It is located in a mini-Finger-Lakes-type glacial region wedged between the Mohawk Valley and Adirondacks to the north, and the Catskills to the south. This is a land of north-south river valleys separated by east-west ridges. The scenery is spectacular. Opportunities for fishing, swimming, sailing, hiking and golfing abound. The backroads are traffic free. And the bicycling is superb. Cooperstown is a center of New York State history. Prior to the 1600's, it was home to the Susquehannock and Iroquois Indians. In 1779, it hosted the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign in the Revolutionary War. Later, Cooperstown was home to Judge William Cooper, after whom it is named; and to his son, James Fenimore Cooper. Two of James Fenimore's five Leatherstocking Tales take place on the shores of The Glimmerglass now called Lake Otsego. All five of the Tales immortalized Natty Bumppo, alias the Deerslayer, alias Hawkeye (in The Last of the Mohicans), alias the Pathfinder, alias Leatherstocking. Bicycle tours in the Cooperstown area explore the landmarks associated with these historical events. Cooperstown is known as the Village of Museums. It is the home of the Fenimore House Museum of American culture and its spectacular American Indian wing. It is also the home of the Farmers' Museum, a working recreation of a typical mid-19th century rural New York village. |
Cooperstown is best known as the Home of Baseball. In the center of town is Doubleday Field where baseball was first played, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame where thousands of baseball fans flock each year (especially during the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies each August). If you like baseball, you'll love Cooperstown! Cooperstown plays host to many cultural activities. It is the home of the nationally acclaimed Glimmerglass Opera Company, the Cooperstown Concert Series, Gallery 53, Cooperstown Art Association and the Smithy-Pioneer Gallery. |
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Beyond the village of Cooperstown, Leatherstocking Country beckons with attractions too numerous to mention. Bike to waterfalls, gorges, nature trails and State Parks. Bike to Howe Caverns, the Fly Creek Cider Mill, historic Cherry Valley, the Mohawk River and the Erie Barge Canal. Bike to Sharon's Bath Houses, Jordanville's Russian Orthodox Monastery, Gilbertsville's polo fields, and Oneonta's National Soccer Hall of Fame So welcome, bicycling friend! Welcome to Cooperstown and to Leatherstocking Country, NY! Welcome to the best bicycling in the East! Just don't tell anybody about it. We wouldn't want the secret to get out. |
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| The Farmers' Museum | Fenimore House | Lake Otsego |
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