Mountain Cruisin’ 2026: Moto Camping, Back Roads & Early Fall in the Catskills
There are some weekends you know you’ll be talking about for a long time. Mountain Cruisin’ 2026 was one of them.
Our campers rolled into the Catskills from New York City, New Jersey, the Hudson Valley, Boston and around the Catskills for a weekend of motorcycles, winding roads, early fall color, incredible food and campfires at Basecamp Brooklyn Estates.
Some were longtime campers. Some were newer to moto camping. Some came with old friends and met new ones along the way.
By Sunday morning, it felt like one big crew.
Riding Out of the City and Into the Catskills
For most of the group, Mountain Cruisin’ started long before they reached Basecamp Brooklyn Estates.
Campers rode north together Friday afternoon, leaving the city behind for a scenic trip into the mountains, with stops along the way for BBQ and mountain overlooks.
By the time the bikes rolled onto the property, the weekend already felt underway.
Everyone picked their spots and started setting up camp along the lane between our meadow and apple trees, creating a line of tents with motorcycles parked right beside them.
Old friends caught up.
New faces introduced themselves.
Camping gear came off the bikes.
And all around us, the meadow was glowing with goldenrod.
The timing couldn’t have been better. As everyone settled in, a long pink sunset stretched across the sky behind camp, giving us one of those evenings that makes you stop what you’re doing just to look around.
Summer shifting into fall in the Catskills — it’s something everyone should experience!
Friday Night: Bikes Parked, Campfire Lit
Once camp was set up, the riding gear came off and everyone gathered for dinner.
Chef Allan started the weekend with hamburgers and sausages, accompanied by garden-herb potato salad and a pasta salad tossed with homemade carrot-top and nasturtium pesto.
Then there were the pickles.
Homemade radish pod pickles, pickled apples and candied jalapeños made with ingredients grown or harvested right here at Basecamp Brooklyn Estates.
Dessert moved to the campfire, where we served cranberry turnovers and mugs of warm spiced apple cider — brought back by camper request after last year’s Mountain Cruisin’.
And like the best camping weekends, everyoine lingered around the fire.
Conversations jumped from motorcycles to movies to road trips and everything in between.
It was exactly the kind of first night we love: no schedule to chase, nowhere else to be and a whole weekend still ahead of us.
Saturday Morning: Coffee, Breakfast and Bikes
Saturday started slowly.
We put out bagels and cream cheese, yogurt and granola, fresh fruit, coffee, tea and juice, along with homemade apple butter made with apples from the same trees we slept under this weekend.
There was plenty of time to eat, wake up and talk about the day ahead before everyone started pulling on riding gear.
By 11, the group was ready to roll.
Our first stop was Neversink Reservoir, where we pulled over for group photos with the water and Catskill mountains behind us.
From there, the ride wound through farmland, mountain roads and trees that were just beginning to show their first hints of red and yellow.
Then we headed toward Livingston Manor for one of the traditions that helped inspire Mountain Cruisin’ in the first place.
Fährt Meetup at Upward Brewing
This year’s Fährt motorcycle meetup took place at Upward Brewing in Livingston Manor.
Bikes filled the field below a backdrop of evergreen trees and early fall color, and the afternoon had exactly the kind of energy we love about these gatherings.
There were motorcycles to admire everywhere you looked.
Friends to catch up with.
New riders to meet.
And plenty of time to sit around a big table together over cider, beer, shared appetizers, sandwiches and food made with local meats and produce.
Fährt has been part of this weekend from the very beginning, before we were even calling it Mountain Cruisin’, so getting the crew together there always feels like part of the tradition.
But the riding wasn’t over yet.
An Afternoon on the Back Roads
After lunch, our crew headed out again for a long afternoon ride toward another reservoir north of the Catskills Park.
And Allan and I headed back toward Basecamp.
Someone had to start dinner.
That split is one of the things we love about Mountain Cruisin’.
There’s a plan, but there’s still plenty of room to explore.
Some riders want miles of winding pavement.
Some want dirt.
Some want to stop and take in the view.
And eventually, everyone finds their way back to camp.
Hungry.
Back to Basecamp for the Harvest Feast
While the riders explored, Chef Allan got to work.
Mountain Cruisin’ lands right at that perfect time of year when the garden is still producing, the orchard is full of apples and the cooler evenings make a big dinner around a shared table feel especially good.
We started with a spicy cucumber-melon refresher, served alcohol-free with the option to add vodka or tequila.
Then came a fresh harvest salad made with garden produce, cilantro-lime rice, perfectly tender smoky chicken thighs and pattypan squash with queso fresco.
But the star of the table was Allan’s famous birria.
Rich, deeply flavored and served with the most delicious au jus, it was exactly the kind of meal you want after spending most of the day on the backroads.
Dessert was Erin’s homemade apple galettes topped with vanilla ice cream.
And once again, dinner slowly became another evening around the fire.
Everyone swapped stories about the afternoon ride, compared adventures and laughed about everything that had already happened in less than two days.
By then, the group didn’t feel like people who had arrived from all different places.
It felt like a crew.
A Perfect Night for Sleeping in a Tent
The weather had been nearly perfect all weekend.
Cool enough at night to make a sleeping bag feel cozy, but comfortable for hanging outside around the fire.
Then, late Saturday night, the rain finally arrived.
Luckily, everyone was already tucked into their tents.
Instead of interrupting the weekend, it became part of it.
There’s something deeply relaxing about lying inside a dry tent while rain taps against the fabric overhead.
And by morning, the storm had passed.
The meadow, trees and apple orchard were left glistening, with the rain making every bit of early fall color look even brighter.
Sunday Morning: No One Was in a Hurry
Sunday morning moved at exactly the pace it should.
Slowly.
There was coffee.
There were outdoor showers.
There were tents gradually coming down as everyone waited for the weather to finish clearing.
And there was one more breakfast together.
We served homemade zucchini bread with greek yogurt, fresh apple slices from our land and our own apple syrup.
People ate, packed, talked and stretched the weekend out as long as possible.
Eventually the roads dried.
The bikes were loaded.
Helmets went back on.
And everyone started making their way home.
The Best Part Was the Crew
We love the roads.
We love the food.
We love watching motorcycles line up beside tents under the apple trees.
But our favorite part of these weekends is always watching a group come together.
Some of this year’s campers were experienced moto campers.
Others were newer to it.
Some arrived knowing each other.
Others didn’t.
By Sunday, everyone was connected on social media, sharing photos, talking about future rides and already making plans to camp together again.
One camper summed it up perfectly:
“Rolled in with some old friends, made some new ones by the end of the weekend, what else can you ask for?”
Another wrote:
“Bikes, back roads, camp fires, good food, cold mornings, and even better company.”
And one message after the weekend simply said:
“This weekend will be talked about for years to come!”
We hope so.
The Wild Side of Basecamp
Of course, there were a few other residents around camp too.
Part of staying at Basecamp Brooklyn Estates is never quite knowing what you might hear or see.
Deer wander through the property.
Coyotes call from the distance.
Owls hoot from the trees after dark.
Birds and butterflies move through the meadow during the day, drawn to the goldenrod and asters blooming everywhere.
Those little moments are part of what makes camping here feel different.
You’re close enough to New York City to ride up for a weekend.
But once the fire is going and the stars are overhead, it feels much farther away.
Ride. Camp. Repeat.
Mountain Cruisin’ began as a fall moto-camping collaboration and has grown into one of the weekends we look forward to most every year.
The roads change.
The menu changes.
The people around the campfire change.
But the heart of it stays the same.
A beautiful ride into the Catskills.
A tent beside your bike.
Really good food after a long day on the road.
Cool nights around the fire.
And the kind of people you’re already making plans with before the weekend is even over.
Next season will mark our fourth annual fall moto-camping weekend, and we can’t wait to do it all again.
Want to join us for the next Mountain Cruisin’?
Check out the next Mountain Cruisin’ weekend →
Need camping gear for the weekend? You can also rent a tent, sleeping bag and sleeping pad from Basecamp Brooklyn.
See you around the fire!
