Catskill Game Farm

WARNING: PLEASE NOTE THAT TRESPASSING IS ILLEGAL AND ANYONE CAUGHT TRESPASSING WILL BE PROSECUTED. SECURITY CAMERAS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED ON THE PROPERTY AND THERE ARE "NO TRESPASSING" SIGNS AS WELL. 

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VISIT THE CATSKILL GAME FARM PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW FOR INSTRUCTIONS. THEY ARE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU ... BUT DO IT THE RIGHT WAY!

http://www.theoldgamefarm.com/visit/

Another awesome day exploring. This time, Shawn and I went to the Catskill Game Farm — a once thriving zoo in Catskill, NY. It closed in 2006 after being open for 73 years. Shawn had been as a kid and had also taken his son there, when he was little. 

At the front gate we were immediately greeted by a friendly black cat and a nice, earthy couple who were friends of the owners. The couple opened the gate and then called the owners to let them know that we were hoping to look around. One of the owners, Cathy Ballone, said it was no problem as long as we signed a waiver. I guess they have lots of people interested in exploring their abandoned little zoo!

The giraffe building was large and very interesting. There was a bunch of stuff left behind inside including old signs and log books. There were bird cages on the second floor that still had bird shit in them, too. In one building we found an entire shelf of empty bottles of rum. We wondered if squatters were living in some of these abandoned structures or had this been "set up" for explorers like us.

The more we wandered, the more we realized how freaking big this place is. It seemed to be never ending. There were empty animal shelters everywhere. Each one had it's own fenced off area for whatever animals were once kept there. One shelter in the back of the property was different though. It seemed to have been converted into a small cabin with personal touches added like a collection of animal tails and animal traps that were hanging on the exterior wall. Did someone live in there? Maybe the earthy couple we met at the front gate?

We quickly made our way from one animal shelter to another - until we found ourselves at the base of the hill outside of a very large building that was obviously the zoo's cafeteria. We peeked in the window. The menu board was still up over the main counter. (A grilled cheese sandwich back in 2006 cost $3.50).

From the cafeteria we hit the buildings nearby. The bird house was a long narrow building and consisted of one long hallway with cages on either side. There were no birds anymore but each cage was full of all kinds of stuff being stored. Not sure who's stuff, or how long it had been there — but there seemed to be a little bit of everything: office supplies, toys, framed pictures, cameras, garden gnomes, shoes and one of those walker things from The Empire Strikes Back. 

The building next to the bird house was more like a long, open ended garage. Inside was a bunch of junk including a collection of bird houses, a hot tub and a red convertible. So strange. We never expected such a random variety of stuff at an old zoo.

From there we walked down to what was "the animal nursery", stopping first at the zoo's train station and ticket booth. Amazing that after all these years there were still some tickets scattered around and a handwritten script taped to the wall. You could imagine one of the employees reading that script over the loud speaker as guests waited outside to board the train.

Loved all the small scale buildings in this area. It was like a playground for the animals, and now us. Interesting to see "We sell Kodak Film" signs everywhere, as well. I guess some people were still buying film back in 2006. 

We also found a sign that read, "Animals now shedding, hence their ragged appearance" and took some shots with that, which was pretty funny. 

In the far back right of the property is what used to be the "Big Cat Exhibit". There were chewed up balls in the pen from the tigers that had once occupied that area. Despite how many years had passed since the zoo closed, it really felt like the animals had all just wandered off, and disappeared. 

More animal shelters lined the path to the Rhino building. Another huge and unique building. On the ground level were the pens for the rhino, but there was a spiral staircase that went to a spooky lower level that contained several more animal pens. It was dark and creepy down there. There were Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans everywhere and also some left over Halloween decorations. 

Upstairs we found a noose and a creepy doll. There was also a generator outside and an old stereo in the hallway. Lots of chairs, as well — and handwritten signs that said, "Do not feed the dogs". Was this the location for a Halloween party?

From there we headed towards "the lower feeding ground", which is pretty much in the center of the zoo. We could see that there were peacocks in one of the enclosures up ahead. Odd to see real animals at a zoo that was closed. 

As soon as we spotted the peacocks, we also spotted two large dogs. 

Oh shit. 

As the dogs made their way around the peacock enclosure Shawn started to climb the nearby gate that said, "Turn Right To Animal Nursery"!  We truly both thought that we were about to be mauled to death. I completely froze as one of the dogs came running towards us, barking. I pointed at him and said, "no! no! no! stay! good boy!" The dog went from barking, to wagging his tail. Whew... he was friendly. The other dog, a great dane, was much larger. Holy crap. He spotted us as well and came running over. Again, we were damn lucky both of the dogs were friendly! Praise Jesus! 

We were relieved that the dogs were friendly but knew they must belong to the folks that own the propery. We continued exploring and lost the dogs along the way. I guess they got board with us. 

In one of the old refreshment stands we found a bunch of old postcards advertising the zoo. Creepy and cool at the same time. Kind of surprised they were there after all these years. And someone was definitely using beer cans for target practice. We found a string of them with holes in them. The building near them had a pool table and foose ball table.

Next stop was the miniature golf area. I think the miniature golf building was one of my favorites. The roof literally had moss growing on it. It was right out of a movie. 

While heading back to the front of the zoo, we ran into Cathy's husband, Ben. He was on a contraption that looked like a pick-up truck with a bulldozer coming out of the back of it. He was digging up old fence posts one by one. He stopped and talked with us for a few minutes. Kind of surreal to be exploring this place and stroll on past the owner who was working so hard, all by himself. He talked about trying to convert the place into an RV Park of sorts, with some animals roaming around as well. Seemed like an overwhelming undertaking to us but we wished him luck.

Overall, great day with a self-guided tour of a very cool place! Hope the Ballone's can turn this place back into something that everyone can enjoy. 

WARNING: PLEASE NOTE THAT TRESPASSING IS ILLEGAL AND ANYONE CAUGHT TRESPASSING WILL BE PROSECUTED. SECURITY CAMERAS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED ON THE PROPERTY AND THERE ARE "NO TRESPASSING" SIGNS AS WELL. 

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VISIT THE CATSKILL GAME FARM PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW FOR INSTRUCTIONS. THEY ARE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU ... BUT DO IT THE RIGHT WAY!