Cooperstown vacation rentals

Whether you’re into sports, the arts, or the great outdoors, this northern Catskills Mountains town sitting on the southern end of Otsego Lake is world-famous in each of these realms. Hit a home run in a haven for baseball fans: Cooperstown is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as well as the Heroes of Baseball Wax Museum, a famous bat maker, and Doubleday Field. Meanwhile, author James Fenimore Cooper dubbed Otsego Lake “Glimmerglass” in one of his novels, making way for both a lakeside park and a renowned summer arts festival bearing the name. Also channeling that creativity in town is the Fenimore Art Museum. And finally, everywhere you look, Cooperstown is about living the simple life outdoors, from hiking and golfing to canoeing and swimming.

Along with its baseball ties, spring tends to attract the most visitors, despite the mix of humidity and chilly temperatures. Festivities start up in May with the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, the longest single-day flat water canoe race in the world, and the Hall of Fame Classic baseball game. Summer ushers in a more temperate climate, primed for warm outdoor days melting into comfy evenings, as the arts crank into gear with the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival and the famed Glimmerglass Festival celebrating the arts. By the time fall rolls around — toasted with a Harvest Festival — that crisp autumn air reigns, often accompanied by rainy days, and even the beginning of snow. Winter days are cold and snowy, and tourism slows, but along with that comes more room to enjoy the area.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

The crown jewel of Cooperstown is the 60,000-square-foot mecca of baseball history, located right on Main Street, with 40,000 artifacts. While there are exhibits on the sports’ greatest names, the displays also put visitors at the forefront, highlighting the power of baseball on American lives and culture. This is just one of many baseball sites around town, also including Doubleday Field and Cooperstown Dreams Park.

Glimmerglass State Park

All that glimmers is indeed Otsego Lake. While the waters beckon those looking to swim, kayak, and fish, the lakeside park also has five hiking trails, including the Sleeping Lion Trail with a viewpoint of Mount Wellington resembling the trail’s namesake. Also on site: the 53-foot-long Hyde Hall Covered Bridge from 1825 and the 50-room country house Hyde Hall.

Farmers’ Museum

Located on the site of James Fenimore Cooper’s farm from 1813, the living museum is a look back in time at what life was like on a working farm. The Empire State Carousel, with 25 hand-carved depictions of animals in the state, also started running here in 2006.