Thomas Cole National Historic Site

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is the former home of Hudson River School of Art founder, Thomas Cole. Located in the village of Catskill, the house, called Cedar Grove, and Cole's studio are open for tours, events, and workshops throughout the year.

Tour Thomas Cole's House

Go Inside Thomas Cole’s Home & Studio

Hudson River School painters captivated the world in the early-to-mid-1800s with their fierce desire to preserve America's wild places and raise awareness through art of the fragile balance between nature and civilization. Cole is known as the father of America's first distinctive artistic style. Take a guided, 50-minute tour of Cole's house, studio, and grounds, and enjoy special exhibitions of Hudson River School paintings. Watch a short film about Thomas Cole's life, and the influence that he and other Hudson River School painters had on conservation and the Catskills in the Visitors Center.

Hudson River Art Trail

The Hudson River Art Trail includes over 20 sites in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Wyoming, showcasing the vistas captured by Hudson River School of Art painters.

The first stop on the art trail is the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. From Cedar Grove, guests are invited to explore 16 sites in the Hudson River Valley, from Kaaterskill Falls, the highest cascading waterfall in New York State, to the site of the former Catskill Mountain House, and the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. Most of the trails offer easy-to-moderate hiking conditions, though some require skill and should only be attempted by experienced hikers. Special markers are located at key sites so visitors know which artist stopped to immortalize that site.

We are open for private guide tours that include immersive digital installations and collection artworks in the historic interiors, and we are announcing our Sunday Salon speaker series and Winter Guided Tours soon, which bring new ideas in American art to Catskill once a month from January through April.

Ongoing Exhibitions:

Thomas Cole & Historic Household Guided Tours: Book Here!