Route 23A is a 34.56-mile long road that travels through the northern Catskill Mountains. It was created in the mid-1920s as a scenic route to travel through the Catskills as well as found multiple towns including Tannersville and Hunter, NY. Today it continues to be traveled for its scenic views and as a way to access the multiple ski mountains including Hunter Mountain.
Many who travel the road know that in 2006, the segment of NY 23A from Palenville to Haines Falls through Kaaterskill Clove was closed to traffic for several months by the New York State Department of Transportation due to landslides caused by heavy rains in downstate New York. What many don’t know is that a similar event occurred in 1942 on a stretch in Haines Falls, NY.
One late evening in November, a young man and his then fiance were traveling the road to head home. Along the route the couple made a stop at the Kaaterskill Falls for a romantic view. After the stop, they planned to continue the curvy road to get to their home in Tannersville. However, after getting back into the car, they heard a load bang like thunder. Next thing they knew they were in an landslide and rocks were falling on the car. By the time the landslide finished a large boulder had landed on the car and crushed the young man to death. The woman was also hit in the head and fell into a coma where she awoke a few months later. She was devastated about the news of her fiance.
As locals say, the young man still haunts the road in search of his lover. He appears on the road late at night to drivers who finished a long day of skiing (or zipline). Other say the man only appears to couples, foreboding the death of one of them. In fact, couples we spoke to who stopped by the falls spoke of a man standing in the road wearing all black and an unrecognizable face. Then when they asked who he was, he disappeared before their eyes.
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Try to Scare me is NOT intended as a guide to trespassing. We present these sites, locations and stories as local unwritten history and the legends surrounding it that are told to us while traveling. Although we provide locations, and some directions, these articles are intended to be read with the knowledge that some places cannot be visited. We do not encourage trespassing onto private property and do not encourage trespassing to obtain articles, videos, pictures and other evidence to be submitted. Trespassing is illegal and those who disregard this advice will (in most cases) be arrested and charged.