Disclaimer: The Pines Resort Is An Inherently Dangerous Environment. Please Proceed With Caution At All Times. You May Visit At Your Own Risk. Miniventure Mac Is Here To Inform You What Is Available To Check Out. You Are Responsible For Assuming The Risk Of Personal Injury, Damage To Personal Property, Or Any Other Incidents That May Occur While Visiting the Pines Resort.
Oh me oh my, The Pines Resort. Easily the most entrancing abandoned location I’ve seen yet. Situated in the Borsh Belt (aka Jewish vacationland) in the Catskill Mountains, The Pines is a sprawling resort, rich in history and partially collapsed buildings. In the last 22 years since The Pines was abandoned, she’s been ransacked, graffitied, and an interesting spot for all urbex-er’s out there.
A Brief History of the Pine’s Resort
According to abandonedonline.net, The Pines resort was originally named the Daisy View Hotel. That turned into the Moneka Lodge, before finally being renamed The Pines Resort in 1946. Activities abounded, as they had two pools, a theater, a nightclub, golfing, ice skating, and skiing, among other activities. Unfortunately, in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s, it closed for good when the new owner’s filed for bankruptcy.
For a more in-depth history of The Pines, check out abandonedonline.net
Finding the Pines
I suppose my journey into The Pines resort began like most others exploring dilapidated ruins: a KN-95 mask, headlamp beanie, and a good camera. I’d first heard about The Pines through a friend of mine posting about it on Instagram. So 21st century of us. Her photos showcased a resort, lost to time, nature, and people who generally don’t understand the “leave no trace” commandment. Needless to say, I was hooked. I sent the post to Jaye, whom you may remember from our trek to the Concrete City, another abandoned relic. The idea of another adventure on the horizon positively enthralled us, especially one to a place not only rich in history, but also with buildings aplenty to check out. Within hours, we had a date set to make the drive up to South Fallsburg, NY
The Necessities Of Urban Exploration
Jaye and I made a collaborative Spotify playlist which helped the ride up fly by rather quickly. Within a few hours, we made it. There is construction happening in the nearby area, so do be aware of that. We parked behind a large trailer and quickly double-checked to make sure we had everything-camera, boots, water, KN-95, flashlight, pepper spray, and lunch. The resort is set up in a rather interesting way. Most of it is one giant building, with wings added onto it over the years and fun sky bridges to get across the roads. Don’t walk on the sky bridges.
The Savoy wing is on the right coming in. Within its walls, it is almost entirely collapsed. You can look into some of the used-to-be windows and see 4 stories of building sunken in. Miraculously, when we went, most of the outer walls were still intact across the campus. We then crossed the road to the Regency Wing’s basement, and thought “oh let’s go in.”
Collapsed Ceilings, Frozen Floors, and Poor Decision-Making skills
I’m saying this now, do NOT go into any of the buildings. None of the floors or ceilings are safe. In one of the buildings Jaye and I entered, we realized the floor collapsed sometime in the last few months. It had been there in my friend’s Instagram post just mere months beforehand. As enjoyable as the trip was, I had nightmares about a ceiling collapsing on me or falling through floors for weeks after. It simply wasn’t worth the risk.
But anywhomst, back to the story. We went in. The floor was a literal sheet of ice and the ceiling had partially caved in. Jaye and I were both incredibly grateful we’d thought to bring jackets and gloves because it was CHILLY. Easily a good 10-15 degrees colder than outside. We took some pictures, then left to go up the side of the wing (built into a hill, effectively). We looked at the first-floor landing and saw that the staircase had entirely fallen into the basement, so decided not to go in. Instead, we moved on to the ski chalet.
Bad Vibes in a Ski Chalet
Honestly, I don’t think the Ski Chalet is worthy of its name. It was a small building, not much bigger than my house, and the only “chalet” aspect of it was the second floor where they had a nice fireplace and open floor plan for people to enjoy each other’s company. I worked at a ski resort. I know what a Chalet is supposed to look like. It was cute, sure, but not worthy of the name.
I got weird vibes the moment Jaye and I stepped into the chalet, and so I convinced Jaye that we should go around the other side. There was another entrance, which felt slightly better. The first room on the left was quite a bizarre sight. Stacks of hundreds of skis ranging in sizes take up most of the room. We then went up the stairs (which felt decently sturdy) and poked our heads onto the top floor, staying on the concrete staircase. The top floor was actually pretty cute, I think if I’d gone to The Pines when it was up and running I’d have loved spending time up there.
the Pines Resort’s Chair Wall
The highlight of the whole resort was definitely Chair Wall- a wall in the Dining Room that people have just… stuck chairs into. Through the drywall. Like a good 10-15 chairs. Very impressive. Technically there were a few “Chair Walls” but the floor collapsed on the opposite side of the Chair Wall we were looking at, so we had to take the L and move on. This was the location that my friend had taken pictures of months before where the floor was still at least there.
The Murder Basement (Not Actually) (or maybe)
Perhaps the safest area in the whole resort was the kitchen. It had sturdy floors and graffiti aplenty, which made it clear that it was built to last. The only floor I genuinely felt “safe” walking on. That’s not to say that it was safe, just that it felt safe.
After poking around for a bit, Jaye and I found a staircase to the basement. Needless to say, I did NOT want to go down there. No thank you. Jaye, on the other hand, ever the adventurer, wanted to give it a quick look. I let her and her brave spirit lead the way, as I stuck a bit of a distance behind.
A solid 2-3 inches of water flooded the basement. The door was open, and beyond it, you could see nothing. Pitch blackness. Our flashlights did next to nothing to penetrate the darkness. A few stairs below me, Jaye calls out to me and goes “Don’t freak out or run, but slowly back your way up the stairs”. I did as she said and once getting to the top of the stairs, sprinted to the exit. Jaye, just steps behind me, stopped and looked back towards the staircase.
“What was down there?” I questioned, nervously glancing back at the stairs.
“I thought I saw eyes for a minute but I think it was actually just the flashlight reflecting off a door handle or something.” Jaye paused for a minute. “I’m gonna go back down again and take a peek.”
Not sure if I heard her correctly, I stared at her for a good 5 seconds. “Really? You want to go back down there???”
“Yeah, I think I was just imagining it.” After pleading with her not to take the risk, I realized my attempt was fruitless–she was going to look again. We christened it “the murder basement” and I lovingly told her that I would not be going with her, and would run towards the car if she started screaming.
I handed her my pepper spray and wished her good luck. Within seconds she was down the staircase as I anxiously waited at the top. In an effort to not disturb whatever was down there, I said nothing and just waited. While she couldn’t have been down for any longer than 45 seconds, it felt like ages until finally, she popped back up, safe and sound.
“Nothing down there ‘cept bad vibes.” Unconvinced but grateful her curiosity had been satiated, we left the kitchen. I’m still sure that something is down there, but I have no intention of finding out what.
The Outside Indoor Pool And the Outside Outdoor Pool
The Pines had both an indoor and an outdoor pool. The indoor pool is now outdoors, due to a fire. The outdoor pool is still outdoors, and a wonderful spot for lunch and taking pictures of geese. I hate geese, but it is quite fun to take pictures of the little guys. They enjoy the pool now that the average human can’t. There’s a bridge that goes over the outdoor pool, and Jaye and I thought it was our best bet for a lunch spot. We took out our PB&J’s and ate, enjoying the resort surrounding us and plotting what building to check out next.
Next, we checked out the conference center next to the outside outdoor pool and the ice skating rink. Which at this point is effectively a concrete courtyard. We made our way to the employee housing, but quickly determined that going in was asking for life-threatening injuries or death, so decided instead to check out the lobby and the Savoy and Essex Wings, which were making the same request. The lobby itself was suspicious, and the ceiling had holes in it. We made our way through the first floor of the Essex Wing and then found a staircase in the Savoy Wing. Against our better judgment, we determined the staircase was “safe enough” and climbed 4 flights up to the roof to look out on the beautiful view of one of the collapsed parts of the building. Definitely wild to look at, and again, gave me nightmares for a few weeks.
By that point, we decided our luck of not dying had been used up and it was time to go home.
The Ride Back
And by time to go home, I mean play a few rounds of laser tag, of course. Safe to say we were just about the oldest ones there, but we somehow managed to have the laser tag arena to ourselves for a round.
Exhausted from a day full of adventure and adrenaline, our stomachs growling, we found a perfect place for dinner-Felicia’s Little diner in Walden, NY. Super cute, very quaint, with wonderful portion sizes and tasty food. A wonderful end to our chaotic adventure.
Until next time,
-MAC
