Marbletown, NY

Marbletown stretches across the eastern edge of the Catskills and the northern edge of the Shawangunk Ridge, with two hamlets doing most of the talking: Stone Ridge, where old stone houses line Main Street, and High Falls, built around the waterfall on the Rondout Creek that gives it its name, with a canal museum and a strip of galleries and antique shops that draws people in from out of town. Beyond those two centers, the town opens into farmland, the O&W Rail Trail, and quieter hamlets like Kripplebush and Lomontville that most people driving through never notice. It's been a state capital once, briefly, and a farming community for centuries. There's a settled, unhurried quality here that doesn't feel like it's trying to be discovered.