Visiting New Skete
Welcome to New Skete, we look forward to your visit.
Should you ever find yourself near our “back door to New England,” you are warmly invited to visit. Join us for prayer, enjoy the quiet for reflection, or explore the beauty of our surroundings.
New Skete is located in the gentle Taconic Mountains, about:
- 2 miles east of the village of Cambridge, NY (Nuns)
- 6 miles east of Cambridge (Monks)
- 45 miles northeast of Albany, NY
- 20 miles northwest of Bennington, VT
Visiting Guidelines
- No Pets Please – Except for service animals (with prior appointment), pets are not permitted.
- Exceptions:
- Blessing of the Animals event
- Scheduled dog training appointments
- Registered guests attending The Art of Training Your Dog workshop
- Blessing of the Animals event
- Health & Safety: Dog kennels and the training center are closed to visitors.
📧 For questions or service animal appointments: nscom@newskete.org
We are pleased to share the quiet, solitude and beauty of our surroundings with you. Retreats differ in focus. A retreat can simply be a time of rest and renewal from your daily life, or you may desire to have a more directed retreat in the context of our liturgical life. The structure of your time with us can be worked out once you arrive, or you may communicate your interest ahead of time. We welcome guests throughout the year, with the exception of our own retreat times, mid-August through mid-September, and our mid-winter retreat, usually in February. Our guest rooms are usually booked several weeks in advance, so we recommend making your reservation early. Please check the group retreats page for thematic retreats planned throughout the year.
Retreat Details (both locations)
- Length: Two nights or more, beginning Tuesday at noon and ending Sunday with the mid-day meal.
- Meals: All meals provided.
- Reservations: Guest rooms fill quickly; book well in advance.
- Policies: No pets (except service animals with prior approval).
- Donations: Retreat stays are supported by your generosity.
- Cancellations: Please notify us as soon as possible if you must cancel.
Retreats At the Monks’ Monastery — Emmaus Guest House
- Accommodations: Each two-chambered guestroom includes a parlor, bedroom, private bath, and a sliding door leading to gardens and patios.
- Shared Spaces: Spacious gathering room with vaulted ceilings, natural light, a library, and access to gardens.
- Participation: Guests are encouraged to join daily Matins and Vespers, as well as Divine Liturgy on Sundays and feast days.
- Meals: Lunch and dinner are taken with the community.
- Extras: Hiking trails, private prayer, quiet reflection, and possible spiritual direction with one of the brothers.
📞 Brother Gregory — 518-677-3928 ext. 226
✉ brgregory@newskete.org
Retreats At the Nuns’ Monastery — Our Lady of the Sign Guest Room
- Accommodations: Guestroom with two twin beds, sitting chairs, private bath/shower, and access to a guest living room with small balcony and kitchenette for breakfast.
- Chapel: Our Lady of the Sign chapel is available for prayer throughout your stay.
- Participation: Guests are encouraged to attend daily services: Matins (Tuesday–Friday in the chapel) and Vespers/Divine Liturgy (at Holy Wisdom Temple with the monks).
- Extras: Opportunity to join in daily schedule of work, prayer, and study, or enjoy the peace and solitude. Spiritual companioning with one of the nuns may be possible during your stay.
📞 Sister Rebecca — 518-677-3810
The view from the top of the hiking trail at New Skete
Hiking Trail at New Skete Monastery
A lush trail, worth taking you time to enjoy. Stonewalls, spring runnel, various grades.
Distance And Terrain:
Approximate 9 miles, flat to mildly steep grade.
Pets
Please leave your pets at home.
Highlights And Key Points Along The Route Geology:
Visible from the village, and the subject of Grandma Moses paintings, “Two Tops” are part of the Taconic Mountains, a massive overturned klippe composed of folded slates, quartzites, and phyllites, with a moderate degree of metamorphism. The complex mountain building has a 500 million year history. Much of the rock outcrops you see on the trail display the sedimentary layers and sever folding at the heart of this process.
Wildlife:
White tail deer are abundant. Black bear and coyote, red and grey fox are in the area but they shy from people and are not likely to be seen in the daytime. Porcupine, skunk, opossum, raccoon, cottontail rabbit, weasel, chipmunk, as well as the grey, red and flying squirrel all live here. A wide variety of birds inhabit the woods: ruffled grouse and wild turkey, the barred and the great horned owl. Red tail hawks can be seen enjoying the air currents near the mountaintops. For additional information on hiking in areas with bear sightings, visit the National Park Service's website.
Flora:
Many times more diverse than the rest of New York and New England; you might notice jack-in-the-pulpit, trillium, and the varieties of violet, starflower, woodland orchids, bottle gentian and asters, to cite but a few. Many unusual lichen and mosses, as well as ferns, fungi and ground pine or club moss abound. Be aware of the large variety of hard and soft wood trees: oak, aspen, hickory, beech, maple, birch, hemlock, white pine, hophornbeam and the lovely flowering shadblow.
History:
Before colonial times this area was inhabited by the Hoosacs, a tribe of Abenaki or Mahican nation. They had settlement, Pompanuk, a few miles south of the trail. The Dutch acquired land in the 1600’s, subsequently taken over and expanded by they English. New Skete sits mainly on the Embury Patent issued in 1765. A crucial skirmish in the Revolutionary War in 1777 was fought on nearby Wallomsac Heights; it is known as The Battle of Bennington. Scots-Irish sheep farmers settled here on Two Tops, cleared the land of trees, building stonewalls that crisscross the fields. The forest did not begin to grow back till the early 1900’s. The monks acquired this property in 1968 in what is now Ash Grove in the Town of White Creek.
The approximate nine miles of trails at New Skete Monastery are available for quiet hikes in our woods. The view from the top, as seen in the photo above, is eye-catching and photo worthy.
Please print out the trail map below.
Hike at your own risk!
Wear appropriate shoes and clothing, use tick repellent spray and carry a hiking stick for safety.
Sign in at the Bell Tower.
Group Tours
A typical group tour includes:
- Visits to the churches with a history & icon lecture
- Time in the Meditation Garden
- The monks’ gift shop
- A stop at the nuns’ monastery (and cheesecake!)
- Group tours only (10+ people), by appointment
- No tours on Sundays, Mondays, November 1–May 1, or during retreat times
- Fully wheelchair accessible, ample parking, bus friendly.
📋 Submit a Group Tour Request Form to schedule.