The possibility that silt from eroded Adirondack slopes could clog the Erie Canal had led the state's business community to lobby for the creation of the Forest Preserve in 1885.
A legislative maneuver by the Ulster County delegation later that year added the Catskills, relieving the county of property tax obligations to the state on lands it had taken by foreclosure after the tanners and loggers had harvested everything of value and absconded with the revenue.
The lands transferred to the state by the legislation were required to be kept forever wild.
The legislation became Article 14 of the state constitution nine years later, in 1894, with added provisos that prohibited their sale, lease or any other transfer without a new amendment authorizing such a transaction.

By that era most of the easily accessible woodlands had been harvested.
In combination with technological advances in some fields that eliminated the need for the raw materials of the forest, most of the industries that had made such an impact on the region in the early 19th century declined.
In their place a new one arose, mountain tourism, giving the newly affluent of the Gilded Age a place to connect with nature and get away from hot cities in the summer months.

One destination resort was the Tremper Mountain House, outside Phoenicia on the slopes of Mount Tremper.
During its peak period in the 1880s, it had a small trout pond out front.
The house doctor, H.R. Winter, was an avid practitioner and promoter of the new sport of fly fishing, which he believed had therapeutic effects, making "a person for a time forget he ever had any care, business, or anxiety."

Anglers of the era who ventured into the Esopus valley were advised by guidebooks and magazine articles touting the Catskills' trout populations to bypass the main stream in favor of the tributaries, since the Esopus itself was generally too warm for brook trout, the favored species at that time, and still too polluted by runoff from the tanneries.
In the 1880s pioneering fish farmer Seth Green advocated the stocking of rainbow trout in streams where the brook trout population was beginning to thin as a result of the fishing pressure, as they could handle warmer water better.
Other anglers feared that, if introduced, the more aggressive rainbows would displace the native brooks
In 1883 and 1884, thousands of rainbow fry and mature fish were stocked in the Esopus between Phoenicia and Big Indian.
They soon became the stream's dominant fish, and the Esopus became an angling destination in its own right.
Specimens of 3–4 pounds (1.2–1.6 kg) were reported, and some were displayed in tanks at the Big Indian Railroad Station.

Unlike the Beaver Kill and Willowemoc Creek to the south, the development of Esopus Creek as a fishing stream did not result in the establishment of private fishing clubs, with one exception.
In 1887 Alton Parker and his friends bought the 600 acres (240 ha) on the slopes of Slide Mountain where the stream's source was located.
They dammed the stream and created the 6.4-acre (2.6 ha) Winnisook Lake, the highest lake in the Catskills, for their exclusive enjoyment.
In 1896 the members received William Jennings Bryan, then the Democratic nominee for President, as a guest.
His visit attracted much attention locally, with residents lining the Ulster and Delaware's rails to see him and huge crowds waiting to shake his hand at stations
The possibility that silt from eroded Adirondack slopes could clog the Erie Canal had led the state's business community to lobby for the creation of the Forest Preserve in 1885. A legislative maneuver by the Ulster County delegation later that year added the Catskills, relieving the county of property tax obligations to the state on lands it had taken by foreclosure after the tanners and loggers had harvested everything of value and absconded with the revenue. The lands transferred to the state by the legislation were required to be kept forever wild. The legislation became Article 14 of the state constitution nine years later, in 1894, with added provisos that prohibited their sale, lease or any other transfer without a new amendment authorizing such a transaction.
By that era most of the easily accessible woodlands had been harvested. In combination with technological advances in some fields that eliminated the need for the raw materials of the forest, most of the industries that had made such an impact on the region in the early 19th century declined. In their place a new one arose, mountain tourism, giving the newly affluent of the Gilded Age a place to connect with nature and get away from hot cities in the summer months.
One destination resort was the Tremper Mountain House, outside Phoenicia on the slopes of Mount Tremper. During its peak period in the 1880s, it had a small trout pond out front. The house doctor, H.R. Winter, was an avid practitioner and promoter of the new sport of fly fishing, which he believed had therapeutic effects, making "a person for a time forget he ever had any care, business, or anxiety."
Anglers of the era who ventured into the Esopus valley were advised by guidebooks and magazine articles touting the Catskills' trout populations to bypass the main stream in favor of the tributaries, since the Esopus itself was generally too warm for brook trout, the favored species at that time, and still too polluted by runoff from the tanneries. In the 1880s pioneering fish farmer Seth Green advocated the stocking of rainbow trout in streams where the brook trout population was beginning to thin as a result of the fishing pressure, as they could handle warmer water better. Other anglers feared that, if introduced, the more aggressive rainbows would displace the native brooks
In 1883 and 1884, thousands of rainbow fry and mature fish were stocked in the Esopus between Phoenicia and Big Indian. They soon became the stream's dominant fish, and the Esopus became an angling destination in its own right. Specimens of 3–4 pounds (1.2–1.6 kg) were reported, and some were displayed in tanks at the Big Indian Railroad Station.
Unlike the Beaver Kill and Willowemoc Creek to the south, the development of Esopus Creek as a fishing stream did not result in the establishment of private fishing clubs, with one exception. In 1887 Alton Parker and his friends bought the 600 acres (240 ha) on the slopes of Slide Mountain where the stream's source was located. They dammed the stream and created the 6.4-acre (2.6 ha) Winnisook Lake, the highest lake in the Catskills, for their exclusive enjoyment. In 1896 the members received William Jennings Bryan, then the Democratic nominee for President, as a guest. His visit attracted much attention locally, with residents lining the Ulster and Delaware's rails to see him and huge crowds waiting to shake his hand at stations
Esopus Creek