Kaatskill Kaleidoscope – Mount Tremper, New York - Atlas Obscura
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Kaatskill Kaleidoscope

Mount Tremper, New York

The world's largest kaleidoscope, designed by a 1960s psychedelic artist. 

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Built from a converted grain silo is the Kaatskill (spelled in the original Dutch way) Kaleidoscope, the world’s largest at 60 feet.

Designed by 1960s psychedelic artist Isaac Abrams—whose work has a distinctly kaleidoscopic look—and his son Raphael, the giant kaleidoscope was finished in 1996 and cost a quarter of a million dollars to build, money put up by local entertainer-entrepreneur Dean Gitter.

To view the show one walks through the local mall, and enters the kaleidoscope, where you lay on slanted, padded boards and look up. There are currently three shows, a holiday-themed one, a journey through the stars, and the regular “America- the House We Live In.” The silo was previously painted in a sky pattern with a face on it, but has since been repainted to black, with an ad for the mall it is attached to.

The gift shop contains all things Kaleidoscope, with fine-art kaleidoscopes going for up to a thousand dollars. Its neighbors now include a resort and spa.

Know Before You Go

Emerson Resort and Spa. On route 28, west of Woodstock -- Rt. 28 in Mt. Tremper, about 20 miles west of the Thruway.

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