Roscoe, New York: Trout Town USA, just up the road.

Junction Pool is the reason Roscoe exists in anglers' minds: the spot just outside town where the Willowemoc flows into the Beaverkill, forming the river's famous lower stretch. Stand on the bank in the evening during a hatch and you will see why people plan whole years around it. Even if you don't fish, it is worth a stop for the view and the history.

Roscoe's fly shops are where to start. The Beaverkill Angler, Baxter House Fly Fishing Outfitters and Trout Town Flies sell flies and gear, rent rods and waders and book guides who can put a beginner on fish in a morning. Dette Flies, a family shop that has tied flies in the area for nearly a century, is a pilgrimage of its own. New York trout season opens April 1, and anyone 16 or older needs a New York State freshwater fishing license, which the shops can help with.

Roscoe Beer Company pours in a former firehouse, with a big beer garden, food trucks and live music on many weekends; it is the town's living room in summer and fall. Do Good Spirits runs a tasting room for Prohibition Distillery's vodka, gin and bourbon, and on some weekends adds dinner and music.

For food, the Roscoe Diner is the classic roadside stop, all-day breakfast and comfort food in a vintage room that has fed anglers for generations. Northern Farmhouse Pasta makes fresh pasta daily, and Grizzly Bagels does handmade bagels with house spreads and local coffee, which is the right way to start a day on the river. Hours in Roscoe follow the seasons and many places close early midweek or in winter, so check before you drive over. Livingston Manor's Main Street, ten minutes away, adds more options.

The Roscoe O&W Railway Museum keeps the story of the old New York, Ontario and Western line that once brought city anglers up by train, with restored rail cars and memorabilia. Stewart Avenue, the main street, has antique shops to wander, and a farmers market runs on summer and early fall Sundays.

About seven miles north, the Beaverkill Covered Bridge crosses the river at the state campground, an 1860s span with an easy riverside path; bring a camera in the late afternoon, when the light comes low through the trees and lands on the water. For a real hike, the Trout Pond and Mud Pond loop near Roscoe is a moderate circuit past two quiet mountain ponds, a waterfall and several stream crossings. In fall the valley roads between Roscoe and Livingston Manor are some of the prettiest in the Catskills, and in winter the town goes quiet in a way that is its own reason to visit.

The two towns work as a pair. Spend Saturday morning in Roscoe: a bagel, an hour at Junction Pool, a browse through the fly shops and the railway museum, then lunch at the diner. Drive up to the Beaverkill Covered Bridge in the afternoon, and finish with a pint in the firehouse beer garden.

Sunday belongs to Livingston Manor: coffee on Main Street, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum on the Willowemoc, and the covered bridge park. Inkwood Reserve sits between the two, a private log cabin on five wooded acres that sleeps eight across four themed bedrooms and two baths, with a hot tub, a sauna, two fire pits and a private dock with two kayaks a five-minute walk away. There's room to dry waders, the Angler's Den bedroom is named for exactly this trip, and up to two dogs can come along.