The winners of the "Catskills Great Outdoor Experience Photo Contest"

Top: And the grand prize winner is... "Hubbell Hill Heat Wave, Margaretville -- Summer 2012," by Holly Salzman. She wins dinner for two at Peekamoose in Big Indian, and her photo on the cover of our print Catskills Outdoor Guide.

Above: A slideshow of all the photo contest entries.

Peekamoose Restaurant & Tap Room sponsored our Central Catskills Great Outdoors Experience Festival photo contest, in which readers from around the region sent us images of their favorite Catskills outdoors experiences.

We got submissions featuring rainbow sunsets, inquisitive turkeys, euphoric reservoir kayaking, high-flying dogs, hidden swimming holes, and bears lounging in trees. Our jury was charged with finding one grand prize winner, one runner-up, and ten honorable mentions. Here are the winners:

The Grand Prize Winner
Holly Salzman, for “Hubbell Hill Heat Wave, Margaretville - Summer 2012.” She wins dinner for two at Peekamoose in Big Indian.

Second place
Jo Berhardt, “Dry Brook Porcupine.”

"This porcupine was directly overhead eyeing hikers below as we climbed the Dry Brook Ridge on a beautiful January day."

Honorable mentions
Pamela Rood: “Clouds of Hope”

"The scene is a picture I took at my parents home, early morning, Thanksgiving of 2011. I was thinking of how much I had to be thankful for as many in the area were struggling with the aftermath of Irene. I loved the slight rainbow in the clouds that gave me hope for those who were still challenged with all that they had loss. Our prayers reflected that as we gathered together for dinner after my sister and mother and I went and worked at the church in Jewett to be there for those still in need of clothing. My parents offered their home to those without power for showers and a place to go. Their home has a generator and although the basement got flooded didn't have the devastating damage that many did in Prattsville. I would like to call my photo " clouds of hope". To reflect this day of both thanks and hope while being there in the Catskills on Thanksgiving."

Elizabeth Ellis: “Misty evening in the foothills”

Amanda Lee Popp: “It was thiiiis BIG!”

"Little Pond State Park, we camped as a family of 5 for the first time July 13-15 2012."

Ben Fenton: “Sharing an emerald green gem of the Catskills”

Laura Shapiro: “View from my front porch - 4 bears in a tree”

"The photo was taken on the horse farm I rent in Shokan in August 2010. I saw black shapes in a tree up the hill when I was on my front porch and couldn't figure out what was there. When I realized that there were 4 bears I drove my truck up the hill to try to get close-ups (I love seeing bears and I was careful, but it wasn't the greatest idea in the world to get close like that!) and by the time I got to the tree, the mother and a juvenile or yearling had descended and were in the grass about 30 feet away and the 2 cubs were in the process of climbing down. One of the cubs 'posed' for me in the crotch of the tree and then I left. The mother and her cubs returned to the same tree for about 10 days and spent literally hours on the branches. The cubs moved around from branch to branch but the mother bear tended to linger a lot on one branch in particular. I think she was eating carpenter ants (?). I never drove up to the tree after that first day but I photographed them often from the field in front of the house. When I rode my horse up to that tree once they'd stopped coming, it was completely mangled, but it survived!"

Sarah Jane Schuman:”Where can I go from here?”

Adam Varsano, Flying dog

Bob Hostetter: “Looking east from Hunter Mountain Fire Tower”

Velga Kundzins-Tan: “Catskill Mountain Gold, as taken on Headwaters Trails”

Lori Ballard: “Experiencing nature at its best”

"Here is a shot I took of me feeding a Black-capped Chickadee (sunflower seeds) from my hand, taken in my backyard in Denver/Vega, NY."

The Watershed Post and the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce coordinated the contest. For more details about how it worked, click here.