Saratoga Springs

Discovering Saratoga Springs

There is a moment in Saratoga Springs that captures everything this town is about. It happens on a late July morning at the Saratoga Race Course, before the gates open to the public, when the backstretch is still quiet and the mist hangs low over the Oklahoma training track. Thoroughbreds emerge from the fog in pairs and triples, their hooves barely audible on the dirt, their breath visible in the cool Adirondack-edge air. Trainers lean on the rail with stopwatches. Exercise riders crouch low. And somewhere behind the grandstand, the smell of breakfast from the track kitchen mixes with the scent of fresh-cut grass and horse sweat. This is the oldest thoroughbred racing venue in the United States, operating continuously since 1863, and in that pre-dawn stillness you understand why horsemen call Saratoga the Graveyard of Champions — not because careers end here, but because this is where legends are made and unmade, where the sport strips away everything but the raw, ancient contest between horse and distance.

But Saratoga Springs is far more than a racing town. Long before the first thoroughbred ran here, Saratoga was already famous — for its naturally carbonated mineral springs, which bubble up through geological faults from deep underground aquifers. The Mohawk people knew these springs for centuries. European settlers arrived in the late 1700s and quickly turned Saratoga into America’s first great resort destination, a place where the wealthy came to “take the waters” for their supposed curative properties. By the mid-1800s, Saratoga Springs was the most fashionable summer destination in America, rivaling European spa towns for grandeur. Grand hotels lined Broadway. Congress Park, with its ornate pavilion and spring houses, became a gathering place for presidents, industrialists, and society figures. The racing followed in 1863, adding another layer of glamour and money to a town that was already intoxicating.

Today, that layered history is Saratoga’s greatest asset. The mineral springs still flow — roughly twenty-one of them across the town and surrounding state park, each with a different mineral composition and a distinct, often startling taste. The Race Course still draws tens of thousands every summer for a seven-week meet that is the social and sporting event of the thoroughbred world. Victorian architecture lines the streets in extraordinary density and preservation. And a cultural life that includes the New York City Ballet, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and one of the most important artists’ retreats in American history gives this small upstate city a depth that places ten times its size cannot match.

Saratoga Race Course

The Saratoga Race Course is not merely a racetrack. It is the oldest continuously operating sporting venue of any kind in the United States, and it carries 160 years of history in every rail, every grandstand timber, and every worn patch of Oklahoma training track dirt. The meet runs from mid-July through Labor Day — approximately seven weeks — and during that stretch, Saratoga transforms from a charming small city into the epicenter of American thoroughbred racing.

The track earned its nickname, the Graveyard of Champions, because of its uncanny habit of producing upsets. Man o’War suffered his only career defeat here in 1919. Secretariat lost here. Gallant Fox lost here. The ghosts of vanquished favorites haunt these grounds, and the specter of the upset hangs over every race, giving the Saratoga meet an electricity that no other venue in American racing can replicate.

For visitors, the experience is remarkably accessible. General admission is just $7 on most race days. The grandstand and clubhouse offer tiered seating with views of the finish line, while the backyard features picnic tables, food vendors, a paddock where you can watch horses being saddled before each race, and a walking ring where jockeys mount up under the towering elms. The key ritual is arriving early — the gates open at 7 AM for breakfast at the track kitchen, where you can eat pancakes while watching morning workouts through the chain-link fence. Races begin in the early afternoon.

Travers Stakes, held on the last Saturday in August, is the signature event — the Mid-Summer Derby, the most prestigious race of the Saratoga meet. The crowd swells to 50,000 or more, hats are elaborate, and the energy is extraordinary. If you can only attend one day of racing, Travers Day is the one.

The Mineral Springs

Saratoga’s mineral springs are a geological phenomenon that predates and in many ways outshines the racing. Approximately twenty-one naturally carbonated mineral springs bubble up through faults in the bedrock, each carrying a different cocktail of dissolved minerals — iron, calcium, magnesium, lithium, sodium, sulfur, and more — from deep underground aquifers. The naturally occurring carbon dioxide gives the water its fizz, creating springs that taste like the earth’s own seltzer, some pleasant and crisp, others aggressively mineral and sulfurous.

You can taste the springs for free. Congress Park, in the heart of downtown, contains the Congress Spring and the Columbian Spring, both accessible via public spigots. The Hathorn Spring near the Race Course is one of the most famous — and most intensely flavored — of all. In Saratoga Spa State Park, a two-mile drive south of downtown, a network of walking trails connects additional springs including the Orenda, Geyser, Coesa, and Hathorn No. 3. Tasting your way from spring to spring is one of the great free activities in upstate New York, and the variations in flavor are genuinely remarkable.

For a more immersive experience, the Roosevelt Baths & Spa within the state park offers private soaking rooms where you can bathe in naturally carbonated mineral water drawn directly from underground. The experience — lowering yourself into a deep cast-iron tub of warm, effervescent mineral water — is unlike any other spa treatment in America. Sessions run approximately forty minutes and cost around $60. The water leaves your skin feeling impossibly soft, and the relaxation is profound.

The state park itself, beyond the springs, is a 2,300-acre expanse of pine forests, walking trails, two championship golf courses, an Olympic-sized swimming pool complex (the Victoria Pool, a WPA-era masterpiece), and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. It is one of the finest state parks in New York and reason enough to visit Saratoga even if you have no interest in horses.

SPAC and the Performing Arts

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center — universally known as SPAC — occupies a natural amphitheater clearing within Saratoga Spa State Park, a setting so idyllic that the architecture almost seems secondary. The covered amphitheater seats 5,100, while the surrounding lawn accommodates 20,000 more, making SPAC one of the great outdoor performance venues in the northeastern United States.

Every July, the New York City Ballet relocates from Lincoln Center to SPAC for a three-week summer residency, performing a repertoire of Balanchine and contemporary works against a backdrop of towering pines. Every August, the Philadelphia Orchestra takes up its own residency, bringing symphonic programming to the same stage. These residencies are not touring excerpts — they are full seasons of the country’s premier ballet company and one of its finest orchestras, transplanted to a forest clearing in upstate New York.

Beyond the classical programming, SPAC hosts a summer-long calendar of rock, pop, country, and jam band concerts that draws audiences from across the Northeast. The lawn experience — spreading a blanket, opening a picnic basket, uncorking a bottle of wine as the music begins — is quintessential Saratoga summer. Lawn tickets for orchestra and ballet performances start as low as $25, making world-class performing arts genuinely affordable.

Congress Park and Downtown Broadway

Congress Park is the green heart of Saratoga Springs, a beautifully landscaped Victorian-era park at the south end of Broadway. The park contains the Congress Spring (one of the original mineral springs that put Saratoga on the map), the Canfield Casino (a stunning 1870 Italianate building that now houses the Saratoga Springs History Museum), ornamental gardens, a duck pond, and the kind of winding pathways and mature trees that invite aimless, unhurried wandering.

From the park, Broadway stretches north as the main commercial artery — a remarkably well-preserved Victorian commercial district that functions as Saratoga’s social spine. The architecture is a dense catalog of Second Empire, Italianate, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival storefronts, most in excellent condition, housing an eclectic mix of independent shops, galleries, cafes, restaurants, and bars. This is not a sanitized historic district or a tourist simulacrum — it is a living downtown where locals shop, eat, and gather, and the vibrancy is genuine.

Notable stops along Broadway include Saratoga Paint and Sip, a constellation of galleries, Impressions of Saratoga for local gifts, and multiple bookstores. The cafe culture is strong — local roasters, sidewalk tables, and a morning crowd that lingers over coffee and newspapers give Broadway a distinctly European energy for an American small town.

Yaddo Gardens

On the east side of town, along Union Avenue between downtown and the Race Course, lies one of the most important cultural sites in American arts — though most visitors only ever see its gardens. Yaddo is a 400-acre estate that has functioned since 1926 as an artists’ retreat, offering residential fellowships to painters, writers, composers, poets, sculptors, and filmmakers. The alumni roster is staggering: Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, James Baldwin, Aaron Copland, Langston Hughes, Milton Avery, Flannery O’Connor, and more than 6,000 others have lived and worked here.

The main mansion and studios are closed to the public — Yaddo is a working retreat, not a museum — but the formal gardens are open daily, free of charge, from dawn to dusk. The rose garden, designed in the early 1900s, is a walled enclosure of classical form and abundant bloom, especially spectacular from late June through early September. Beyond the roses, woodland paths wind through the estate’s mature trees, offering quiet walks that feel miles removed from downtown despite being a short bicycle ride away.

Where to Eat in Saratoga Springs

Hattie’s Restaurant — A Saratoga institution since 1938, serving Southern-style fried chicken, ribs, and catfish on Phila Street. The fried chicken is legendary — crispy, peppery, and worth every minute of the inevitable wait for a table during racing season. $18-35 per person.

The Blue Hen — Located inside the Adelphi Hotel, this is Saratoga’s most refined dining experience. Farm-to-table American cuisine with impeccable technique and seasonal menus that showcase Hudson Valley and Adirondack producers. $40-75 per person.

Wheatfields — A Broadway staple for decades, serving fresh pasta made daily, wood-fired pizzas, and Italian-American classics in a lively, comfortable setting. Excellent wine list. $20-40 per person.

Druthers Brewing Company — Brewpub on Broadway with house-brewed craft beers and elevated pub fare including excellent burgers, flatbreads, and seasonal specials. The outdoor patio is a summer gathering spot. $15-30 per person.

Comfort Kitchen — Chef-driven comfort food with global influences in a welcoming downtown space. The brunch is outstanding, and the dinner menu features dishes sourced heavily from local farms. $22-40 per person.

Saratoga Farmers’ Market — Operating Wednesdays and Saturdays at High Rock Park from May through November. Local produce, artisan cheeses, baked goods, prepared foods, and a community atmosphere that captures the farm-to-table spirit driving Saratoga’s food scene. This is where the town’s chefs shop.

Where to Stay in Saratoga Springs

Luxury: The Adelphi Hotel — Saratoga’s iconic Victorian grand hotel, meticulously restored with modern luxury. The rooftop pool, The Blue Hen restaurant, and the lobby bar dripping with gilded-age elegance make this the definitive Saratoga stay. $350-600/night.

Mid-Range: Saratoga Arms — A boutique hotel in a lovingly restored 1870 Second Empire building on Broadway. Farmhouse-elegant rooms, concierge breakfast, and a porch that is perfect for watching the Broadway parade. $180-340/night.

Value: The Inn at Saratoga — Comfortable and well-located on the edge of downtown, with a solid restaurant and easy walking access to Broadway and Congress Park. Reliable quality without the boutique price tag. $130-250/night.

B&B: Batcheller Mansion Inn — An extraordinary 1873 French Renaissance mansion on Circular Street, converted to a bed-and-breakfast. If Victorian architecture excites you, this is the most visually remarkable building in a town full of remarkable buildings. $160-300/night.

The Victorian Architecture

Saratoga Springs contains one of the finest and best-preserved collections of Victorian-era architecture in the northeastern United States. The town’s golden age — roughly 1850 to 1910 — coincided with the most exuberant period of American architectural ornamentation, and the wealth that flowed through Saratoga during those decades funded buildings of extraordinary ambition and detail.

Circular Street and the surrounding residential blocks showcase mansions in Second Empire, Queen Anne, Italianate, and Colonial Revival styles. The Batcheller Mansion (1873) at 20 Circular Street is perhaps the most photographed — a French Renaissance confection of towers, balconies, and iron cresting that looks transplanted from the Loire Valley. The Canfield Casino in Congress Park is an Italianate gem. The commercial buildings along Broadway display the ornate cornices, tall windows, and decorative brickwork of their era. Walking these streets is an open-air museum of American architectural ambition from the period when Saratoga was the most fashionable resort town in the nation.

Saratoga Lake and the Surrounding Countryside

Beyond downtown, the landscape opens into the rolling farmland and forested hills of the southern Adirondack foothills. Saratoga Lake, five miles east of town, is a 3,800-acre freshwater lake popular for swimming, boating, and lakeside dining. Brown’s Beach on the west shore is the main public swimming area, and several lakeside restaurants — most notably The Dock at Saratoga Lake — offer waterfront dining with views of the surrounding hills.

The countryside surrounding Saratoga produces some of New York’s finest farm products. Horse farms and dairy operations line the country roads, farm stands appear at every crossroads from June through October, and the farm-to-table movement that defines Saratoga’s restaurant scene draws directly from this agricultural landscape. A drive along Route 29 toward Schuylerville passes through pastoral scenery that has changed little in a century, ending at the Saratoga Battlefield, where the decisive 1777 battle that turned the American Revolution took place.

Fall Foliage and Four-Season Appeal

While summer racing season gets the headlines, many repeat visitors argue that autumn is Saratoga’s finest season. The foliage in Saratoga Spa State Park, along Saratoga Lake, and in the surrounding Adirondack foothills is spectacular — maples blaze in orange and crimson, oaks turn deep burgundy, and the pine forests provide a green backdrop that makes the colors pop. Peak foliage typically arrives in the first two weeks of October, and the town celebrates with food festivals, art walks, and harvest events.

Winter brings cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the state park, a quieter but still lively downtown dining scene, and proximity to downhill skiing at Gore Mountain (one hour north) and West Mountain (fifteen minutes away). Spring is mud season in the Adirondack foothills, but by May the mineral springs are flowing strongly, the gardens are coming alive, and the town is shaking off winter with farmers’ markets and outdoor dining.