Batavia Kill. Shortly past Red Falls, all crossings of the creek come to mark the Blue Line that delineates the Catskill Park. The route remains to the north of the creek even as it passes the Windham Mountain ski area and NY 296 comes in from the south. However, it crosses it several times and is within the park as it reaches its highest point, at the pass next to Windham High Peak where the Long Path crosses the road. From here, NY 23 begins a long descent down the Catskill Escarpment, losing most of the elevation it had gained since leaving Oneonta. As it does so, the route provides sweeping, panoramic views of the Capital District and points north, east and west. Along this stretch is Five State Lookout, a vista providing views of five states and four mountain ranges, including the Adirondack foothills and Green Mountains in Vermont. Having reached the floor of the Hudson Valley, NY 23 assumes a southeast-trending route through the town of Cairo. It comes close to the hamlet of Cairo, but bypasses it on a four-lane divided highway that takes it around the northern fringe of the community. As it runs around Cairo, the route connects to NY 145 and briefly overlaps NY 32, the major north–south state route on the west side of the Hudson River. NY 23 continues as a divided highway through mostly forested areas to the town of Catskill, where it crosses Catskill Creek and has an indirect intersection with the New York State Thruway (I-87). Not far to the southeast is the village of Catskill, the county seat of Greene County. NY 23 bypasses this community as well, connecting to U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) and NY 385 at junctions in lightly populated areas north of the village prior to crossing the Hudson River on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. East of the Hudson Once across the bridge and into Columbia County, the highway encounters NY 9G near the Olana State Historic Site in western Greenport. The two highways briefly overlap until NY 9G continues north with NY 23B to follow NY 23's old course into and through the city of Hudson. NY 23 continues to the southeast, bypassing Hudson well to the south and serving Columbia–Greene Community College, located in an otherwise forested area of Greenport. After , the route meets US 9 at an isolated junction