Summer finally sets on iconic American retreat: Haunting images reveal the abandoned vacation homes and camps of The Catskills

Eerie: An abandoned house is pictured in The Catskills region of upstate New York, a once-thriving holiday community for American families

Seeing double: Located approximately 100 miles north of New York City, the Catskill Mountains are now littered with run-down buildings

Downturn: The buildings were abandoned and left to rot as the region’s summer resorts suffered an irreversible decline and residents moved away

Nearly 30 years after the decline began, the derelict summer camps, houses and businesses have become spooky attractions for explorers and curious tourists

In its heyday, The Catskills were a popular summer retreat and their resorts attracted some of the biggest names in show business

Golden age of summer holidays: Guests at resorts were entertained by the likes of Billy Crystal, Rodney Dangerfield and Joan Rivers

Escaping the big city: The region became known as the Borscht Belt because of its popularity among middle-class Jews from New York City

For lease: Many businesses were shuttered after tourists stayed away and residents began to move elsewhere for job opportunities

Despite its decline, The Catskills is still home to many resorts or B&Bs which cater to outdoor enthusiasts

Ruins: The Catskills were once home to hundreds of hotels and summer camps and thousands of seasonal homes

The region’s popularity peaked around the 1950s and 1960s before air travel became more affordable

Jobs dried up when The Catskills' steady decline began around the 1980s as tourists began to spend their holidays – and money – elsewhere

Lights out: The Catskills is known in modern-day pop culture as the setting for Dirty Dancing, which was filmed in Virginia and North Carolina

Lucrative: The Catskills was once a prosperous region with a tourism industry worth tens of millions of pounds

An abandoned house is pictured in The Catskills, which served as a thriving holiday destination for Jewish New Yorkers in the 1900s

Spooky: The Catskills' derelict buildings could be the perfect backdrop for a horror movie or paranormal thriller

Be one with nature: Today, holidaymakers are lured to The Catskills by its mountains, streams, waterfalls, wildlife and outdoor activities