Well marked and well shaded trail with great views from ridge.
★
★
★
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★
This hike, located entirely in the Catskill Parks Wilowemoc Wild Forest should be developed into a hiking trail. The hike features two beautiful Brooks Conklin Hill Brook and Woodard Brook each of which sports Boulder filled courses topped off with 25-30 foot waterfalls. The Willowemoc Covered Bridge anchors on corner of the hike with a long easy stroll along the Willowemoc Creek.
★
★
★
★
★
Full bushwhack from East Valley Ranch to both Van Wyck crash sites. Beginning is open, but the foliage quickly gets extremely dense.
★
★
★
★
★
Full bushwhack from East Valley Ranch to both Van Wyck crash sites. Beginning is open, but the foliage quickly gets extremely dense.
★
★
★
★
★
I think this is my favorite Catskills hike with thrones made from the bluestone, a cave, varied terrain and beautiful views of the Ashokan Reservoir.
★
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★
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★
We took the trail from Moon Haw which is much nicer than from Fisherman’s path. Snow conditions were good with a few icy patches. Needed spikes. The last 0.4 miles were quite steep and challenging with the snow and ice. The day was clear with beautiful views along the way.
★
★
★
★
Amazing view at the top! If you forgot your spikes like me, just walk carefully on the side and you’ll make it.
★
★
★
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★
Only 3 stars because the weather conditions were wet & slippery! I’m sure this is a fantastic trail in better weather conditions!
Not so much snow on the bottom. Up to 1-3 inches in the upper elevations (depending on how the trees did -or did not provide “canopy” coverage.)
Definitely used microspikes & the wet/snow conditions required decent waterproof boots & gaiters.
Blue - red - yellow trail markers. And yes, not so well-marked in a few sections. Come prepared with your map w compass and/or your downloaded GPS phone map. Cel service= mostly zero.
★
★
★
Beautiful and easy hike. Lovely forest and interesting stone wall and structures from the previous estate. Well worth hiking.
★
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★
Slippery when wet, camp site at parking, lean to 1 mile in at turn, 2 vistas, a small water pipe, peak is weak
★
★
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★
We live about an hour and a half from the trail head but it’s worth every minute of the drive. Great 360 degree view from the tower, crazy windy and cold at summit but it was still an amazing hike. Careful going about the mossy rocks, it had rained and was fairly slippery 👍🏼
★
★
★
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★
Wild Geraniums everywhere.
Once you get to Carmel’s Hump the scent of Black Spruce is amazing.
★
★
★
★
★
The up is fantastuc. Don’t do this down route; it sucks. Just come back down the same way you went up.
★
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★
This hike was pretty hard. It’s all uphill until you reach the top and then you have a tower to climb up lol. Parking was terrible. We had to keep circling back until a spot opened up. The ruins were awesome and way bigger than we expected them to be.
★
★
★
A popular out and back hike with about 2000 ft elevation gain and exceptional views of the eastern Catskills. My guess is the parking lot gets full pretty early in peak season weekends.
★
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★
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★
This trail is a bit easier than the Spruceton Road access point, although you will need to get permission from Timber Lake Camp to use it as some of it is on their property, they are extremely nice and cooperative so just shoot them an email.
A consistently steep uphill hike to two beautiful viewpoints. The first viewpoint at 3200 feet is relatively obvious if you follow near the end of the ridge going up the mountain. The second viewpoint is right before the summit and a bit more difficult to find without using the waypoint set on the map, although both waypoints are accurate.
Conditions were snowy, ice spikes absolutely necessary to complete this hike. I found the trail to Mt Sherill to be relatively intuitive and easy after the long hike up. Both canisters were easy to find.
★
★
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★
A lovely hike on a clear, cool & sunny Fall day. Definitely recommend. Stunning views. Beautiful forest!
★
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★
Beautiful trail with great views. Fun climbing. I went during peak foliage season and the colors were breathtaking.
★
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★
An amazing trail, though why they would describe it as “moderate” is beyond me.
★
★
★
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★
Nice and straightforward stretch of uphill hiking to slide mountain. Only a few scrambles that were mildly challenging with 25lb packs. Descent heading east on Slide Cornell Wittenberg (Red) trail is VERY steep and rocky… difficult with camping gear for sure!! Our plan was to continue to the primitive campsite btwn Slide and Cornell and we came to a point about where we couldn’t find a single trail marker or obvious way down a really precarious rock wall without sliding down 25+ feet to what was MAAAAYYYYBE??? the continuation of the Red trail. Not cool. DEC needs to consider marking this spot clearly bc there were four or five ways to slide down, but all were nearly 90° and basically smooth. It was already 5:30pm, that point is well above 3500ft so we couldn’t set up camp, the springs were dry, and we were starting to run low on water. Immediately had to backtrack 2miles to get back to 3500ft just to sleep. If you’re going to do this stretch, you should absolutely be prepared. I’d do this again if I knew there was an obvious trail marker pointing us down without chance of injury, but I’d certainly not be carrying gear on my back.
★
★
★
★
Lovely and relatively short hike. The first half mile was mild and along an old road to the falls. The next 2.5 miles we’re continuously up with several long steep spots with scrambles near the top. Above approx 3200 feet the woods turned to evergreen. The view from Buck ridge was great. Overall total hike time was 3 h 45 m and I would rate the hike as moderate in difficulty. Stopped by the West Kill brewery for some good beer on the way out!
★
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★
The hike in via the direct route was pretty easy.
Coming out and down the other side was a bit trickier and much wetter.
★
★
★
★
Steep, rocky some icy spots. Plane crash. Easy hike from Friday to Balsam Cap. Foggy day and warm.
★
★
★
★
★
This trail offers great views. Has a lot of elevation gain around bangle hill but worth the trip. Also less traveled than peekamoose mountain which is across the main road heading north on the long trail.
★
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★
Nice, easy trail. Beautiful views of the Catskills, near and far. Pit toilets at top are clean and well supplied. Winter hike for us in snowshoes.
★
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★
Very easy going aside from some mud, but a nice way to spend an afternoon. I don’t know who creates these routes but it’s pretty obviously a loop, not a one-way.
★
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★
Very easy but pleasant hike. Nice spot at the lake to stop for a lunch break.
★
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★
The hike out to panther mountain on a beautiful November day doesn’t disappoint. Panoramic views from giant ledge along the way and a good rocky catskill climb to 3700ft among the sweet scented balsam, lichen covered ledge and silhouettes of all the surrounding mountains.
★
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stars
This is a TOUGH hike. Not difficult, simply tough. The approach is beguiling as it’s a gentle uphill until you reach Mink Hollow. Turn left and you’re faced with Sugarloaf to the left: Plateau to the right. Turn left and understand the ascent and descent are challenging under the best conditions.
Some stats:
Mink hollow to summit: 366m (1200’) in 1.6km (1 mile).
Angles: 18% - 30%
Children: no
Elderly: no
Strollers: no
Dogs: doubtful - may require assistance (or carry rope with harness)
Most of the rocks are damp to wet. Running water coming down most of the lifts. Getting dirty is not an option. At some of the near verticals there are alternatives; be prepared to look around but look up to see where the next red blaze is as it’ll give you a sense of where you should be heading.
As much as the near vertical sections are- the alternatives are challenging.
As the trail levels out, you’ll see blazes to the right, this is the one good lookout spot on the peak, take the opportunity as the peak in entirely tree strewn.
After coming back from the lookout, turn right to the peak and down to Pecoy Notch, or left to go back the way you came.
Climbing down into Pecoy Notch can have its challenges. (Don’t be afraid to go down on your backside and shimmy down. )
On the way down, take your time as the trail blazes aren’t too plentiful.
The trail will level out and 50m beyond you’ll find the signage back to Roaring Kill or onwards to Twin Mountain.
The trail back to Roaring Kill has a charming stream crossing and the chance to take a rest on the stone thrones at Dibble Quarry (weather permitting) before returning to sign out at the registry.
★
★
★
★
★
We went to Balsam Mountain and then this. The Giant Ledge is a rocky climb but the trail is very well maintained and the views on the top are far better than that of the Balsam.
★
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★
Parked at bridge and walked up the road to the trailhead proper. Good grad going up and only a little ice at the top. Falls were flowing and only saw one other pair of hikers. Beautiful morning two hour hike
★
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★
Nice day, sunny and 42 degrees. Slushy on the way back down, spikes were helpful.
★
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★
Very beautiful hike along creek. Mostly uphill and rocky. Do need micro spikes with snow cover.
★
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★
Beautiful blue sky. Snow and ice but manageable. Had crampons, no snowshoes and it was a very pleasant hike! Few rock scrambles toward the top, otherwise moderate grade with a bunch of switchbacks.
★
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★
Nice day, sunny and 42 degrees. Slushy on the way back down, spikes were helpful.
★
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★
Excellent winter hike. Spikes up to great ledge. 1st time snowshoes to Panther
★
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★
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★
Good conditions. Steep to start for the first mile then follow the ridge to the summit. Enjoyable hike with great views prior to the summit. Figure 3.5 hours we took a bunch of pictures and stopped for 1/2 hour and were done in 3:42.
★
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stars
Tremper Mountain is also a great place to snowshoe. The easy ascent and descent are perfect for newer snowshoers. Trail is usually broken in soon after a snowfall.
★
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★
Not much in the way of vista but some beautiful forest, very quiet, didn’t encounter anyone else on a Saturday afternoon
★
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stars
Mid September must be one of the best times to summit Indian Head.
For the best experience, I’d encourage a clockwise way of summiting and then looping back.
We headed out mid morning, signed in at the trailhead and moved through the forest. Slowly making it higher and higher. There are a LOT of roots and you’ll need to keep your feet high so as not to catch your boots and suffer an reverse ego trip. The ground was damp and to some extent wet , but never over the toes of my boots. All of this time we wore baselayers and a vest - it was low 50°’sF: 10°C
At the junction the trails switches from red to blue markers this is where the work begins. Roots turn to rocks but the forest is spectacular and you’ll be covered from any showers, should they happen and the effort is made all the more charming with the vistas.
Be prepared to sweat a little on the ascent. You’ll know you’re on the right route when you come across the blue baseball hat from Maine!
At the upper parts of this section you’ll need to make three climbs, almost vertical and you can thank heavens for Mother Nature and her profuse roots that you can hang onto as you make your way up.
The first lookout is simply spectacular and the following ones build on it.
As with many peaks in the Catskills, the summit is not much to write home about and we simply walked past and started the descent.
While the ascent was roots and damp ground with a couple of near verticals, the descent is knee jarring, energy sapping and became frankly annoying. It just makes sense to have a nice time on your way up and thank you Sean @mountain-hiking.com for the recommendation to go clockwise.
Our loop took 4+hrs and we’ll sleep well tonight. Have fun. Be safe and healthy and please. Wear a mask when you meet others on the trail.
★
★
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★
Beautiful trail with relatively few people (until you get to the spur for the Overlook summit and tower). Relatively easy hiking with mostly gentle grades. The impressive and photogenic 65 foot Plattekill Falls is well worth the short side trip.
★
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★
Wasn't too hot or cold for the trip at 7:30 am. Was foggy/misty and hard to see the overlook view. Also forgot to record from the beginning sorry :/
★
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★
Beautiful, peaceful, pensive, very little sun exposure (all forest, cool on a hot day though the air is very still.) I really liked this walk/hike.
★
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★
Very challenging but awesome hike. Water sources on map were all reliable in late spring 2020
★
★
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★
Not the most interesting hiking trail but the view from the fire tower is absolutely spectacular
★
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★
Was dreading this hike a bit since I heard it’s the toughest bushwhack in the Catskills 35, but it isn’t bad at all IF you stay on the worn path! We veered off a bit on the way up to Balsam Cap but other than that found this one very enjoyable. Clocked in at under 4 hours, 7.15mi. Good views at both Friday and just before the Balsam Cap peak. Bring bug spray!
(Note: we didn’t start the recording until ~1 mi in, so the distance & elevation is more than this shows)
★
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★
Easy to moderate hike. The forest is simply lovely on the way up to Tremper. Classic Northern Hardwoods. Lots of songbirds. Not much water along the trail but it’s short so it’s not a big deal. Fire tower closed due to pandemic, views were very limited along the trail. A great beginner hike, especially for forest lovers.
★
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★
Long and steep but very quiet and rarely hiked. Lots of wildlife. The scenic view at 3250 is excellent. And the north side of Panther’s summit is rich Catskills fun.
★
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★
First bushwack! Started on gravel horse trail with nice views following Hunter Brook. Turned off trail at switchback, just after wooden bridge. Clearly marked by cairns. Tried to follow stream closely, but not practical in some spots. Very steep going up, few rough trails I was able to follow on and off. Canister at top in clearing, found without too much difficulty. No snow. Slow going down into the col, dense evergreen forest. Lots of chirping birds. Interestingly, more snow on way up to East Rusk, despite lower elevation. Followed ridge down, minimal views of Hunter Ski Slopes through the trees on left. Came out exactly at the blue blazed signpost at Jone’s Gap. Followed horse trail back down to Spruceton PA, saw a fox halfway down.
Good hike! Cool and cloudy, occasional drizzle. Temps upper 30’s at start, 50 at finish.
★
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★
Amazing views up the path and the herd path was well.worn. Micro-spikes necessary, snow shoes would have been helpful
★
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★
Fantastic views from several ledges, looking north and south
★
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★
Steep but steady climb. Much better on the way back down. Overall a pleasant hike with lots of friendly hikers.
★
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★
This is an easy, 1.4 mile hike that ends at the Red Hill Fire Tower. When the tower is open there are excellent views. There are no views from the summit except from the tower. Since this is part of the Catskill fire tower challenge, the small parking lot can fill up requiring you to park alongside a one lane dirt road. The hike goes through a classic example of a northern hardwood beech-yellow birch-maple forest.
★
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★
Challenging bushwhack hike. This route cuts over to the site of a B-25 bomber crash site before heading up to Friday.
★
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★
Challenging but very fun hike. Moderately steep 3.4 miles to Wittenberg summit with epic 180 degree+ views. Continuing another mile or so to Cornell you must traverse a fairly tight scramble known as the Cornell Crack. I had no trouble but others in my party had reservations, so I dropped a rope to give them some assurance on the way up. Our dog also needed a boost up; it was harder for her on the way down. Cornell has very limited views. After the return trip down to Woodland Valley we had a nice birthday celebration in the parking lot. Note that parking at the state park is $6 per car. Bathrooms and water available there.
★
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★
North bound leg (ES, Blue) to North point was great, terrific views and good trail. A few 10 foot scrambles but not hard. The south bound leg (MG, Red) back to the camp was rocky and rough. There is a waterfall close to the camp area but it was dry in late summer.
★
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★
This hike is on private land and requires permission in advance. Starting from the Seager trailhead proceed on the yellow-blazed Seager-Big Indian trail. The first mile is very gradual as you proceed up the stream valley. There are stream crossings at around 0.25 miles (Flatiron Brook) 0.9. miles (Shadaken Brook) that can be tricky during periods of high water. At 1.05 miles reach a bridge marked private. About 50 feet past this bridge on the right begins the unmarked herd path to Doubletop Mountain. During our early summer hike the trail was easy to find most of the way. The route remains pretty easy for the first half mile then begins a steep ascent through hardwoods. There are two sections of ledges you must get through or around, but they are not too bad. When you start seeing thick conifers you were getting near the summit. Finding the canister can be a little confusing since there are several herd paths on top. There is no view from the wooded summit which is reached at about 2.5 miles. We enjoyed this hike. The lack of view from the summit was more than made up for by the beautiful stream vistas on the way up.
★
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★
Nice hike. A little muddy in parts. Some sort of stinging nettles on the path up to Beaverkill lookout. Nice beaver dam on the way back to little pond campground. Did this with 2 8 year olds and they really liked it.
★
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★
This trail leads to Graham Mt (PRIVATE- advance permission required.) Start at the DEC parking area at the end of Beaverkill Road. Take the Dry Brook Ridge trail (blue markers) which follows an old road with a gentle ascent. Pass the red trail to Balsam Lake Mt on your left at 0.9 and again at 1.9 miles. The herd path to Graham is about 0.25 miles further on the right bearing E-SE. The path is very easy to follow, mostly easy grades with steeper pitches toward the summit. Reach the vegetated summit at about 4 miles. Ruins of an old radio transmitter station on top. Very limited views in summer.
★
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★
This is one of the easier hikes I’ve done in the Catskills. I got immediately off trail (which is easy to do at the start) and walked into Elm Ridge Forest, passing a long line of dramatic rock outcroppings. (I would recommend doing this: take a slight left at the sign for the LEAN TO.) Back on the main trail, there are some beautiful woods to walk through, especially two tall hardwood forests which were really magical; I’ll come here again just to walk through these two stands. Some views of the Blacks on the way up to the summit which is flat and exposed, with wonderfully gnarly trees on either side of the trail. On a clear day, the view north from the eastern ledge must be pretty good.
★
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stars
