This hike includes 3.3 miles of the Mary Smith trail, and all of the Middle Mountain and Touch-Me-Not Trails, all of them co-aligned with the Finger Lakes Trail. Crossing the eastern and mid-sections of the Pepacton Range, the hike traverses four peaks, including Middle and Cabot Mountains, both just under 3000 feet. With views of Little Pond, Long Pond and Alder Lake, this is a scenic and interesting hike on little traveled trails.
SUNY Delhi students volunteered with the CMC to join in Community Service Day activities in Delhi. Part of the Village of Delhi Bicentennial celebration, the crew worked on maintenance of the Bulldog Trails on Delaware Academy lands. The day’s vols were 4-year veterans of the CMC/SUNY Delhi collaboration. We are so proud to work with these great students on a project that serves the Delhi and Catskills hiking communities.
Thanks to Dominic Croce, Amber Garcia, Ryan Ford, Logan Grasso and Fletcher Nisbet!
Enjoy a 3.5 mile loop hike on Bramley Mountain. The hike will go through an abandoned quarry 1.9 miles to the summit which was the site of a fire tower. See the remnants of the fire tower, learn about its history and about the current project to rebuild it. The top of the mountain features wide-open views of the Delaware River Valley and the Western Catskills.
The trail is moderately difficult, and we will be hiking at a leisurely pace. Hike will start at 10:00AM at the Bramley Mountain Trailhead on Glen Burnie Road.
Sign up by May 8th with John Sandman at sandmajm@delhi.edu. Please put Bramley Hike in subject line.
This hike is sponsored by the Delhi Village Bicentennial Committee and by the Catskill Mountain Club. Rain date May 16.
Covid-19 Guidelines: Wear a mask while congregated in the parking lot or at other sites. Hike single file, following social distancing protocols. Avoid carpooling except with members of your household. Use your own pen when signing in, or use hand sanitizer.
Note: As vaccination rates rise, risks decrease. We will phase out these guidelines when rates improve significantly. In the meantime, please protect others and yourself by following these simple, CDC endorsed guidelines.
Meet 8:00 at hike finish in Margaretville: https://goo.gl/maps/HEiNyk3n3h42.
We’ll leave cars there and drive to the DEC parking area on Mill Brook Rd. to start the hike: https://goo.gl/maps/sSwf7RH81L72
This hike is mostly on the Dry Brook Ridge trail, but we’ll take a short, optional, bushwhack detour to the Dry Brook Ridge summit.
April 21, 2021This past year has been a time change for the Delhi Trails. First, a logging operation began that forced the closing of the northern section of the Gribley Trail last fall and was then suspended for winter. It will resume soon. Watch for an announcement of the temporary closing of the trail.
Second, the southern section of the Smith Pond Trail was closed due to the wishes of the private landowner, who had previously permitted it. We are currently working on a rerouting that will include two sections. One section will return to the Smith Pond kiosk on Rt. 28. A spur will connect to the parking lot at the Immanuel Lutheran Church. Hikers will be able to hike a loop and return to either of the parking areas. (Please do not park in the church lot during Sunday services.) Overflow parking is available at the Sheldon Drive parking lot on the north side of Delaware Academy.
Third, later this year we will reroute part of the Gribley Trail so that the hiking trail is not co-aligned with the snowmobile trail. By doing so, we will create a safer and better experience for snowmobilers and for hikers.
April 8, 2021 After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, we are happy to restart our in-person event schedule. The Annual Ephemeral Wildflower Hike in Kelly Hollow is always popular. Check it out and register early as space is limited.
We will continue to follow social distancing protocols, with masks on in the parking lot and optional on the trails. Please maintain safe distancing at all times.
We discourage carpooling unless occupants are from the same household, or have all been vaccinated. We will not arrange carpooling at this time.
We want to call your attention to a proposed energy development here in the Catskills that is audacious and concerning. Premium Energy Holdings of California has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin a preliminary study for a project that would build a dam in the Catskill Park. The resulting reservoir would be the source of water that would be released periodically to generate electricity by turning turbines that would be installed below ground level. The water would be drawn and pumped up from NYC’s Ashokan Reservoir. In addition, power lines would need to be installed. Interestingly, the company, Premium Energy, did not notify the NYCDEP, the controlling agency, of their plans to file for a permit. Nor did they explore the idea with any other Catskills entity, apparently. They have demonstrated a lack of respect for the Catskill Park, the watershed and for local communities that suggests a warning for how they will proceed if they receive a permit.
Three possible sites for the dam have been proposed. Each would create major impacts on Catskills communities, the protected lands of the Catskill Park, important infrastructure, Catskills fisheries and, of course, on water quality in the NYC watershed supply system. Each would flood approximately 200 to 300 acres and require a dam of over 2000 feet in length.
While we support all responsible efforts to create alternative means of producing electric energy, those efforts must take into account the effects on communities and on conserved areas that are vital to the ecological health and well being of our planet. The Catskill Park, America’s First Wilderness, is such a place. Established by New York State and protected by the state constitution as “forever wild’, it deserves and must receive the highest degree of protection possible. The Premium Energy project would cause permanent and irreparable harm, and, therefore, it must be rejected.
It is the CMC’s opinion that the proposal is without merit and that FERC should deny the application. We encourage individual citizens; to express their opposition by posting a comment with FERC by using this link: https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. Comments are due no later than April 12.
What better way to begin the restart of CMC in-person events than with our Annual Ephemeral Wildflower Hike at Kelly Hollow? This perennial favorite comes when the forests are springing back to life, with budding trees and early wildflowers galore.
This a chance to find and identify the beautiful Spring ephemeral wildflowers which are so named because they appear in early spring when they flower and fruit and then die back, all in a short period before the trees have had a chance to leaf out. Most hikers never see these flowers because they wait for late spring or summer to get into the woods. We will look for Trillium, Spring beauties, Trout Lily, Hepatica, Violets, Squirrel Corn, Dutchman’s Breeches, Jack-In-The-Pulpit and many others. We may also find some early mushrooms and ramps.
Kelly Hollow is one of the most beautiful short trails in the Catskills with rocky streams and waterfalls. It has a combination of coniferous and deciduous forests with a lovely abandoned beaver pond near a lean-to at the top. The trail is an easy to moderate loop of about 4 miles. Bring lunch and/or snacks to have at the lean-to (there is a privy nearby.)
We will continue to follow social distancing protocols, with masks on in the parking lot and optional on the trail. Please maintain safe distancing at all times.
March 12, 2021 Beginning on March 21st, the first day of spring, the requirements for completing the 4 Seasons 140 and Catskills Grid 420 programs will reflect the closure of Doubletop and Graham Mountains to public access by replacing them with Dry Brook Ridge (3465′) and Mill Brook (Ridge) Mountain (3465′), respectively. Both replacements are only 35′ lower than the official high peaks and are in the same Western Catskills region as Doubletop and Graham. Unlike the trailless peaks they replace, both Mill Brook Mountain and Dry Brook Ridge can be traversed on trails. By adopting them for our program, we have chosen to avoid encouraging increased hiking on other trailless peaks. Our choice also aligns the new requirements with those of the Catskills All Trails Challenge.
After March 20th, hikes to the summit of South Doubletop will no longer qualify for the Catskills 4 Seasons 140 program. In no event should any hiker climb either Doubletop or Graham Mountains as they are on private property and have been closed to the public by the landowner, effective January 14th. Trespassers are subject to prosecution.
