The NYS DEC has decided to implement a new bear hunting season in the Catskills. The early season begins September 6 and runs until September 21. This additional hunting season coincides with one of the most attractive and busy hiking seasons in the Catskills. Because plants continue to be fully leafed out, visibility will be more difficult for all concerned and extra caution is important.
The CMC urges all hikers to wear blaze orange caps and/or vests when hiking. It is advisable to hike in groups in order to increase visibility and draw attention to your presence in the woods. Be observant, be careful and be safe.
August 15, 2014 – The CMC, in partnership with key community members and organizations including Village, Town, and the School boards, Immanuel Lutheran Church and O’Connor Hospital created this lovely multi-route trail system. Meet at the Immanuel Lutheran Church parking lot at 2:00 p.m. and join Catskill Mountain Club members and volunteers as they lead guided hikes on the four miles of much anticipated, newly established hiking trails.
The Delhi hiking trails consist of over four miles of hiking trails, named for beloved characters in the classic 1959 children’s novel My Side of Mountain which was set in Delhi.
August 12, 2014 – The Summer 2014 CMC News is chock full of interesting news and information. Learn some valuable tips for taking that perfect photograph on your hike. Find out about the Finger Lakes Trail and its 90 mile plus route through the Catskills. Read about how to have a good time hiking while improving your physical fitness (yes, even couch potatoes can hike)! Check it out here.
Did you know that you can get the CMC News sent to your inbox for free? We’d love to have you join the club, but if you’d like to give it a test drive first you can sign up for the newsletter and our announcements via email here. Just provide your contact information and check yes for “Send Me All Event Announcement Emails”. You can unsubcribe at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of the announcement.
You can now print your own map of The Palmer Hill Trail, the Shavertown Trail and the Andes Rail Trail/Bullet Hole Spur. You can also see them live and interactive!
June 9, 2014 – We woke up to a lovely day on Saturday, National Trails Day. And that wasn’t half as good as the rest of it! Over 50 people assembled at the trailhead of the brand new Palmer Hill Trail to celebrate our work and new prize. After a brief ceremony featuring remarks by Andes Town Supervisor Marty Donnelly, NYC DEP Recreation and Property Manager Charlie Laing and CMC President Rick Roberts, we had some refreshments, congratulated one another on a great partnership and its beautiful product and headed off for one of our more satisfying hikes in quite a while.
The Palmer Hill Trail consists of three segments that can be hiked in four distinct combinations, allowing hikers the options of short and easy hikes or moderately strenuous and longer hikes. The hiker can make complete routes of 1.2, 2.2, 2.7 or 3.7 miles. Each takes you through beautiful wildflower meadows that offer wide open views of the surrounding mountains and hills and of the bucolic scenery that Delaware County epitomizes. Along the way are centuries old foundations, a lovely stream and age old trees. In season, there will be blackberries and apples galore for the hungry hiker. And in winter the cross country skiing will be a dream come true.
The importance of this partnership between the DEP and the CMC is hard to overstate. With the help of the Town of Andes, we have collaborated on two new trails on DEP lands in less than a year, having opened the Shavertown Trail on August 30 of last year. Later this year we’ll open a trail on Bramley Mountain in the Town of Delhi. And there will be more to come, including one on the south side of the Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County and, eventually, in both Greene and Sullivan Counties.
By making these properties available for public recreation, without fee or required permit, the DEP has made an important commitment to the needs of the residents of the Catskills. The benefits to the health and economies of our communities are already being felt. The CMC is thrilled to have an opportunity of this magnitude to work towards the success of our mission of promoting non-motorized outdoor recreation that is sustainable and environmentally responsible and that benefits the physical and economic health of our local communities.
The Palmer Hill Trail will be a destination for those who love the Catskills and want to experience them as never before. So come out and enjoy the views. And, if you don’t already know, see one of the finest panoramas of the Catskill High Peaks anywhere. I won’t tell you where to look for it – come find out for yourself!
See video of the opening here. Thanks to Jessica Vecchione.
Many hikers and passers-by notice the signs that point us to the fabulous hiking trails that dot our fair Catskills. Most don’t think to ask how did that get here or who put that there. The truth is that the construction of new trails is an enormously labor intensive project – volunteers (yes, you read that correctly) spent well over 400 hours planning and building the new Palmer Hill Trail.
So with that said, I would like to extend an equally enormous thank you to those volunteers. They are truly deserving of thanks from all of us who hike and from those who understand the importance and ways of being good stewards of our natural resources. Their efforts benefit our personal health, our community health and our environmental health by giving us a chance to get out and experience the great outdoors. How better to learn?
Let me also invite you who are appreciative of this gift to join with us in the unending task of maintaining the Palmer Hill Trail and others in the Catskills, both those that the CMC has built and those that were given to us by previous generations of dedicated and generous hikers. You will be passing something of great value on to future generations.
Wendell George
Stewardship Chair
wendell@catskillmountainclub.org
An Enormous Thank You to:
Ann Roberti Bob Moses
Fred Reckner Bill Palmer
Jeff Ditchek John Exter
Rich Johnson Austin Petrone
Edie Mesick Laura Sanford
Kathy Mario Tom Miano
Gale Kabat Howard Raab
Nick Verni Lou Capello
Bud Gladstone
May 15, 2014 – The Spring Newsletter is here! We invite you to read here. There’s a great article on hiking with your dog, a book review, updates on the club goings on and the announcement of our new Lifetime Membership! And news about the great new CMC wicking shirts and caps
April 15, 2014 – This is the view you’ll have at the start of the Palmer Hill Trail. Yesterday the CMC got approval from the DEP for the route we’ve planned, and work will begin on the trail very soon. The Palmer Hill trail will be a very different Catskills hiking experience, taking you through beautiful open fields with ancient trees and stone walls in addition to wooded portions. At the right time of year you can even find a snack as there are several great apple trees near the trail.
Look for the grand opening of this trail on June 7th! If you are interested in helping with trail building and haven’t already signed up as a trail worker, please email Wendell@CatskillMountainClub.org.
