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The ART begins at the restored Andes Train Station. The easy- moderate out and back hike totals four miles. It follows the old rail bed for about 0.8 miles until ending at private property. This scenic section overlooking the Tremperskill Valley is flat and wide with a few short detours provided for use in wet conditions. Along the way are several nice viewpoints, including one over a beaver pond dammed up on the creek by the resident beavers.
From there the trail turns west (right) uphill onto the Bullet Hole Spur, which climbs the slopes of Hemlock Knoll. The trail is moderate in difficulty, with some short but fairly steep ups and downs.
After a short distance, the trail turns north (right) and after about 0.1 miles makes a sharp switchback to begin climbing a steeper section. This section passes some nice rock formations and glacial erratics in a mixed hardwood forest.
The height of land is reached in about 0.2 mile. The trail then begins a descent soon coming to a lovely fern glade. Just past the glade is a stone wall. The trail makes a sharp turn south before coming to a step-up and crossing the wall.
Directly ahead lies a large spruce plantation. The trail continues straight ahead following a row through the trees before coming to nice views of the adjacent field and the hills beyond. At this point it bears slightly right and descends towards a beautiful grove of old hemlocks.
After crossing the ruins of another stone wall the trail again swings right and loops through the hemlocks. The Bullet Hole Creek (on private land) can be heard and glimpsed to the left side of the trail.
As you walk through the hemlock forest pay careful attention to the markers. You will come to a place where the trail turns north (right). Going straight enters private lands. The trail soon crosses a largely flattened stone wall before reclimbing the hill through the spruce trees and returning to the step-up stone wall crossing. From this point retrace your steps back to the parking lot.
This hike over Cabot and Touch-Me-Not Mountains, with a loop to Little Pond is designed for those working on the Catskills All Trails Challenge. It completes the following trails on map 144: Campground Trail, Little Pond Trail, and Touch-Me-Not Trail.
Ashokan High Point is one of the best known mountains in the Catskills due to its prominent location next to the Ashokan Reservoir. At 3081′, it ranks in the Catskills Highest Hundred with an ascent of over 2000 feet. But perhaps it’s as well known for the mountain laurel stands that occupy its slopes. We’ll be looking for them as we climb through the progress of their bloom from early to late. Hikers should be prepared for a challenging climb during the last mile or so.
The Wildcats seen over a shoulder of Slide Mountain above Frost Valley.
We’ll meet at the Slide Mt parking area on CR47, beginning on the Slide Mt trail, then continuing toward the intersection at the Curtis-Ormsbee monument. From near the intersection we’ll begin our bushwhack, over East Wildcat’s sub-summits to the wooded main summit. The Wildcats form a long ridge rising to 3340′, a Catskills Hundred Highest peak.
Event Duration: 6 miles, 7 hours
Level of Difficulty: Moderate-Difficult, Bushwhack
Barkaboom Mountain dominates the view from the Pepacton Reservoir.
At 3117′, Barkaboom Mountain is the highest in the Pepacton Range. We will bushwhack this trailless peak from Alder Lake, crossing its three summits and hiking down to Big Pond Road. This is a moderate-difficult hike with about 1300′ of ascent.
South Plattekill and Round Top are two of the Catskills 100 highest – just over 3000ft. There is an old road that circles just below these two peaks (we may or may not actually summit either of them). North Plattekill – the ski area – is also accessable from this road. we plan to spot a car and do a 5 or 6 mile circle. There may be some bushwhacking.
This is a series of nine hikes sponsored by the Catskill Mountain Club (CMC) and led by Team Danger Girl (TDG), a Catskill Mountain-based hiking group. Join members of TDG for a scientific and exploratory engagement with Catskill mountain streams. Dorcinda Knauth and Dany Davis will lead this series of off trail explorations. Dany is a geologist with 17 years of experience studying Catskill Mountain streams and will lead the scientific part of these explorations. Other environmental scientists may join some of the hikes. The theme of these hikes can be along the lines of the saying “the journey is the destination”. In other words, the purpose of these hikes is not to put peaks in a collection bag, so the summit is not the ultimate destination. Instead, the hikes will focus on landscape interpretation, exploring wild sections of popular mountains by following the paths of streams, collecting data for a regional Catskill streams study, and maybe getting to the top of a mountain on some of the hikes.
There will be two categories of hikes: off trail adventurous explorations and trail-side family friendly engagements with streams. Both categories will include plenty of time sharing observations of the stream channel, ecosystem and riparian environment. We will stop often for discussions on the role of streams in the mountains, collecting some data on the stream’s shape and condition, as well as sharing lessons in landscape interpretation.
The family friendly hikes will focus on hands-on engagement in studying a stream at specific stream locations, walking the stream channel corridor to observe changes (expect to get wet) and encourage hikers to appreciate the role of streams in the Catskill environment. If children join, it would be best for the children to be school age and capable of hiking a couple of miles. These hikes will be limited to 10 participants plus the hike leaders (maximum group size is 12-14 depending on the hike).
The adventurous off trail explorations will be stream corridor bushwhacks up/down wild Catskill mountain terrain with some trail hiking. Science will be a central part of these hikes and there may be more stream data collection than in the family friendly hikes. The hikes are rated “Most Difficult” due to the variability of the headwater stream terrain, hiking in steep boulder streams, plenty of downed trees, and the ever present unknown one encounters when heading up/down a steep mountain drainage. Each of these hikes will have a mountain summit destination in mind; however, the science and exploration is the primary goal. Conditions may preclude getting to the top of the mountain. The hikes will be limited to 6-8 people plus the hike leaders (no more than 8-10 hikers total). Please note: your hike leaders will not have previously hiked some of these routes so obstacles to forward progress are unknown for some of these hikes – that is part of the adventure. Each hiker will need to consider themselves expert in off trail hiking in mountains. Footwear should be capable of hiking in and out of water (no sandals!).
Cascade Brook to Panther Mountain/Giant Ledge. Rating: Difficult. Meeting Place: Giant Ledge PA. The hike will include walking down CR47 to Cascade Brook (~1 mile) to reach the stream route up Panther Mountain then walking along the left descending side of the stream to stay on NYS land for the first 0.5 miles. After that, the hike stays in the stream drainage until it disappears in the talus below Panther’s summit. The route up Panther will be along a SW-trending ridge to the summit view point. From there the return hike is via trail to Giant Ledge and back to the PA. Be prepared for biting insects, loose rocks and other stream scrambling hazards, thick forest, cliffy bits and Catskill yetis. Total Distance: ~7 miles.
Event Duration: 7 miles, 9 hours
Level of Difficulty: Difficult
Leader(s): Team Danger Girl
Bring: lunch, snacks, beverages (2-3 qts).; boots and clothes suitable for bush and stream whacking; optional shoes for walking in streams; headlamp (recommended)/flashlight, bug protection/repellant.
Registration required by October 11. Register by contacting the leader. See below.
Group size is limited to 8, so register early.
Dogs allowed: No.
Questions about this event can be directed to: Dany Davis at wddavis2@gmail.com
Driving Directions:Meeting Place: Giant Ledge PA.
From SR 28 in Big Indian, go south 7.3 miles on Oliverea/Frost Valley Rd./Rte. 47 to the parking area on the right.
