IMPORTANT NOTICE: Listing the new sections of the Red Hill Fire Tower Trail and the Vernooy Kill Falls Trail. See new trail logs below.
NOTICE: The Catskills All Trails Challenge Gets a Facebook Group
IMPORTANT NOTICE: De-listing the Jockey Hill Trails
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Listing the Meads Meadow Trail and the Overloop Trail at Overlook Mtn.
How well do you know the Catskills? Measuring nearly 60 miles by 40 miles as the crow flies, the Catskill Park covers over 1100 square miles, making it one of the largest parks in America. There are nearly 350 miles of hiking trails within the ‘blue line’ that marks the boundaries of the Catskill Park on maps. The Park contains well over 700,000 acres, and nearly 300,000 acres of those are constitutionally protected forest preserve. When most people think of hiking in the Catskills, they naturally think of climbing mountains, especially the high peaks. Many hikers look at the maps and are aware of all the trails that lead to smaller mountain summits, to waterfalls, and to ponds. Perhaps they hike a few of them, but most never quite get around to the others, if they think of them at all. They don’t know what they’re missing!
Redlining, or hiking all of a trail or a set of trails, has been popular for many years. Of America’s many long distance trails, two pass through the Catskills: the Long Path and the Finger Lakes Trail. Many backpackers and day hikers come to the Catskills to hike the Park’s two best known wholly contained trails, the Escarpment Trail and the Devil’s Path.
The Catskill Mountain Club is happy to announce an initiative to help raise awareness of all these uniquely interesting trails, each one leading to features that promise an outdoor experience worth having. The awarding of a Certificate of Completion plus a Catskills All Trails Challenge (CATC) Patch to those who hike all of the designated hiking trails in the Catskill Park will provide an additional incentive to make that extra effort. We hope you take this Catskills All Trails Challenge and discover for yourself all that the Park’s trails offer. And we hope you will share your experiences and knowledge with others.
You can get started any time! Simply download the List of Trails and go. There is a PDF file to use for a printed list that you can record the dates of your hikes on. To keep a digital record, you might want to use the spreadsheet which provides columns fro dates and comments. Be sure to check the Qualifications so that you can maintain adequate records and fulfill all requirements. In them you’ll find out more about the award and about the Application for recognition of your achievements. See you at the awards ceremony!
Want to join a group to report Catskills Trail Conditions? Click here.
Catskills All Trails Challenge Log.xls*
All-Trails-Certificate-qualifications and application form
The Awards
When you complete the qualifications, you will be awarded a personalized, numbered Certificate of Completion, a Catskills All Trails patch and a Catskills All Trails shirt. These awards are available only to qualifying hikers. 
Preparation
The CMC is a member of the American Hiking Society and of Leave No Trace. We maintain pages on this website that are helpful to hikers concerning appropriate outfitting for safety and for seasonal comfort in the Catskills, and for information concerning NYSDEC regulations. We also endorse Leave No Trace principles and maintain a page explaining those. We encourage all hikers to be familiar with these two topics. Following best practices will greatly enhance the hiking experience, and could save your life. https://catskillmountainclub.org/skills-and-info/
The CMC is also a member of the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference (we strongly recommend using their Catskill Trails map set) and the Finger Lakes Trail Conference. We maintain many miles of trails in the Catskills. If you encounter obstacles, such as downed trees or growth that make hiking on the trail difficult due to encroachment, please send an email to the following address describing the type and location of the problem that you found. Be as specific as you can. Thank you.
Email: info@catskillmountainclub.org
Congratulations to our Catskills All Trails Challenge Finishers!
| #1 David White |
| #2 Ralph Bressler |
| #3 Carol White |
| #4 Mike Dwyer |
| #5 Ellen Dwyer |
| #6 George Grzyb |
| #7 Laura Smith – 3 time qualifier |
| #8 Ken Morgan |
| #9 Mark Petrie – 2 time qualifier |
| #10 Tom Martone |
| #11 Jim Bryden |
| #12 Laurel Bryden |
| #13 Heather Rolland |
| #14 Rick Taylor |
| #15 Steve Emanuel |
| #16 Anna Martone |
| #17 Laura Sanford |
| #18 Kathy Mario |
| #19 Jim Gebhard |
| #20 Johnny Witter |
| #21 Richard Williams |
| #22 Brian Bacher |
| #23 Michele Corn Farrell |
| #24 Andrew Ferguson |
| #25 Diane Linenbroker – 2 time qualifier |
| #26 Danielle DeGraw |
| #27 Chuck Stumpf |
| #28 Linda Kukol |
| #29 Karen Glemming |
| #30 Seong Gui Choi |
| #31 Young In Choi |
| #32 Dorothy Kucar |
| #33 Glenda Brown |
| #34 Peter Brown |
| #35 Marv Freedman |
| #36 Paul Tomasko |
| #37 Jason Pelton – 2 time qualifier |
| #38 Deanna Felicetta |
| #39 Wendell George |
| #40 Paul Martin |
| #41 Sara Gulbrandsen |
| #42 Al Purdy – 3 time qualifier |
| #43 Jeffrey Oliveri |
| #44 Luanne Vallese |
| #45 Ethan Rosen |
| #46 Marguerite Munch-Weber |
| #47 Lisa Gizzarelli-Drago |
| #48 Lyn Walker |
| #49 Steve Welgoss |
| #50 Samantha Cash |
| #51 Laurie Rankin |
| #52 Tom Rankin |
| #53 Kyle Holden |
| #54 Robert Drake |
| #55 Jeffrey Levitt |
| #56 Mark Jones |
| #57 Luna Pelton |
| #58 Josh Naylor |
| #59 Justin McNaughten |
| #60 Kip Wilson |
| #61 Ken Posner |
| #62 Jim Bouton |
| #63 Margaret McGrath |
| #64 Gerry Griffin |
| #65 Yong Ae Moehs |
| #66 Lois Viola Swears |
| #67 Noam Yaffe |
| #68 Jonas Bers |
There is no blue trail at Jockey Hill on the NYNJTC map! Where is it?
Thanks for the question, Ralph. The DEC is currently working to build new trails at Jockey Hill under the recently approved Bluestone Wild Forest Unit Management Plan. The next edition of the NY/NJ Trail Conference maps will no doubt have the new trail layout.
So, if I go there, will I find the blue trail for the challenge?
I would also like to know how the requirements should be handled for this Blue Trail. Do we simply ignore it?
The trail is marked with yellow now. Some portions have not yet been marked, but the trail is apparent. You can use the DEC map at the following link for more informaton. http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/recmapbswf.pdf
I was able to find the poorly marked but well worn “blue” trail in July. It seems to be what is shown off of the yellow trail on the DEC map and can be followed “straight” back from the road to the yellow trail about 0.7mi to the west of the connection they show. I went a long way before I saw the first blue marker and then they were intermittent.
Does the CMC have plans to lead hikes to any of the trails?
The CMC will be organizing hikes on some of the less travelled trails on the list. Stay tuned. New events will be posted on the website and on our Facebook page.
Are the segments on the roads required as part of the All Trails Challenge? I know they are marked on the maps but I wasn’t sure since they just connect one trail to another.
Road segments are not required for the CATs Challenge, only the listed designated hiking trails.
Thanks for inquiring and happy hiking!
I have completed both winter 3500 and the 39. And I have started the all trails challenge.is there a forum to post my trip reports. And congrats to everyone that has completed this challenge already.
Thanks for the suggestion! We’ll look into it.
Some trails follow paved roads, some unpaved, some closed only in Winter. Which are required? For example, a portion of the Neversink Hardenburgh Trail runs for 1.65 mi on unpaved road between the Hardenburgh Trail PA and the Balsam Lake PA along Beaverkill Rd. This section is closed in the Winter. Is this section required? Thank you.
It isn’t a requirement to hike sections of trails that are on public roads, whether paved or not.
Thank you.
Any chance there might be a winter patch some day?
You’re the first to raise the question, Rick. I wouldn’t look for that to happen in the near future, but it’s interesting to think about. Thanks for bringing it up.
I’m 37.35 miles away from my all trails finish.
This is a great time of year to finish them. With the ephemeral wildfowers coming into bloom and the trees still leafless, it’s beautiful out there. Be prepared for the blackflies, though!
I was wondering if there is a completion badge for the Devil’s Path trail? I’m not seeing it mentioned anywhere so I’m guessing not. Is it something that could be considered?
Thanks for your comment, Jay. We have talked about a patch for the DP and for the Escarpment Trail. We are a bit reluctant to draw even more attention to these two spectacular but overused trails, especially the DP. We’ll keep your thoughts in mind, though. We can’t help but think it would be pretty cool, too.
Is it true that Jockey Hill has been removed from the redline?
Yes, Jockey Hill has been delisted from the All Trails Challenge requirements. The area is becoming more developed with mountain biking in mind. Adjacent Onteora Lake is still required.
Has anyone who has completed this done so in one continuous attempt, or has everyone done it over the course of years with many trips?
No one has attempted to do it in a single trip, to our knowledge. That would be a cool backpacking adventure!
I did it over many months.
I have the list, how do I find the actual maps, difficulty rating and whether they are a loop??
The best maps are the ones published by the New York / New Jersey Trail Conference. A brand new edition is coming very soon. They’re topo maps and they have all the trails, so you’ll find them very useful when determining difficulty and route. Happy trails!
Those who have qualified prior to the addition of the new Overlook trails, I would urge you to check them out. Snowshoed these in winter with a headlamp and the experience on a warm cloudless night was surreal. Cheers!