The All Trails Hiking Challenge: Redlining the Catskills

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.

IMG_2765r_WGHow 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!Indian Head and Twin with Nathan 031

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.

026 the way upYou 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.

 

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CATSKILL-PARK-TRAILS-LIST.pdf

Catskills All Trails Challenge Log.xls*

All-Trails-Certificate-qualifications and application form

 

 

 

The Awards

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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. Catskill Park All Trails Patch

 

 

 

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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

 

 

29 Comments

  1. Ralph Bressler
    Ralph Bressler 2014-10-04 at 8:28 pm . Reply

    There is no blue trail at Jockey Hill on the NYNJTC map! Where is it?

  2. Ralph Bressler
    Ralph Bressler 2014-10-04 at 11:47 pm . Reply

    So, if I go there, will I find the blue trail for the challenge?

    1. George
      George 2015-05-26 at 8:28 pm . Reply

      I would also like to know how the requirements should be handled for this Blue Trail. Do we simply ignore it?

  3. Linda A. Brandt
    Linda A. Brandt 2015-01-02 at 4:43 pm . Reply

    Does the CMC have plans to lead hikes to any of the trails?

  4. Diane
    Diane 2015-03-25 at 10:01 am . Reply

    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.

  5. Darlene tenhagen
    Darlene tenhagen 2015-11-08 at 10:02 pm . Reply

    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.

  6. Johnny Witter
    Johnny Witter 2015-12-09 at 2:21 pm . Reply

    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.

  7. Johnny Witter
    Johnny Witter 2015-12-10 at 10:03 pm . Reply

    Thank you.

  8. Rick Taylor
    Rick Taylor 2016-02-15 at 4:48 pm . Reply

    Any chance there might be a winter patch some day?

  9. Richard Williams
    Richard Williams 2016-04-28 at 3:38 pm . Reply

    I’m 37.35 miles away from my all trails finish.

  10. Jay Pelton
    Jay Pelton 2017-01-31 at 2:59 am . Reply

    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?

  11. Ethan
    Ethan 2018-06-18 at 10:30 am . Reply

    Is it true that Jockey Hill has been removed from the redline?

  12. garrett cole
    garrett cole 2018-10-04 at 10:45 am . Reply

    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?

    1. Richard Williams
      Richard Williams 2018-10-04 at 1:24 pm . Reply

      I did it over many months.

  13. Esther DeTray
    Esther DeTray 2018-11-07 at 2:31 pm . Reply

    I have the list, how do I find the actual maps, difficulty rating and whether they are a loop??

  14. George Grzyb
    George Grzyb 2019-02-05 at 12:47 pm . Reply

    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!

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