Lone Mountain

Lone Mountain is a trail-less peak in the Slide Mountain Wilderness of the Catskill Mountains of New York. It sits at 3,721 ft. of elevation and is one of the requirements to joining the Catskill 3500 club. Lone rests along the Catskill Divide, which is a ridge that divides the two major water basins of the Catskills.

Common Routes

Lone is seldom hiked on it's own, and is most often paired with nearby Rocky, which is another trail-less peak along the divide. When paired together, these two can be hiked from the Denning Road Trailhead near the Neversink River. The Neversink provides a somewhat regularly traversed herd path known as the Fisherman's Path which allows for easier navigation. Lone can often be done in combination with Table and/or Peekamoose Mountains. For this combo, hikers have the option of coming from Denning Road or from Peekamoose Road, traversing over Peekamoose and Table before connecting with the herd path to Lone that rests along the divide. The there option to reach Lone is by coming along the Divide to the north over Rocky, which would be done as part of the Catskill 6 or the Catskill 9. These are ambitious routes that involve combining most of or all of the high peaks in the area into a single hike.

Water

There is no water on or near the summit of Lone, but hikers will almost certainly pass water either at the Neversink River or the Table Mountain Spring on their way up.

Summit

There are no major viewpoints to speak of on Lone Mountain. Being a bushwhacked mountain with no trail, there is a maintained canister at the summit, and hikers are encouraged to sign in. There are some steep ledges when approaching from the col between Lone and Table, and there are boulders and ledges in all directions from the summit, so hikers should take care when traversing through the area.

Camping

Camping is allowed above 3,500 ft. in elevation only in the winter season in the Catskills. Below that, hikers are allowed to camp anywhere that's not within 150 feet of a water source, trail, or lean-to shelter. There is a lean-to near the summit of Table that is not far from the summit of Lone, and there are also campsites near the Neversink River along the Table Peekamoose Trail. Often times hikers will look to camp near Lone or Rocky when traversing the Nine, however, because of the think brush there isn't much opportunity to pitch a tent. Hammock campers may find more luck, but there are not many ideal clearings to speak of.