Rocky Mountain (Catskills)

Rocky Mountain is a mountain in the Slide Mountain Wilderness of the Catskills in New York State. At 3,508' elevation, it is the lowest elevation of all of the peaks required to join the Catskill 3500 club.Rocky is a trail-less peak with only vague herd paths leading to the summit, and as is custom for the area, a canister at the summit to be signed.

Popular Routes

Rocky is most often climbed as part of a combination with other high peaks nearby. It rests on the ridge known as the Catskill Divide which divides the major water basins of the area. Rocky is done most often in combination with Lone Mountain from the Denning Road Trailhead which takes the hiker up along the Fisherman's Path beside the East Branch of the Neversink River. Another common combination is to do Table, Peekamoose, Lone, and Rocky all together as a loop from Denning Road. Lone is a short distance from the summit of Table, and there is a decently established herd-path leading to the summit from that direction. Coming from the north, Rocky can be done in combination with Balsam Cap and Friday which are two more trail-less bushwhack peaks on the Catskill Divide. This combination can be done as a loop from Denning Road, or Moonhaw Road. The combination of doing Table, Peekamoose, Lone, Rocky, Friday and Balsam Cap is called the Catskill 6, and further adding Slide, Cornell, and Wittenberg is called the Catskill 9.

Summit and Views

There is a limited viewpoint to the southeast of the summit of Rocky, which is on a steep ledge. The summit itself is densely wooded with a Canister to be signed.

Water

Like the rest of the peaks along the Catskill Divide, Rocky is almost completely dry. Depending on the time of year, creeks and brooks will start to form as the hiker descends from the summit towards the Neversink, with varying degrees of reliability. Combined with the fact that this is one of the most remote peaks in the Catskills, hikers should take extra precautions and prepare by bringing enough water when attempting to summit Rocky from any direction.

Terrain

Rocky is notorious for having thick and difficult terrain surrounding the summit from all angles. The trees are extremely dense and depending on the time of year can be very difficult to navigate through. Herd paths are easily lost because of the density of the forest here. The thickest portion is between Rocky and Balsam Cap, but no matter which way a hiker is approaching Rocky it is critical to have a GPS or map and compass system to prevent from getting lost.

Camping

Camping near Rocky can be very challenging. The thickness of the brush means there are almost no clearings large enough to place a tent. Campers are technically allowed to camp below 3,500 ft. elevation, meaning that they could camp just about anywhere on Rocky save for the summit as it barely passes the 3,500 ft. mark. It may be easier to camp with a hammock instead of a tent in this scenario. As always, hikers can not make camp within 150 ft. of a trail, water source, or lean-to, but there are none of those to speak of near the summit of Rocky. The only obstacle for making good camp is the unforgiving terrain. The closest official campsites are near the Neversink river, at the Table Mountain Lean-to, or in the col between Slide and Cornell mountains along the Wittenberg Cornell Slide trail.