The Catskill Mountains, shortened to “The Catskills”, is a region of mountains and wilderness in central New York. The region is roughly 600,000 acres large and is managed by the New York State DEC. Roughly 120 miles from New York city, the Catskills has served as a popular hiking destination for hundreds of years. Common hiking activities in the region are hiking, backpacking, trail running, snowshoeing, and back-country skiing.
The Catskill 3500 club
The Catskills is home to the 3500 club, a peakbagging organization akin to the Adirondack 46ers that seeks to encourage climbing the regions 33 (formerly 35) mountains above 3,500 ft. in elevation. The organization was founded in 1962 and has gone through multiple iterations of the official list of required peaks.
Other Hiking Challenges
The Catskills Firetower challenge is another goal-based hiking list in the area, and two peaks in the region are on the list of North East 115 4000 footers, which brings a lot of new englanders to the region.
Hiker Towns
Towns like Phoneicia, Hunter, and Tannersville function as good hiker hubs providing amenities like restaurants, lodging, and resupply.
Long Distance Trails and Thru-Hikes
The Long Path (not to be confused with Vermont’s Long Trail) runs through the region. More commonly, hikers in the region flock to smaller thru-hikes such as The Devil’s Path, rumored to be “one of the most dangerous hikes in America”, and the Escarpment Trail, which takes hikers along the region’s edge and through some ruined remains of abandoned hotels.
Sub-Regions
- Slide Mountain Wilderness Area
- Panther Mountain Park
- Big Indian Wilderness
- Indian Head Wilderness
- Kaaterskill Wild Forest
- Rusk Mountain Wild Forest
- Phoenicia – Mount Tobias Wild Forest
- Hunter – West Kill Wilderness
- Delaware Wild Forest
- Windham – Blackhead Range Wilderness
- Shandaken Wild Forest
- Halcott mountain Wild Forest
- Dry Brook Ridge Wild Forest
- Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest
- Millowemoc Wild Forest
- Bearpen Mountain State Forest
- Sundown Wild Forest
- Vernoy Kill State Forest
- Bluestone Wild Forest
Geology and Formation
The area is technically a smaller sub-section of the larger Appalachian Mountains, however, by definition the “mountains” are actually mountains, but instead a raised plateau which has been dissected and eroded by an ancient river basin. This is what leads to many of the summits being relatively flat and around the same elevation.
