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The Slide Mountain Wilderness Area

Region

The Slide Mountain Wilderness Area is an almost 50,000 acre area of state-owned Forest Preserve located in the Catskills of New York. The area is home to some of the most popular hikes in the park as well as the tallest mountain, Slide Mountain, which is also a requirement for the Northeast 4,000 footer club.

The Burroughs Range

Cutting through the middle of the region is the Burroughs Range named after John Burroughs. The range includes Slide Mountain, Cornell Mountain, and Wittenberg Mountain. These mountains are some of the most popular hiking destinations in the park for peakbaggers, offering high elevations on Slide, challenging trail obstacles on Cornell, and beautiful vistas on Wittenberg. This range is often hiked as a traverse or an out-and-back.

The Catskill Divide

Running vertically through the wilderness area is the Catskill Divide, a ridge of mountains where the watersheds to the west drain into the Delaware River, and to the East the Hudson.

The Catskill Nine

This wilderness is home to one of the most challenging and efficient peakbagging routes in the park, known as the Catskill Nine. This hike includes tagging nine mountains on the list of 3,500 ft. requirements, including Peekamoose, Table, Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap, Friday, Cornell, Wittenberg, and Slide. This route can be done starting from many different points, and is done in a single push or as an overnight backpacking trip. The route takes the hiker across the Catskill Divide Ridge and along the Burroughs Range. A common variation of this route is called The Catskill Six, which omits the Burroughs Range and focuses on the four bushwhacked peaks plus Table and Peekamoose.

Campsites and Shelters

There are various camping options in the area. As per Catskills regulations, camping is allowed anywhere that is on public land and isn’t within 150 ft. of water, a shelter, or the trail. There are many designated campsites at the base of the Neversink, accessed from Denning Road Trailhead. There is a lean-to near the summit of Table Mountain, known as the Bouton Memorial Lean-to. On the Burroughs Range, there is a campsite on the Curtis Ormsbee trail, as well as a few others along the ridge in between Slide and Cornell. The Terrace Mountain Lean-to can be accessed via the Tonisgah or Slide Cornell Wittenberg Trails, and the Woodland Valley Campground below offers paid camping. Giant Ledge is one of the most popular camping destinations in the Catskills with many sites available with close access to the viewpoints. To the north, the fox hollow lean-to is available for camping.