Peakbagging the Catskill 3500 High Peaks (Ultimate Guide)

• Vly & Bearpen — Two of the easiest mountains to climb in the Catskills. Vly is technically a bushwhack but clear DEC property boundary markers lead the way to the summit. Here’s the classic route.
• Table & Peekamoose — hike in from Denning for a beautiful moderate hike, or hike it from from the south for way more elevation gain.
• Balsam & Eagle — Doing Balsam from Rider Hollow brings you through some of the most picturesque terrain in the Catskills. Add Eagle on the way out.
• Big Indian & Fir — Beautiful terrain with lots of pretty stream crossings.
• Hunter & Southwest Hunter — Pack lots of water and a big lunch. Hunter Mountain is so big there’s no way to bag both peaks without a ton of legwork. I did it from the very steep Stony Clove Notch side.
• Indian Head & Twin — My absolute favorite two-peak hike. You’ll see! Follow the Devil’s Path up the east side of Indian Head, then cross over to Twin, and come back down to Prediger Rd via Jimmy Dolan Notch.
• Sugarloaf & Plateau — from Mink Hollow you get to decide which to do first: the relentlessly steep ascent up Plateau, or the long, sketchy ascent to Sugarloaf. LOL @ your legs.
• North Dome & Mt Sherrill — Two bushwhack mountains with multiple routes from north, east and west. You’ll have to re-do one on the way back out or add some road walk to form a loop.
• Wittenberg & Cornell — A wonderful out-and-back that includes the best view in the Catskills, plus Cornell Crack!
• Friday & Balsam Cap — A tough bushwhack combo. My advice: the first time you do it, do it with someone who’s done it before.
• Rocky & Lone — Many people feel this hike to the most remote, isolated and densely forested 3500 mountains is the most treacherous hike on the list. Leave it until you gain some experience, and go with someone who can guide you. I did it most recently via the Fisherman’s Path. I’ve also done it with a group on a long hike over six mountains (see below).

Catskill 3500 Triplets

Each of these hikes can be done with one car, as an out-and-back.

• Blackhead › Black Dome › Thomas Cole — the Blackhead range can be hiked via two routes from the north via Big Hollow, or from the west as an out-and-back from Barnum Road.
• Rusk › Hunter › Southwest Hunter — Add East Rusk to add some excellent pine-and-moss terrain after the relatively boring Rusk, and then loop around Hunter’s massive flanks to finish up on a rugged section of the Devil’s Path with an excellent scenic view. Best of all, at the very end, you get to dip your feet in Diamond Notch Falls.

Big Catskills Days

After some time in the hills, maybe you’ll feel like tackling a big multi-peak hike like this six-Catskills-peaks-in-a-single-day-hike which is a great way to power-jump through the list.

For these routes, you’ll definitely need two cars. You’ll probably also need a second pair of legs.

• Rusk › Hunter › Southwest Hunter › West Kill
• Eastern Devil’s Path: Indian Head › Twin › Sugarloaf › Plateau
• Thomas Cole › Black Dome › Blackhead › Escarpment Route over Acra Point and Burnt Knob › Windham High Peak
• Slide › Cornell › Wittenberg (which is the easier direction / reverse it if you want more elevation gain)
• The Six: Friday › Balsam Cap › Rocky › Lone › Table › Peekamoose — in terms of endurance, this hike is second only to “The Nine”. I was very glad to do it as part of a group hike led by 3500 Club hike leaders.

Next Steps

• Ready to get started? This Catskill 3500 Peaks List sorts all Catskill 3500 peaks by level-of-difficulty.
• Before you head out, grab the best hiking apps for your phone right now.
• Don’t know what gear you should bring? This list of basic mountain hiking gear will get you started.
• Whenever you’re heading into the wilderness, always pack the Ten Essentials.
• This winter hiking checklist will get you headed in the right direction for hiking in the cold, wind and snow.

BTW, the DEC’s website has great information on how to hike safely.

Remember, on every hike, always leave no trace.

More Catskill 3500 Peaks Challenges

Completed the Catskill High Peaks? Good for you. You’re just getting started!

Many people who become Catskill High Peakers immediately set a new objective to become Winter High Peakers by climbing the remaining 29 peaks in winter.

After that, some of us work on the warm seasons to earn a High Peaks 4-Season Patch by climbing the 3500 peaks in all four seasons, for a total of 140 climbs. Again, there’s no time limit. Most people spread this endeavor over a number of years.

Finally, a handful of hardy souls will go on to become a Catskill 420 Gridder — aka ”a gridiot” — by climbing each peak in each month of the year, for a total of 420 climbs. As of this writing, fewer than 50 people have completed this challenge.

Do, Re-Do, Do Again

Re-doing the Catskill 3500 peaks in the four seasons is so rewarding. The terrain and vegetation in the hills and valleys changes dramatically. From the rich, dappled forest canopy of the summer to the wide open valley views of the snowy months, these mountains are ever changing and ever new.

Winter mountain hiking is especially rewarding. You see so many tracks in the snow: fisher tracks, coyote and bobcat tracks, and bear prints.

There’s really never a bad time to start peakbagging the Catskills.