Mountains, Forests, Trails and Endless Outdoor Recreation Opportunities - Hunter Mountain Wild Forest
Written: Jan 23 '07 (Updated Feb 02 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: No-fee public lands, Mountains, Hiking, Biking, Skiing, Horseback riding, Bushwhacking, Fire Tower
Cons: Can be busy on holiday weekends, Backcountry - no handicapped facilities
The Bottom Line: With mountain peaks, miles of trails and many different recreation opportunities, it is hard for any outdoor enthusiast not to find something that they enjoy here
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| jps246's Full Review: Hunter Mountain Wild Forest, Catskills |
If you’re planning a hike in the Catskills or are simply looking for a destination that offers the challenge of a wild area, then you should consider planning a hike or a ski into the Hunter Mountain Wild Forest Area. With six mountain peaks, miles of trails and thousands of acres of trail-less areas to explore, this area has something for everyone, no matter the season or the activity.
Part of the larger Catskill State Park and Forest Preserve, the Hunter Mountain Wild Forest Area encompasses over 11,000 acres of forests, mountains, streams and a historical fire tower on the summit of Hunter Mountain.
Where is the Hunter Mt. Wild Forest?
Nestled in the northeastern portion of the Catskill Mountain region, the Hunter Mountain Wild Forest (HMWF) area stretches from the Town of Hunter in the east to the Towns of Jewett and Lexington in the west and encompasses one mountain summit over 4,000 feet (Hunter Mountain), two over 3,500 feet (Southwest Hunter and Rusk Mountain) and three other peaks over 3,000 feet (Evergreen, Pine Island and Packsaddle Mountains).
The HMWF is mostly surrounded by major roadways that provide access to the trailheads and public access points. Route 23A in the north provides access to County Route 6 from the west (Spruceton Road), which travels up the Spruceton Valley and provides access to the trailheads, fishing areas and public access sites throughout the valley. On the other side of the HMWF, Route 214 traveling north from Phoenicia provides the eastern access to the area via the Diamond Notch Road, the Devil’s Path Trailhead and the Becker Hollow Trailhead.
Forest Preserve?
The Catskill Park was created in 1885 to protect New York City’s water supplies and to provide outdoor recreational activities for the public. All public lands in the park are protected by the “Forever Wild” clause in the State constitution:
"The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed . . ."
About half of the Catskill Park is publicly owned, the other half is privately owned. All public land is open to the public for hiking, camping, fishing and hunting. Private land access is variable and it depends on the landowner. However, most trailheads are located on public land, so as long as you stay on marked trails, you will not run into any problems.
You can camp anywhere in the Forest Preserve so long as you are at least 150 feet from any open water (streams, creeks, rivers and lakes), 150 feet from any trail, 150 feet from any road and below 3500 feet. Elevations above 3500 feet are more fragile high mountain habitats and thus camping is prohibited above this elevation. Camping is also available in designated sites and at the lean-tos that are situated throughout the area. These lean-tos are three-sided log structures that are used on a first-come, first-serve basis, so you shouldn’t plan on always getting one if they are along your route.
The Park and the Forest Preserve are broken down into “management units” based on their acreage, their remoteness and a number of other factors. The Hunter Mountain Wild Forest area is one of those management areas. There are a number of other Wild Forest areas and Wilderness areas within the Catskills.
HMWF Activities
If it’s outdoors and doesn’t involved motorized vehicles, it’s probably something that you can find in the HMWF area. There are miles of hiking trails, a small network of horse trails, peaks without trails, fishing opportunities, and hunting during the proper seasons. The hiking trails are also open to mountain bikers and during the wintertime, are open to snowshoers and backcountry skiers.
I’ll stick with the activities I know best here, but if you want more information on the other activities, the Department of Environmental Conservation, who manage the Forest Preserve can be contacted. In addition, several trail groups publish guidebooks to the area and the NY-NJ Trail Conference publishes the comprehensive map set to the Catskill region.
Hiking
The Diamond Notch Trail, running from the end of Diamond Notch Road in the east to the end of Spruceton Road in the west is a three mile hike through Diamond Notch, past the Diamond Notch Lean-to and Buttermilk Falls. The trail also connects to the Devil’s Path and allows you to climb to the summit of Hunter Mountain in the HMWF and Westkill Mountain, in an adjacent Wilderness Area.
The Devil’s Path, also accessible from the east along Route 214 runs over 20 miles from the northern Devil’s Path Range and includes a portion over Hunter Mountain. Access is provided at the day-use parking area for the Devil’s Tombstone Campground and quickly climbs up Hunter Mountain where it reaches the Devil’s Acre Lean-to before ascending to the summit of the mountain and then traveling down to the Diamond Notch Trail.
The final eastern trailhead, accessible from Route 214 is the Becker Hollow Trailhead. This trail climbs up the edge of Becker Hollow, a ravine on the side of Hunter Mountain and is a short (2 miles), but very steep (rises over 2,000 feet) way to reach the summit of Hunter Mountain.
From the west in Spruceton Valley, there is the trailhead for the western end of the Diamond Notch Trail at the end of the Spruceton Valley Road. This trail provides access to both Hunter Mountain and Westkill Mountain.
There’s also the Spruceton Road trailhead, which provides access to Hunter Mountain and the John Robb lean-to via the old fire tower access road. Thus it provides the easiest climb up the mountain, as the slopes are generally not as steep as they are on the other trails. The road is still used to provide access to the Tower, so you may pass or be passed by a Department of Conservation vehicle at some point during your trip on this trail.
On the summit of Hunter Mountain, the Colonel’s Chair trail runs from Spruceton Trail over to the top of the Hunter Mountain Ski Area ski runs. This trail also provides access to the summit of Hunter Mountain for visitors riding the ski lift during the summer months, as it is only about a mile or so to walk from the top of the lift to the summit of the mountain.
There are no easy ways to do loop hikes in this area, however with a bit of road walking, there are two loops that are possible. You can use the Becker Hollow and the Devil’s Path trailheads on Route 214 to go up and over Hunter Mountain and then walk back along Route 214 for about a mile to your beginning trailhead. Along the Spruceton Road you can use the Diamond Notch and the Spruceton Trails to make a loop, but again, you will have to walk some distance along the Spruceton Road to complete the loop.
Skiing and Showshoeing
All hiking trails are open to skiing and snowshoe users in the wintertime. One of my favorite skis (and what I’d consider a classic Catskill backcountry ski) is a trip up the Spruceton Trail to the summit of Hunter. While there’s over 3 ½ miles of skiing up to the summit, there are also over 3 ½ miles of almost constant downhill on the way back. The wide nature of the access road provides great skiing conditions with good snow and the views from the summit in the winter are amazing.
Another good ski is either through Diamond Notch or up to the Notch and back down to either of the trailheads. The slopes are gentle enough for beginners and the Notch provides an interesting end-point or place to travel through.
Bushwhacking
A large portion of the HMWF is trailless and thus, if you want to explore it or climb the peaks without trails, you’ll have to go off-trail and bushwhack your way around the area. Besides Hunter Mountain, all of the remaining peaks in the HMWF are trailless, though in some areas, small and rough ‘herd’ paths have formed in some areas. It’s best not to rely on these paths though and instead use your map, compass (or GPS) and your own skills to find your way.
Fire Tower
The fire tower on the top of Hunter Mountain was formerly used as an observation point in order to detect fires throughout the area. It was staffed daily throughout the dry summer months with the observer staying either at the tower site in a small observers cabin adjacent to the tower or ‘commuting’ daily up the Spruceton Road to the tower.
Today the tower and the cabin have been restored by DEC staff and the tower is open to the public when interpretive staff is present. Even without the tower being open, you can still climb up the stairs of the tower and get a view over the forested summit of Hunter Mountain – where you can see almost all of the Catskills surrounding you.
The interpretive staff are generally at the tower on weekends during summer months.
Experiences
I spent a good amount of time growing up just down the street from the HMWF in the Catskills and I spent two summers as an Assistant Forest Ranger, working in the HMWF and surrounding management units, so I think it’s safe to say I’ve pretty much been all over it. I even got to help out with the restoration of the fire tower and the observer’s cabin, where I’ve gotten to spend the night a few times.
I’ll have to admit that there’s nothing quite like the ride up the Spruceton Trail in a truck, but I do enjoy hiking or skiing it more. Something about getting bounced around so much did me in I guess.
My favorite Catskill ski trip is on the Spruceton Trail. The ski up isn’t all that great (bring skins), but as you reach the summit of Hunter Mountain, you usually get to enter a winter wonderland, where the trees are encased in rime ice and then once you reach the fire tower, you can climb up and gaze out on the Catskills, draped in snow. Of course, when you head back down, that’s when the real fun starts. The road is wide and almost constantly heading downhill, which makes for great ski runs where you can work on your telemark technique and really carve some turns.
The trails in this area can be brutal. I’ll never forgot the evening I was going to ‘rush up’ the Becker Hollow Trail so that I could spend the night with my fellow Assistant Ranger at the observer’s cabin. 2,000 vertical feet in two miles is steep, it’s even steeper as you are carrying an overnight pack and you are trying to go as quickly as possible to make it to the summit before the sun sets.
The Devil’s Path too – climbing up through bands of cliffs as it climbs out of Stony Clove Notch can be a grueling climb. The only benefit there is that once you’re up on the shoulder of Hunter Mountain, the trail becomes much gentler as it passes Devil’s Acre lean-to and then climbs up to the summit.
Even the trip from the chairlift to the summit of Hunter is well worth it if you don’t want to have to hike the whole way. The views from the tower really aren’t paralleled anywhere else in the northern Catskills, as Hunter is the tallest peak in the area and gives you a panorama of the surrounding area.
For more information
You can contact the Department of Environmental Conservation directly at their Region 4 office at 607-652-7365. They should be able to either provide answers to any questions you may have or will direct you to the appropriate resources.
In addition, there are several guidebooks published for the Catskills from the Adirondack Mountain Club, the Appalachian Mountain and from local publishers including books from the Purple Mountain Press and the Black Dome Press. The NY-NJ Trail Conference publishes the most comprehensive set of maps for the area, which are indispensable for anyone in the Catskills.
Final Thoughts
Overall the Catskills are a great area for outdoor recreation and the Hunter Mountain Wild Forest area within the Park is no exception. With mountain peaks, miles of trails and many different recreation opportunities, it’s hard for any outdoor enthusiast not to find something that they enjoy here.
Catskill Resources
The Catskills
Woodstock
Hunter, Tannersville and Haines Falls
Phoenicia
Westkill Mountain Wilderness Area
Tremper Mountain Fire Tower
Hunter Mountain Fire Tower
Woodland Valley Campground
Devil's Tombstone Campground and Day-Use Area
Hunter Mountain Ski Resort
Ski Windham Ski Resort
Belleayre Mountain Ski Resort
Emerson Place
Catskill Trails Map Set
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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