Favorite Catskills Day Hike: Mt Wittenberg
.jpg "Favorite Catskills Day Hike: Mt Wittenberg")
My wife and I have been going to the Catskills in New York State for the past 6 years for our long summer vacation. This mountain range is located in a surprisingly rural region about 100 miles north of New York City and just under 4 hours (by car) from Boston. We love it there. The hiking, backpacking, and rock climbing are all excellent and there are many lakes, ponds, waterfalls, and creeks to jump into when the weather gets hot.
The Catskills are a lot like the White Mountains in New Hampshire in that there are many mountains concentrated in a fairly small area. However, the elevations of the 35 major peaks in the Catskills range from 3,500 ft – 4,000 ft, a bit lower than the 4,000 footers in the Whites. They are still challenging and in fact about half of them are trail-less and require bushwacking to summit, unlike most of the peaks in the White which have well beaten paths to their summits.
One of my favorite day hikes there is the ascent of Mt Wittenberg (3,780 ft.) Access is from the Woodland Valley State Campground and round trip distance is 6.8 miles. (If you arrive early, make sure you wait until the ranger arrives to pay for parking: otherwise you risk a hefty fine.) Access is via the steep and challenging Wittenberg-Cornell-Slide trail following the red DEC markers. Upon attaining the summit, hikers are rewarded with one of the best scenic overlooks in the Catskills. The sweeping view includes the Devil's Path to the north, Peakamoose and Table Mountains to the south, and the Ashokan Reservoir and Hudson Valley to the east.
Hardy hikers or backpackers can extend the trip to take in Cornell Mountain (3,860 ft) and Slide Mountain (4,180 ft), the highest peak in the Catskills at mile 4.8 along the path.
Spotting a car in the Catskills can be a bit of a challenge since the roads are poorly marked and their route numbers change at county boundaries. The best way to find your way around is using the Delorme New York Atlas and Gazetteer
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I am loving reading all your trip reports, the pictures are wonderful. Thank you for sharing…
Jim. Thank you. I really like writing them and giving people a glimpse of the places I’ve been. I’ve been following your blog too for about a year. All of your geocaching stuff is quite interesting, plus you live in western mass, I think. One of my favorite places to hike and kayak. I’ll be out in Florence this Sunday.
I’ve been following your blog for a few months now, and it’s time to come out of the lurking mode. Your posts on the Catskills are really making me want to get back there. I spent a lot of time around North-South Lake and Slide Mt in college, and I’ve been meaning to get back there for a while. Gorgeous area, and great trails! I’ve had to bail out twice in the past two years on backpacking the Long Path, which goes right over Wittenberg if I remember correctly. Keep the reports coming!
The Catskills are a hidden gem. I’m working on a post about The Escarpment Trail which is one of my favorite multi-day trips in the area, so look for that next week. I’ve looked into hiking the Long Path myself, but it used to have a lot of road segments in it. From what I gather, those are being filled now with trail as more landowners are granting access rights. Glad that you’ve come out from lurking and hope to hear more from you.
Great stuff! Never one to turn down a new list to complete, I’m going to start off my 35 with this hike next week. (I’m a highpointer, AT thru-hiker, NEHH’er, etc… but have never been to the Catskills!)
Two questions:
1. When does the ranger arrive to collect his money? I was hoping to hit the trail early to make it back home by evening.
2. Exact mileages are hard to come by in the Catskills for some reason. My plan is to do not only Wittenberg but continue on to Cornell and Slide, and then return to my car at Woodland Valley. By your reckoning, that’s a RT of 9.6. The Catskill Mtn Guide pegs it at 14. Another source tells me it’s around 12.
Any help would be appreciated!
There are a lot of different trail combinations, so it’s hard to say. Your best approach is to buy the NY-NJ Trail Conference Catskills maps when you get into the region. They are tyvek and perfect for figuring out the route you want to take. The 3500 club is a challenge. Enjoy!