Hunter Mountain and the Kaaterskill Rail Trail

The Catskills are an ancient, deeply eroded plateau rather than a folded mountain range, their rounded summits and steep-walled cloves carved by streams cutting down into layers of old sandstone and shale. Hunter Mountain stands among the tallest of these summits, its height giving it the cool climate and long winters that made it a natural ski mountain.

This is deep-forest country of northern hardwoods and high stands of red spruce and balsam fir near the summits, where the air stays cool even in summer. This land lies at the edge of the homeland of the Lenape and the Mohican peoples, whose descendants continue as living nations, and whose ancestors knew and traveled these valleys long before the settlers came. The Catskills' rugged beauty later drew the painters of the Hudson River School, who made the region famous.

Reaching Hunter's summit on foot means a steep, rocky climb through changing forest, from hardwoods low down to fragrant spruce and fir near the top. The effort is rewarded by a historic fire tower standing on the summit, one of the surviving steel lookout towers built long ago to spot forest fires across the range.

Climbing the tower's stairs lifts you above the trees for a full-circle view over the sea of Catskill peaks, valleys, and, on the clearest days, distant ranges beyond. Fire towers like this one were once staffed by lonely watchers scanning for smoke, and today they are prized as some of the best viewpoints in the mountains. The summit is high and exposed, so weather can change fast, but the panorama makes it one of the great Catskill hikes.

In the late 1800s a mountain railroad wound up through the clove to carry tourists to the grand Catskill hotels and to haul tanbark and timber out of the forests. That railroad is long gone, but its graded bed makes an ideal trail, and the Kaaterskill Rail Trail follows its route along the valley floor.

Because it follows a railroad grade, the trail stays gentle and mostly level, a welcome contrast to the steep peak trails and an easy walk for families. It passes through cool hemlock groves, alongside rushing streams, and near waterfalls, with the walls of the clove rising on either side. Interpretive touches recall the vanished railroad and the golden age of Catskill tourism it once served.

Summer is cool and green in the high Catskills, ideal for hiking the peak trails and strolling the shaded rail trail, with the mountain streams running clear. Wildflowers line the paths and the deep forest offers relief from the valley heat below.

Fall brings the Catskills' famous foliage, when the hardwood slopes blaze red and gold and the views from the fire tower are at their most spectacular. Winter turns Hunter into a busy ski mountain, its slopes white while the surrounding forest sleeps under snow. Spring is quiet and wet, with waterfalls at their fullest and the woods greening up, a fine time for the gentler rail trail before the summer crowds arrive.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.