West Kill Mountain

West Kill Mountain stands on the western end of the Devil's Path, the long, notoriously rugged ridgeline that ropes together some of the roughest summits in the Catskills. To its east the land drops away into Diamond Notch, a deep cleft that separates West Kill from Southwest Hunter Mountain, and to its west the ridge runs on toward North Dome. The West Kill stream that gives the mountain its name flows down the northern slope and eventually joins the Schoharie Creek on its way to the Mohawk and the Hudson.

At 3,880 feet West Kill ranks sixth among the thirty-odd High Peaks of the Catskills, the summits over 3,500 feet that hikers chase to earn membership in the Catskill 3500 Club, founded back in 1962 to spread interest in walking these mountains. West Kill is one of the more rewarding of them, because unlike many Catskill summits it offers a genuine open view part way up, at Buck Ridge, rather than only a wooded high point.

The classic route begins at the Diamond Notch trailhead at the very end of Spruceton Road and follows a blue-blazed trail up along the West Kill stream. Within the first mile it reaches Diamond Notch Falls, a graceful cascade that drops in an amphitheater of rock with a small meadow beside it, a fine reward on its own and a favorite short walk for families who go no farther.

Above the falls the trail meets the red-blazed Devil's Path and begins climbing in earnest, steep and sustained, through dark evergreen forest and past a shadowy rock overhang that hikers call the cave. The grade eases and steepens by turns until it opens onto Buck Ridge Lookout, a rock shelf facing east over a broad sweep of country. From here you look across to Hunter Mountain and Southwest Hunter, out to the Blackhead Range, and over the folds of the Devil's Path, with many of the great Catskill peaks laid out in a single view.

The summit itself lies a little farther on, higher but hemmed in by trees, so most hikers linger at Buck Ridge for lunch and the view, then tag the top for the sake of the list. It is that quirk, a lookout better than the summit, that gives West Kill its particular character.

Everything you walk through on West Kill is public land, part of the Catskill Forest Preserve that New York began setting aside in 1885. Since 1894 the state constitution has protected these lands under a single famous clause: they are to be kept forever wild, never logged, sold, or developed. That short promise is why the Spruceton Valley still ends in unbroken forest rather than in houses, and why the woods on the climb feel so deep and quiet.

West Kill and its neighbor Hunter sit inside the Hunter-West Kill Wilderness, one of the most strictly protected classes of Forest Preserve land, where the goal is to leave nature to run its own course. There are no facilities on the mountain and few crowds even in fall, when the bigger Catskill trailheads fill up. For a hiker, that combination of a real summit, a superb lookout, and genuine wilderness quiet is exactly the draw.

Because it is wilderness, the rules are simple and worth honoring: stay on the marked trails, carry out all your trash, and leave the falls, the forest, and the views as you found them for the next person up the valley.

The trailhead sits at the end of Spruceton Road, which runs west up the valley from the hamlet of West Kill off Route 42, ending at a state parking area against the mountains. The drive up the valley alongside the stream is a pleasure in itself, and the last stop for supplies is well before the trailhead, so fill up and pack water before you turn up the road.

This is a strenuous climb best given a full day, with a long steady ascent to the lookout and back, so wear real hiking boots, bring layers, and start early enough to be down before dark. In the cold months snow and ice make both the road and the trail far more serious, and true winter hiking here calls for proper gear and experience. In fair weather, though, West Kill rewards the effort as well as any peak in the Catskills, a quiet valley, a lovely waterfall, and one of the great open views in the range waiting up on Buck Ridge.

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