Catskill High Peaks

The Catskill High Peaks are all those mountains in the Catskill Mountains in New York in the USA above 3,500 ft (1067 m) in elevation whose summits are separated either by one-half mile (805 m) or a vertical drop of at least 200 ft (61 m) between it and the next nearest separate summit. By usual standards, these mountains are rather low and rounded, and mostly covered by vegetation.

Unlike the Adirondack High Peaks, those in the Catskills are more evenly distributed around the eastern half of the range instead of being confined to one small area. All except Bearpen and Vly lie within the Catskill Park Blue Line.

The 3,500 foot (1067 m) elevation was chosen in the early 1950s when Dan Smiley, a descendant of the founders of Mohonk Mountain House and his fellow birders were trying to find the elusive Bicknell's Thrush, which prefers to nest and breed in the boreal forests that predominate above that elevation in the Catskills. They drew up a list nearly identical to the one below and published it in a naturalists' journal.

A decade later hikers interested in peak bagging formed the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club, an organization similar to the better-known Adirondack 46ers, to promote the climbing of 34 of the 35 peaks listed below ("Southwest Hunter" was added to the list in 1992). Prospective members are required to climb all (13 have no established route to the summit, requiring a bushwhack) and then do Slide, Blackhead, Balsam and Panther mountains again in wintertime.

Today New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation enforces special rules for all the lands it manages in the Catskills above 3,500 feet (1,067 m), whether tiny plots such as on Rocky or vast ridgetops as on Plateau, Hunter and West Kill, due to the fragility of the ecosystems. In these areas, camping is permitted only in dire emergencies except during winter, when snow shields the earth somewhat, and open fires are banned. Almost all were designated Bird Conservation Areas by Gov. George Pataki in 1999, due to Bicknell's and other vulnerable species that return there in springtime to nest and breed.

Surveys of the Catskills date to the 1940s at the newest, and exact elevations have never been officially determined for many of these peaks. In those cases, their elevations are indicated by the highest 20 foot (6 m) contour shown on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) quadrangles with a plus (+) sign.

The high peaks:

Slide Mountain 4180+ ft (1274 m)

Hunter Mountain 4040+ ft (1231 m)

Black Dome 3980+ ft (1213 m)

Thomas Cole 3940+ ft (1201 m) - named after painter Thomas Cole.

Blackhead 3940+ ft (1201 m)

West Kill 3880+ ft (1183 m)

Graham Mountain 3868 ft (1179 m)

Doubletop Mountain 3860+ ft (1177 m)

Cornell Mountain 3860+ ft (1177 m)

Table Mountain 3847 ft (1173 m)

Peekamoose Mountain 3843 ft (1171 m)

Plateau Mountain 3840+ ft (1170 m)

Sugarloaf Mountain 3800+ ft (1158 m)

Wittenberg Mountain 3780+ ft (1152 m)

"Southwest Hunter"* 3740+ ft (1140 m)

Balsam Lake 3723 ft (1135 m)

Lone Mountain 3721 ft (1134 m)

Panther Mountain 3720+ ft (1134 m)

Big Indian Mountain 3700+ ft (1128 m)

Friday Mountain 3694 ft (1126 m)

Rusk Mountain 3680+ ft (1127 m)

Kaaterskill High Peak 3655 ft (1114 m)

Twin Mountain 3640+ ft (1109 m)

Balsam Cap 3623 ft (1104 m)

Fir Mountain 3620+ ft (1103 m)

North Dome 3610 ft (1100 m)

Eagle Mountain 3600+ ft (1097 m)

Balsam Mountain 3600+ ft (1097 m)

Bearpen Mountain3600+ ft** (1097 m)

Indian Head 3573 ft (1089 m)

Sherrill Mountain 3540+ ft (1079 m)

Halcott Mountain 3537 ft (1078 m)

Vly Mountain 3529 ft (1076 m)

Windham High Peak 3524 ft (1074 m)

Rocky Mountain 3508 ft (1069 m)

• The name is currently unofficial. It refers to the peak that rises between Hunter and West Kill on the USGS Lexington quad

• • This refers not to "Bearpen Mountain" shown on the USGS Prattsville quad straddling the border between Delaware and Greene counties at 3,520 feet (1073 m), but rather the unnamed higher area approximately one-half mile (800 m) to the southeast in Greene County.

External links

• High Peaks area information (http://catskills.hvnet.com)
• Catskill Mouantins Hiking Information (http://www.catskillguide.com/hiking.htm)
• Online Guide to the Catskill Mountains (http://www.catskillguide.com)
• The Catskill Archive - history of the Catskill Mtns. (http://www.catskillarchive.com)