• Hike # 1: Rip Van Winkle Hike – Join geologist Bob Titus in a moderate, 2 mile hike to Sunset Rock above North Lake. Along the way he will point out Devonian stratigraphy and Ice Age history while telling the tale of Rip Van Winkle, stopping at sites that closely match those described by Washington Irving. Meet at KRT Parking Lot at 9 am to car pool to North Lake
• Hike # 2: Historic Survey of North-South Lake – The area of North-South Lake has been home to various business, railroad, and recreational sites. Pete Senterman and Paul LaPierre will lead this easy 2 mile journey with possible side trip to the Catskill Mountain House Site. Meet at KRT Parking Lot at 9 am to car pool to North Lake.
• Hiike # 3: Elka Park Colosseum: Join Nancy Allen on this easy to moderate 3 ½ mile hike through the historic community of Elka Park along a dirt road to the Park’s Colosseum (reservoir). Meet at the KRT Parking Lot at 9 am to car pool to Elka Park.
• Hike # 4: Sphinx Rock and the Sofa on Prospect Mountain – Bob Gildersleeve will lead this approximately 2.5 mile easy to moderate hike starting from MTHS’ s U&D train station partially following along the Kaaterskill Rail Trail and using old woods roads and a short bushwhack to the ledge above Molly Smith’s parking area. Here we will look down on the location of Sphinx Rock. Nearby is a natural bench once called the sofa, and a unique view taking in Kaaterskill Clove, Kaaterskill Falls, and across the clove, Kaaterskill High Peak and Round Top. A natural ramp can take us to the ledge on which the Sphinx rests for a close-up view. If hikers wish, we may also have time to visit the platform at Kaaterskill Falls and be back for the BBQ at 1:00. Meet at the MTHS’s U&D Train Station at 9 am.

Registration Required by Weds. October 9. For questions and registration, Email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (518) 589-6657. Please leave your name, phone number, number of participants in your party, which hike you’d like to join and if you intend to stay for the BBQ lunch.

Bring: something to drink, good hiking shoes.

All hikes limited to 12 so register early.

Fee: Optional donation/membership encouraged for hike participants

$ 10/person for lunch

Dogs allowed: No

Questions about this event may be directed to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (518) 589-6657

Directions: From the North – Exit 21, I-87 NYS Thruway. Make left onto Rt 23B, follow signs to Route 23. Travel 5.5 miles, left at McDonald’s onto Route 32S. Take Route 32 seen miles to traffic light at Route 23A. Right onto Rt. 23A, go 4.5 miles up the mountain. MTHS Campus on right, KRT parking lot directly behind the Visitor’s Center.

From the South – Exit 20, I-87 NYS Thruway. Left at exit then right onto Rt. 32 for six miles. Bear left at NY 32A (blinking light) then left onto Rt. 23A (at the light). 4.5 miles up the mountain. MTHS Campus on right, KRT parking lot directly behind the Visitor’s Center.

The Direct path to South Mountain
Prepared for the Mountain Top Historical Society hike of June 8, 2019

The history of trails near the Catskill Mountain House is complex. The trails grew and changed over time, and over time some were forgotten. . Paths to new destinations were developed, and as tastes changed, some paths were abandoned. During the romantic era on the mid to late 19^th century the quest for the picturesque made certain sites popular. Among the most liked were the second ledge on South Mountain, Puddingstone Hall, Druid Rocks, Fairy Spring and Elvin Pass all evocative of the myths and legends so popular in the literature of the day

None of those sites are now on marked trails, yet they are reasonably easy to get to, though not necessarily easy to find. Our goal is to go off-trail to some, perhaps all, of these sites as well as sites like The Sphinx, Eagle Rock, and Boulder Rock along the existing trail. At times we may experience a sense of the picturesque and perhaps the sublime. (see: https://artmuseum.arizona.edu/events/event/19th-century-landscape-the-pastoral-the-picturesque-and-the-sublime)

From Pine Orchard, the site of the Catskill Mountain House, we will ascend through the woods, itself picturesque, to three picturesque highlights.

Right click on images enlarge them.

The Second Ledge which was called “The Lemon Squeezer” by stereographer J. Loeffler. We don’t know for sure whether the trail approached from the west requiring hikers to pass through one of two narrow passages, or from the east to a view emphasizing the path up the ledge they were about to climb. Most views are from the east. The 200 year history of the Kaaterskill region as a vacation destination has generated many names for area locations. The same location in different guidebooks, stereographs, souvenir booklets, and worse of all, postcards can have different names, and the same name can be given to different locations. The name Lemon Squeezer was used in guidebooks by Walton Van Loan and Samuel Rusk for a crevice near Fairy Spring at the top of South Mountain which they also called Elvin Pass.  Whatever it was called, the site is virtually unchanged. The imaginative hike can seem to be accompanied by 19th century Mountain House guests.

The foggy conditions on the day of this photograph taken in late May of 2019 may give us a sense of the picturesque. Climbing up what seems to be a natural route, we will have to exert a bit of effort to reach the top of the second ledge. From here, after fighting our way through a tangle of branches we will see what certainly was the original 19^th century to the next ledge.

Here in front of us is Puddingstone Hall. Puddingstone is a colloquial name for conglomerate, a rock made of pebbles held together in a sandy matrix. The rock, and the others on South Mountain, are sedimentary this one formed in flowing water able to carry the larger pebbles which ultimately mixed with sand and minerals cementing them into rock.

This photo pf Puddingstone Hall, taken on the same day as the previous one is another reason to not let rain or fog keep you out of the woods. Before we come back and climb through this crevice,we will walk along the bottom of the ledge and explore our next stop.

Druid Rocks are a short distance west of Puddingstone Hall. An 1863 “Guide to Rambles from the Catskill Mountain House” makes no mention of this site, but by 1879 they are prominently mentioned in Van Loan’s Catskill Mountain Guide. Here Walton Van Loan tells us we will see “several detached rocks of conglomerate, one of which resembles a gigantic toad or rabbit, according to the position from which you observe it. The Harry Fenn illustration depicts the area.

The remainder of our hike will be on the state trail. We will see The Sphinx, a ledge on South Mountain, "Bowlder Rock" and imagine a time when there were steps that made climbing it easier, perhaps descend through Fat Man's Delight to The Natural Bridge, and consider the traces of a glacier that helped shape the area over 20,000 years ago.  Options to see Fairy Spring, Elvin Pass and Star Rock at the top of South Mountain are also possible.