Saturday, February 8, 2014

Overlook Mountain, Catskills

February 8, 2014

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 3 hours 30 minutes  
Map: Catskill Trails Map Set, Map #141
Parking: Meads Mountain Road, Woodstock, NY. Room for around 20 cars.

Restrooms: None.
Post hike dinner: Garden Cafe on the Green, Woodstock, NY (5 minute drive)

Directions: Overlook Mountain 

Notes: This hike is listed as easy. There is a wide road with a gradual incline. It took us around 2 1/2 hours up, and 1 hour down. I used snowshoes the whole way. There were a lot of hikers & dogs on this trail. I had to get off the trail a lot, because one of my dogs doesn't like other dogs running up to him. The snow was nicely packed, so we didn't need to break trail at all. Being winter, we didn't see any rattlesnakes :) However, what caught us off guard - we saw people skiing, snowboarding, and sledding their way down. They hike up with whatever gear they have, then slide down. What fun! One of our dogs was good about getting out of the way, the other one I had to hold onto so she didn't chase them.

Year to date miles: 42.6


Sign for the parking lot

Which is across the street from a Buddhist monastery (complete with prayer flags), which you can visit

The start of the trail

This area is known for having many rattlesnakes, one of the reasons we chose to do it in the winter.


The trail is wide with a gradual incline all the way up.

At around 2 miles, you reach the ruins of a hotel. There are signs saying not to enter it, but most people do.



1/2 mile more to go after the hotel ruins

Fire tower on the summit

There were a couple of buildings near the fire tower. If you go to the right of this building there is an overlook (we skipped this). In the summer, there is sometimes a volunteer that mans the fire tower.

The top of the fire tower was closed. I'm not keen on climbing fire towers, but I got 3/4 of the way up.

View from the tower.



Heading back down





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