Catskill Forest Preserve, NY: Slide Mountain Wilderness - Peekamoose and Table Mountains

ABOUT THE PARK:
Slide Mountain Wilderness - NY State Department of Environmental Conservation
Peekamoose Mountain - Catskill 3500 Club
Table Mountain - Catskill 3500 Club

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.915164, -74.429080

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There is parking for about 10-12 cars.  The lot fills up quickly.  People also use this lot for access to Roundout Creek across the street.

TRAIL MAP:
Southern Catskill Trails Map #143 - NY/NJ Trail Conference

HIKE DISTANCES:
Peekamoose Mountain - 7.3 miles
Peekamoose and Table Mountains - 9.2 miles
Buttermilk Falls - 0 miles (drive 1 mile east on Peekamoose Road)
Roundout Creek - 0 miles (across street from Peekamoose parking lot)

HIKE DESCRIPTION:
Although the parking lot is in Sundown Wild Forest, the trail soon enters Slide Mountain Wilderness.  The trail starts at the west end of the parking lot.

Slide Mountain Wilderness has a very generous pet policy:

If you Bring Your Pet-Your pet must be under your control at all times. When others approach, particularly small children and other animals, leash your dog. Keep your pet quiet. Remove droppings from the trail and camping areas.

Be sure to sign in at the trail register which you will find .15 mile into the hike.

The trail starts out as a woods road...

...then leaves the woods road as a foot trail.

The trail becomes rockier and you will need to rock scramble occasionally on the way up.

Reconnoiter Rock

A sign at 3500 ft. elevation.

View to the East (click to enlarge then click again)

Trail through the spruce-fir forests of the higher elevations.

Boulder ahead is summit of Peekamoose Mountain - where my dog is standing is the unmarked side trail to a fairly recently cut view not shown on the Trail Conference map.

View of Ashokan Reservoir from Peekamoose Summit

View from Peekamoose Summit Overlook (click to enlarge then click again)

Rock cairn next to trail at summit of Table Mountain.

View to the west shortly after summit of Table Mountain.

An Eastern Garter Snake in a crevice at Reconnoiter Rock on the way back.

Back at the parking lot after the hike, throw on some water shoes and head over to Roundout Creek to soak your tired legs in some ice cold water.  It gets much deeper than it looks in the picture.

Then swing by Buttermilk Falls, one mile east of the parking lot on Route 42.  There is a sign and a small parking lot.  A very short trail leads to the falls.  (You might want to stop here before doing the hike in case the parking lot fills up later in the day.)


HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Start from west end of parking lot on blue-blazed Peekamoose-Table Trail
[  0.15]  Sign trail register on left
[  0.75]  Trail veer right as foot path leaving woods road
[  1.50]  Trail starts to switchback up more steeply; rock scrambles start
[  2.20]  Reconnoiter rock on left
[  2.80]  3500 ft. elevation sign; just beyond short side trail to right to eastern view
[  2.85]  View to the right
[  3.60]  Just before large summit boulder side trail to right to eastern view; retrace
[  3.65]  Large boulder at summit of Peekamoose Mountain
[  4.00]  Saddle between Peekamoose and Table Mountains
[  4.15]  Begin flat stretch along top of Table Mountain
[  4.45]  Rock cairn at Table Mountain Summit
[  4.50]  Take left fork to western view; retrace then right on blue trail to return
[  4.60]  Rock cairn at Table Mountain summit
[  5.20]  Saddle between Table and Peekamoose Mountains
[  5.35]  Large boulder at summit of Peekamoose Mountain
[  6.20]  Eastern view to the left
[  6.90]  Reconnoiter Rock
[  8.45]  Trail merges left back on to woods road
[  9.05]  Sign out at trail register
[  9.20]  Back at parking lot

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