Total Catskills

Total Catskills Your shortcut to the best hikes in the Catskills and Adirondacks. Never wonder where to hike next.

Inspiration Point in the Catskills is hugely underrated. Everyone visits Kaaterskill Falls and leaves, missing out this ...
09/01/2026

Inspiration Point in the Catskills is hugely underrated. Everyone visits Kaaterskill Falls and leaves, missing out this easy gem of a route. Dramatic the whole way. For your consideration!

šŸ„¾ Hike Length: 4.9 miles (7.89 km)

ā›°ļø Total Ascent: 820ft (250m)

šŸ˜… Intensity: Moderate Catskills Hike

šŸš Route Type: Out-and-Back

šŸŒ± Includes: Blazed Trail, Rock Scrambles

āž”ļø Detailed trail guide for this hike at https://mountain-hiking.com/inspiration-point-catskills/

ā­ļø Send to a friend

ā­ļø Follow for more Catskills

Iā€™ve just published a brand new trail guide to my website.https://mountain-hiking.com/twin-mountain-traverse/This tricky...
08/21/2026

Iā€™ve just published a brand new trail guide to my website.

https://mountain-hiking.com/twin-mountain-traverse/

This tricky traverse includes one of the best views in The Catskills.

šŸ„¾ Hike Length: 5.3 miles (8.45 km)

ā›°ļø Total Ascent: 1,800ft (549m)

šŸ˜… Intensity: Hardest Catskills Hike

šŸš Route Type: Shuttle

šŸŒ± Includes: Blazed Trail, Rock Scrambles, Stream Crossing

Thanks so much to my Patreon subscribers for supporting this new content.

Sean

08/08/2026

Nerd update: totalcatskills.com now resolves to mountain-hiking.com.

No big changes on the way. This is just something thatā€™s good to have in place.

And itā€™s much easier to say than "mountain dash hiking dot com" šŸ˜‰.

Is Google Maps good for hiking? For driving to the trailhead? Absolutely. For navigating your hike? Not even Google reco...
08/05/2026

Is Google Maps good for hiking? For driving to the trailhead? Absolutely. For navigating your hike? Not even Google recommends it.

Recent search and rescue incidents have highlighted a problem many experienced hikers have known for years: Google Maps simply isn't built for the backcountry. It can't reliably account for terrain, trail conditions, offline navigation, or the countless variables that determine whether a hike is easy or genuinely difficult.

https://mountain-hiking.com/is-google-maps-good-for-hiking/

In this new article, I explain why dedicated hiking apps like AllTrails, Gaia GPS, and Avenza are much better choices, why downloading maps before leaving home is essential, and why asking local hikers for advice can prevent mistakes that no app will catch.

If you know someone who's just getting into hiking, this is worth a read.

5 things that stood out to me from the Times Unionā€™s excellent look at Catskills High Peak NYS Department of Environmen...
07/27/2026

5 things that stood out to me from the Times Unionā€™s excellent look at Catskills High Peak NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

One of the best hiking articles I've read this year has completely changed how I think about a few issues in the Catskills.

A few things really stood out to me:

ā€¢ I had no idea how closely the DEC now works with AllTrails and Strava to manage hiking traffic and remove unofficial routes.

ā€¢ The new research from SUNY New Paltz confirms something many of us have suspected for years: an ever-growing network of herd paths isnā€™t sustainable for the High Peaks.

ā€¢ Hiking isnā€™t causing the decline of rare montane birds. Habitat loss elsewhere in their range is the biggest driver. But because the Catskills are where many of these birds breed and raise their young, our behavior here still matters.

Iā€™ve long supported creating official trails to many of the Catskillsā€™ trailless High Peaks, but I also think itā€™s important that decisions like this are driven by evidence, not instinct. Good science takes years. Sometimes it confirms what we believe. Sometimes it overturns our assumptions. Either way, it replaces confidence with knowledge.

I pulled together the five ideas that struck me most, along with why I think they matter for anyone who loves hiking in the Catskills.

Read more: https://mountain-hiking.com/

The Bellows Pipe Trail is the quiet way to tackle a Mount Greylock hike. Most hikers head for the Cheshire Harbor or Hop...
07/19/2026

The Bellows Pipe Trail is the quiet way to tackle a Mount Greylock hike. Most hikers head for the Cheshire Harbor or Hopper Trails. But this eastern approach, climbing from a gravel parking area at the end of Gould Road in Adams, reaches the summit with a fraction of the company.

šŸ„¾ Hike Length: 6.0 miles (9.66 km)

ā›°ļø Total Ascent: 2,200ft (671m)

šŸ˜… Intensity: Moderate Taconics Hike

šŸš Route Type: Out-and-Back

šŸŒ± Includes: Blazed Trail

Itā€™s not an easy climb. The trail gains roughly 2,200 feet over about 2.9 miles one way, ascending steadily through hardwood forest with few opportunities to catch your breath before the final push. Near the top, Bellows Pipe joins the Appalachian Trail for the last stretch to the summit, where the granite Veterans War Memorial Tower marks the highest point in Massachusetts at 3,491 feet. On a clear day, the views extend into five states.

https://mountain-hiking.com/mount-greylock-hike-via-bellows-pipe-trail/

Mountain-Hiking.com is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The Bellows Pipe Trail is the quiet way to tackle a Mount Greylock hike. Most hikers head for the Cheshire Harbor or Hop...
07/19/2026

The Bellows Pipe Trail is the quiet way to tackle a Mount Greylock hike. Most hikers head for the Cheshire Harbor or Hopper Trails. But this eastern approach, climbing from a gravel parking area at the end of Gould Road in Adams, reaches the summit with a fraction of the company.

šŸ„¾ Hike Length: 6.0 miles (9.66 km)

ā›°ļø Total Ascent: 2,200ft (671m)

šŸ˜… Intensity: Moderate Taconics Hike

šŸš Route Type: Out-and-Back

šŸŒ± Includes: Blazed Trail

āž”ļø Detailed trail guide for this hike at https://mountain-hiking.com/mount-greylock-hike-via-bellows-pipe-trail/

ā­ļø Send to a friend

Itā€™s not an easy climb. The trail gains roughly 2,200 feet over about 2.9 miles one way, ascending steadily through hardwood forest with few opportunities to catch your breath before the final push. Near the top, Bellows Pipe joins the Appalachian Trail for the last stretch to the summit, where the granite Veterans War Memorial Tower marks the highest point in Massachusetts at 3,491 feet. On a clear day, the views extend into five states.

Thereā€™s history underfoot, too. Henry David Thoreau climbed Mount Greylock in the 1840s and spent a night on the summit. Herman Melville, who could see the mountain from his home in Pittsfield, is thought to have drawn on Greylockā€™s whale-like profile while writing Moby-Dick. Bellows Pipe has been carrying hikers up the mountainā€™s shoulder for nearly two centuries, yet it still feels like one of Greylockā€™s best-kept secrets.

Very intersting read from Hudson Valley Weatherā€¦
07/18/2026

Very intersting read from Hudson Valley Weatherā€¦

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