There are some simple, yet very handy, maps of the trails available at the trailhead. The main trail from the parking area begins at a dirt road that leads east towards the mountain. The trails are marked by colors (red and blue), and there are several routes you can take. We first headed to the mountain following the red trail markers. Around a half a mile in, you will come to a T, with the trail to the mountain ahead (east), the reservoir to the right (south). The trail starts to climb from here, and soon gets steeper. Just short of a mile, ahead and above you will see an old steel-clad building. This was part of the radio relay system. There is still some old equipment in the building, and scattered around outside. The trail from here is a bit steeper, and not as well marked – but still not too hard to find. You will soon find yourself on the summit, and the ruins of the fire tower are ahead to the right. Past that near an overlook, there are the footers to the cabin. All that is left is the cement footers. The summit has grown over with trees since the fire tower days, but there is a nice open view of Stark reservoir to the north. If you walk East along the summit during fall/winter, you can see glimpses of the reservoir and Bog mountain through the trees. Back at the intersection of the red & blue trails, you can head left (south) to the reservoir. From the reservoir, you can head west along the shore and rejoin the trail at the dyke and end up back at the main trail/woods road that you came in on. If you went straight to the summit and backtracked, you would hike about 2.2 miles round trip, if going back along the reservoir – 3.6 miles. This is a great trip and would be a wonderful trek on snowshoes as well.
To explore more of the history of Catamount Mountain, check out Hiking the Trail to Yesterday.
Trails are owned by Catamount Lodge and are only open to the public during daylight hours and camping is not permitted.
The trailhead to Catamount Mt. is located on the east side of NYS Rt56, roughly 10 miles from the intersection of Rt56 & Rt3 at Sevey corners. The physical address of Catamount Lodge is 2092 State Highway 56, South Colton, New York, and the trailhead is about 300 yards south of the lodge proper. There is a small gravel parking lot and a wooden gate. If you hike in the winter, the parking lot may not be plowed out, so park along the road taking care to be off the road as much as possible. Catamount Lodge parking is reserved for guests only.
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