Hunter Mountain
At a Glance
- Elevation: 4,040 ft — 2nd-highest peak in the Catskills, highest point in Greene County
- Trail: summit sits on the Devil's Path (Stony Clove Notch approach); also reachable via two separate trails that aren't part of the Devil's Path, the Horse Trail and Becker Hollow
- Fee: none, state Forest Preserve land
- Cell service: unreliable to none until the summit
What You're Actually Going to See
Hunter is the tall one. At 4,040 feet it's the second-highest summit in the Catskills (behind only Slide Mountain) and the single highest point in Greene County, and it's topped by a fire tower that's the tallest in New York State, built in 1953 on the site of an earlier wooden tower dating back to 1909. The tower was closed to lookouts in 1990, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, and reopened to hikers after restoration in 2000 — the cab itself is locked now, but volunteers with the key are occasionally up there to open it up. The climb up the stairs still gets you a 360-degree view you won't find anywhere else in the range.
The summit itself is a wide, flat clearing, which catches a lot of first-time visitors off guard: the site of the old fire tower, a short walk from the current one, actually looks higher from some angles, a trick of perspective common on broad Catskill summits with nothing nearby to judge height against.
Before it was Forest Preserve, Hunter took a beating. Colonel William Edwards ran a large hemlock-bark tanning operation on what's now the ski area's slopes in the mid-1800s (the "Colonel's Chair" ridge is named for him), and a West Virginia lumber company logged the mountain hard between 1903 and 1917, leaving almost no old growth behind. New York started buying up the cut-over land in the early 1920s, and by 1929 most of the mountain was Forest Preserve, "forever wild" under the state constitution. What's grown back since is worth noting for anyone who likes reading a forest: the higher slopes lean heavily on paper birch and red spruce rather than the balsam fir you'd expect, a direct legacy of both the logging and a serious 1903 fire.
Hunter is also one of the six peaks on the Devil's Path, the Catskills' toughest ridge trail, though the summit itself sits off the main spine on a side ridge, technically distinct from the range the trail is named for.
Ways to Get There
Hunter has three real hiking routes, each a genuinely different climb:
Horse Trail (from Spruceton Road, west) — most popular route
3.4 mi one-way · 1,957 ft gain · moderate
Starts at a parking area near the end of Spruceton Road, past where the pavement ends. An old fire-tower access road, well-graded and wide enough for horses (it's still open to them today), making it the gentlest way up, albeit not the most interesting route. About 25–30 minutes / 21 miles from the shop via NY-23A — the opposite side of the mountain from the other two routes.
Get Directions → · View on AllTrails →
Devil's Path from Stony Clove Notch (from the east)
3.7 mi one-way · 2,060 ft gain · moderate to strenuous
Starts steep, right past a set of shale cliffs known as the Devil's Portal, then levels into an easier stretch through recovering forest before rejoining the old fire-tower road for the final push. This is the approach straight from the Devil's Path trailhead at Stony Clove Notch (by Devil's Tombstone Campground / the Notch Lake parking area), and the one most people coming from there will take. About 7 minutes / 5.5 miles from the shop.
Get Directions → · View on AllTrails →
Becker Hollow Trail (from the north, off NY-214)
2.05 mi one-way · 2,270 ft gain · steep and direct
The steepest, most direct route, and the shortest. No flat stretches at all, straight up. Not the first choice for a casual day, but the fastest way to the summit if that's what you want. About 6 minutes / 4.4 miles from the shop via NY-23A and NY-214 — actually the closest of the three trailheads, a few minutes before you'd reach Devil's Tombstone.
Get Directions → · View on AllTrails →
The Devil's Path and Becker Hollow trailheads both sit on the Stony Clove Notch/NY-214 corridor, a few minutes apart. The Horse Trail is a genuinely separate drive on the opposite side of the mountain, off Spruceton Road — not reachable from Stony Clove Notch at all.
Skip the Climb: The Hunter Mountain Skyride
If you'd rather not hike up at all, the Hunter Mountain Scenic Skyride runs the ski area's chairlift through summer and fall (not just ski season) — an 11-minute ride (about 22 minutes round trip) up to the 3,200-foot top of the ski slopes on Colonel's Chair. From there it's still a real hike, just a much shorter one: Hunter's own site puts the marked DEC trail to the fire tower at about 4 miles round trip and 3 hours, starting right from the Skyride summit. It's the honest way to describe it: the lift skips the hardest, lowest two-thirds of the mountain, not the whole thing. Good option for anyone who wants the summit and the tower without the full base-to-top climb, or who's short on time.
Hours and season: 10 AM–4 PM, weather permitting. Summer season runs July 4–September 7, Saturdays/Sundays/Mondays; fall runs September 12–October 18, Saturdays/Sundays only. Hikers must be back at the Skyride summit by 3:45 PM for the return ride down. Pricing: in the summer season, $21 adult / $17 child (3–12) / $17 senior (65+), one ride. In fall (foliage season, when the Skyride switches to timed AM/PM tickets), it jumps to $31 adult / $21 child / $21 senior per ride window. Kids must be at least 3 years old and 36" tall; no dogs on the lift.
What to Expect
Whichever route you take, this is a real mountain, not a park stroll: expect a sustained, multi-hour climb with real elevation gain no matter which trailhead you start from. The Spruceton approach is the most forgiving on your legs but still climbs nearly 2,000 feet. The Becker Hollow route is short in distance but brutal in grade, straight up with no letup until the top. Drainage is poor near the summit plateau, so expect mud and standing water after rain even in summer.
From the shop
When to Go
Best conditions are typically May through October; the fire tower and summit views are worth timing for a clear day, since this is one of the few 360-degree vantage points in the whole Catskill Park. Trails here hold snow and ice later into spring than lower elevations, given the northern exposure and altitude. Prepare for cooler weather and conditions at the summit.
Good to Know
- No day-use fee — this is state Forest Preserve land.
- The fire tower cab is usually locked, so plan on the climb and the view from the stairs as the real payoff — occasionally a volunteer with the key is up there to open the cab for visitors, but that's a bonus, not something to count on.
- Cell service is unreliable to nonexistent on the mountain. Download your map before you go.
- This is black bear country. Don't leave food or a pack unattended.
- The Skyride is a real, legitimate shortcut if you want the summit and tower without the full base-to-top climb — just know some hikers consider that a different accomplishment than earning it on foot from Spruceton, Stony Clove, or Becker Hollow.
- Apps like AllTrails are a fine starting point but the track isn't always exact. We carry the NY-NJ Trail Conference Catskill Trails Map · $17.95, the more precise reference for the whole ridge. Stop in and we'll help you find your route on it.
While you're out here
Hunter is the tallest peak on the Devil's Path, so if you're up for more of a challenge, take a look. If you want to camp before or after, Devil's Tombstone State Campground sits right at the Stony Clove Notch trailhead — or, if you'd rather go primitive, camping is allowed anywhere along the Devil's Path at least 150 feet from the trail or any water source, or at a marked site.
If you want to know what else is worth seeing while you're up here, or want to talk through what to bring before you go, stop into the shop. We're a few miles down the road in Tannersville.