Inspiration Point
At a Glance
- Area: Kaaterskill Wild Forest, Escarpment Trail
- Day-use fee: None at Laurel House Road or Schutt Road. $10/vehicle in season via South Lake at North-South Lake.
- Cell service: Spotty. Download your trail map before you go.
What You're Actually Going to See
Inspiration Point is a wide, open ledge on the Escarpment Trail with a clear shot south across Kaaterskill Clove toward the Catskill high peaks. It's one of a handful of viewpoints along this stretch of trail that guests of the old Catskill Mountain House hotel treated as a destination in its own right back when the hotel was the reason anyone came up here at all.
What makes it worth its own stop, beyond the view: the flat rock at the overlook is carved with names, initials, and dates left by 19th-century visitors, one clearly reading 1816. This wasn't vandalism in the modern sense — it was closer to a guestbook kept in stone. Similar carved ledges turn up at several overlooks near the old hotel site, evidently a common thing for 19th-century visitors to do at a scenic stopping point, the same impulse behind a summit register today, just permanent. The Catskill Mountain House once stood well north of here near what's now the Boulder Rock trail, and its guests left the same kind of carved record in the rocks up there too. Different trailhead, different ledge, same story, though the two aren't a casual pairing: Boulder Rock and Inspiration Point are just a few trail miles apart from one another, and were once separated by the Hotel Kaaterskill, at the time the largest wood-frame hotel in the world, until it burned to the ground in a single night in 1924. Its stone foundation is still there today, just off the Escarpment Trail between the two.
Ways to Get There
Three trailheads reach Inspiration Point in a similar distance: Laurel House Road, Schutt Road, and South Lake at North-South Lake. All are a short drive apart along North Lake Road in Haines Falls. The North Lake side of North-South Lake (the campground and beach) is a different story, much farther, and not a practical way in for most hikers.
From Kaaterskill Falls, via Laurel House Road and Layman's Monument (the route most people take)
2.5 miles as a loop · moderate · 1–1.5 hrs
From the Laurel House Road trailhead (the main Kaaterskill Falls parking area), take the Escarpment Trail out past Layman's Monument, a stone marker for Frank Layman, a firefighter who died fighting a forest fire here in 1900, then a second ledge also called Sunset Rock — not the Sunset Rock at North-South Lake, same name, different place — on to Inspiration Point. Loop back via the Schutt Road Trail to return to Laurel House Road.
Get Directions → · View on AllTrails →
From Schutt Road
About 3.2 miles round trip · moderate · 1.5–2 hrs
The Schutt Road trailhead sits off North Lake Road in Haines Falls, named for the Schutt family, who ran the Laurel House, one of the area's major 19th-century hotels, starting in 1850. Most people walk this loop the opposite direction from the Laurel House Road route: out via the Schutt Road Trail to Inspiration Point, then back via the Escarpment Trail past Sunset Rock and Layman's Monument to the lot.
Get Directions → · View the Loop on AllTrails →
From North-South Lake, via South Lake
Similar distance to the routes above · moderate
From the South Lake day-use area (not the North Lake side, which is quite a bit further away), the Escarpment Trail reaches Inspiration Point in about the same distance as the routes above. This is the one approach with a fee: the $10/vehicle North-South Lake day-use charge applies here in season, unlike the two free trailheads above.
Get Directions → · View on AllTrails →
What to Expect
The Laurel House Road loop has real elevation gain past the falls, with rougher footing on that stretch. The Schutt Road route is well-marked and moderate, similar underfoot to the rest of the Escarpment Trail. There's real cliff edge at the overlook itself, so keep kids and dogs close, and stay off the carved sections of rock, they're worn soft in spots and it's easy to lose footing near the edge admiring them. Regular hiking shoes handle either route fine; the Oboz Sawtooth X Mid is a solid call for the Laurel House Road climb or a bigger day out, and trekking poles earn their keep on that same stretch, real elevation change packed into a short distance.
From the shop
When to Go
Spring through fall for the clearest views; the carved rock is more pleasant to linger over without snow cover. Same crowd logic as the rest of the Escarpment Trail: go early on summer weekends and fall-foliage Saturdays.
Good to Know
- No fee via Laurel House Road or Schutt Road. The $10/vehicle North-South Lake day-use fee applies if you come in via South Lake instead.
- Heads up: this route passes a second ledge also called Sunset Rock, not the one at North-South Lake. Same name, two different spots on the Escarpment Trail, well apart from each other.
- Real drop-off at the overlook. Stay back from the edge, especially with kids or dogs, and be careful walking on the carved rock itself.
- Dog-friendly on leash.
- This is black bear country. Don't leave food or a pack unattended.
- Cell service is spotty along this stretch of the Escarpment Trail. Download your trail map before you go.
- Apps like AllTrails are a fine starting point but the track isn't always exact. If you want the real map for a bigger Escarpment Trail day, we carry the NY-NJ Trail Conference Catskill Trails Map · $17.95, stop in and we'll help you find your route on it.
- Please don't add to the carvings. The ones there are 200 years old and part of the history; new ones aren't.
While you're out here
If you're coming via Laurel House Road or Schutt Road, Kaaterskill Falls is the natural pairing, same general trailhead area. If you're coming via South Lake, this is a real add-on to a bigger North-South Lake day — Sunset Rock and Boulder Rock are both reachable from the same day-use area, though a further walk than either alone.
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.