Catskill Guidebooks

[John S]

I expect to visit the Catskills more in the future and would like to know which guidebook people have found to be the most helpful, i.e. coverage, ease of use, etc. I believe there are books from the AMC and ADK and possibly some others.

Also, I have the five-map set from the NY-NJTC, which already lists mileage and trail descriptions on the reverse side of each map. Any opinions as to how much more useful any guidebook info would be?

Thanks.

 

[Rob S]

Hi John,

The Catskill Mountain Guide by Peter Kick is pretty good. I also have the ADK guidebook but cannot recall the author. It's also decent. In addition, Catskill Trails, A Ranger's Guide to the High Peaks by Edward Henry is enjoyable and helpful.

Rob

 

[KenC]

Hi John,

I recently picked up the the "AMC Catskill guide" and "A Rangers Guide" that climbup mentioned. They seem like a good combo.

I'm planning on visiting the Catskills more this fall and winter.

 

[Puma concolor]

Well, I'm probably showing my age a little here (at least in hiking years), but my guidebook of choice for the Catskills is Lee McAllister's "Hiking the Catskills." It is published by the NY/NJ Trail Conference and is copyrighted 1989 so there is some stuff that is a little out of date. But, even so, I still think it is the best Catskills guidebook out there.

FYI, the ADK Catskill Region guide is authored by Bruce Wadsworth. Also a solid guidebook.

 

[Jay H]

I have the ADK catskills guidebook but I hardly use it. In fact, I completely forgot I had it for the longest time so its still in very pristine condition.

I find it sometimes interested just to do my own hikes and then go back to the ADK guidebook and then read the trail description...

Jay

 

[Rob S]

Lee McAllister's "Hiking the Catskills."

Yeah, I forgot about that one. I have almost an entire shelf of Catskills books at home but it's hard to remember them when I'm at work. Thanks.

 

[MattC]

My general answer to your question would be this:

To just do hikes, you could probably just get by w/ the maps since you have a good idea of distances, elevations, water, shelter, etc. What guides mostly add is background, context, interpretation. I find different guides offer this in varying degrees.

I'm kind of a bookworm and have several Catskill guides. Ironically the only one I don't own is the ADK one, which is probably the most popular-I'll probably get it soon just to be a completist. The AMC guide is very solid and strikes a nice balance between basic trail info and interpretive stuff (tree species, natural history, etc.). It comes with a paper map that is good for a general view of the region, not as good in the field. The McCallister guide Mark S mentions is also excellent but is out of print. You could probably find a used copy-I think I got my from Powell's.

I own both volumes of the Ed Henry Catskill books (also his Shawangunks guide). They definitely lean a lot more towards the interpretive side. I wouldn't recommend his books as pure trail guides since they basically give one route up each peak, rather than providing exhaustive trail data. For what they are, though, they're fun to own. Lots of stuff about geology, forest ecology, natural and economic histories, etc. They would make a good supplement to another guide.

Like I said, I don't own the ADK guide, but I imagine it is excellent in terms of data. I find the ADK Adirondack guides very dry, but great for "just the facts."
As for maps, if you've already got the NYNJTC set, you're pretty much set for anything on trail and a lot of bushwhacks as well. If you get really into Catskill bushwhacks, it's nice to occasionally have the USGS topos for more detail.

Matt

 

[mudhook51]

Catskill Day Hikes, David and Carol White,( and the five map set,) was the easiest to get started with, for me. Some of the others were a little too long winded for a basic start up, IMO.

 

[Puma concolor]

You can also get McAllister's book on Amazon for like 3 bucks. Can't go wrong there.

 

[AOC-1]

Second Vote for Lee McAllister and Myron Steve Ochman's book

I have all the Catskills guidebooks dating back to Leon Greenman's 1970's red one. McAllister's book, like none other I've used, really captures the joys of hiking the Catskills mountains. Very highly recommended.

 

[funkyfreddy]

Hiking The Catskills by Lee McAllister

I agree. This was my first Catskill book and is still my favorite, although I like Ed Henry's books quite a lot. I don't consider Ed's books comprehensive guidebooks but as Matt says above they do give quite a bit of info about certain areas that you can't find in others.

The Lee McAllister "Hiking The Catskills" book was a lot of fun and probably the best guidebook I've ever read. You could tell that they loved the Catskills and had a lot of fun hiking and writing about them. The layout of the book is quite nice with lots of pictures and anecdotes, eminently readable in my opinion!

This being said I also like the ADK guide to the Catskills for it's trail info.....

 

[Mark Schaefer]

The new 2005 edition of the ADK guidebook, by Carol and David White

I have all of the guidebooks already mention and several others. I like and still use all of them.

The most comprehensive guidebook is the new 2005 edition of the ADK Catskill Trails book (no topos are included). It is by the same authors as the Catskill Day Hikes book. I got mine from the ADK by weborder, and it arrived in 2 days by standard UPS. It is now beginning to show up in the bookstores. I would recommend the new ADK guidebook over the AMC guidebook as it is slightly more up to date, and also discusses the trailless peaks (which the AMC book does not).

The authors remeasured all the trails detailed in the book, reorganized and updated the trail descriptions. They do a good job of describing many of the viewpoints on short, unmarked paths off the trails that you might otherwise miss. Some of these I had not known of previously, and I have been hiking the Cats for the last 31 years. It is a substantial improvement over the prior ADK editions. The AMC book would be my second choice. Though I also have a fondness for my tattered copy of Hiking the Catskills by Lee McAllister and Myron Steve Ochman.

 

[Raymond]

I followed Mark's recommendation less than two weeks ago and bought both the new ADK guide and the five-map set. The book is already two years out of date (written in 2003, published in 2005), and has some mistakes, two of which are mentioned on the "Who's hiking the Catskill Hundred Highest?" thread.

To save you going to that thread, they are 1) the Elka Park Road bridge is not closed to all travel, but open to traffic and 2) the authors' what-constitutes-a-Catskill-peak definition is incorrect on both counts.

My complaint with the book is that, although the authors frequently remind the reader to respect property owners' rights (four of the Catskill high peaks are on private land), they don't deign to name the landowners or tell us how to contact them. I don't like having to go all the way to the place I want to hike just to learn the name of the person or corporation I need to ask permission of. That wastes time and gasoline.

I don't regret purchasing the book, I just wish it were better than it is.

I am curious about the map included with the AMC's 2002 guide. It covers the park on two maps, and I'd like to see how good those maps are. I still haven't seen any map that shows the layout of the high peaks.

 

[snowshoe]

is incorrect on both counts.

My complaint with the book is that, although the authors frequently remind the reader to respect property owners' rights (four of the Catskill high peaks are on private land), they don't deign to name the landowners or tell us how to contact them. I don't like having to go all the way to the place I want to hike just to learn the name of the person or corporation I need to ask permission of. That wastes time and gasoline.

.

My guess on why he does not list the contact for the property owner is due to the fact they may get people calling all the time and bothering them. My theory on this is if it is not posted then hike it. I have done all the private property peaks and never ran into a posted sign. I would think if the landowners really did not want us hiking on it they would have it posted especially knowing it is a 3500 peak.

 

[imarchant]

NY/NJ Trail Conference maps.

I have completed 80% of the Catskil 3500. I have used only this 5-map set and research using the internet. As Matt states so well in his post, the different guidebooks give a lot of interesting information, but the are not required to navigate the catskills.

 

[Hikerdad]

Have have to put in another vote for the MacAllister guide book. I think it's the best guide book I've seen...good background for hiking in general and on the Catskills, well written, easy to read, good advice. It helped me get into hiking/climbing. I always recommend it as a good Catskill guide. That and the map series from the NY/NJ Trail conference makes a great combo.

 

[Raymond]

Snowshoe, there were signs every few feet along both sides of the Dry Brook Ridge Trail. So you wouldn't be able to bushwhack Balsam Lake Mountain from that side without a hall pass, never mind make an attempt for Graham Mountain. I didn't photograph the signs, but I think the older signs prohibited hunting, fishing, picnicking, camping, or any other activity (my emphasis). I think the newer ones just said No Trespassing.

I agree that the owners probably don't want to be bothered, but do they have any influence on what gets put into a book? Maybe they specifically threatened to prohibit all entry if their contact number was printed. The authors could have mentioned it, if that were the case. Why not?

Cave Dog and his Dog Team did a lot of running around in the Catskills a few years ago. How did they go about handling the private-land logistics, I wonder.

Regarding the authors, are they the ones with the red Beetle I've seen a couple times (at least) in Lake Placid?

 

[Dennis C.]

Raymond, not once in all the time doing Catskill (or Adirondack) 3000 footers did we have any advance information about landowners or how to contact them. Doing the four 3500s on private land were not a problem. I believe the owners have already been approached by the Catskill Club and have received an easement for access. They expect to see hikers on a somewhat regular basis. It's the other less climbed private property 3000s that can be a problem. We soon learned it is best to request permission by the owner of the property where you want to park your vehicle. It's the car that gets you in trouble (left behind). On average, 8 out of 10 owners were receptive to hikers; one was concerned with liability, and the other had problems with someone who had abused the privilege (perhaps trashed the property). And as John Swanson has mentioned here before: "There are four sides to a mountain". Take your pick.

 

[erd]

While I also have a great fondness for McAllister's guidebook (of which I own two copies), it is out-of-date and there has been enough change in the trail system that relying on it will most definitely cause problems from time to time.

Peter Kick's work on the AMC guide is very sound indeed, and unique in that it acknowledges the existence of GPS units. Unfortunately the book is marred for the serious Catskill enthusiast by the adherence to the AMC's policy of not discussing bushwhack approaches. The map is a shoddy piece of work, with no indication of parking areas, etc. etc, ad nauseam. [Disclaimer--I reviewed this guide for the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference magazine]

Carol and David White's "Catskill Trails," the third edition of the ADK's Catskill guide, is as close to definitive as you will presently find. And yes, that is their red VW Beetle, as someone remarked earlier in this thread. They has expected the book to be published nearly two years ago, but for reasons that I don't wholly understand (I'm not sure they do either), ADK was slow to produce it.

Yes, the bridge on Elka Park Road is now restored (it was out until--I think-- last year, 2004). And no, there are no private landowner numbers, and no Catskill guide has ever listed them. There are liability issues involved, I suspect. I can supply the landowner number for Graham and Doubletop, if contacted off-list. Some sections (including the definition of what constitutes a peak) appear in all ADK guides. I believe that the definition is not in accord with that of the 3500 Club, but this does not impair the book in any way. It is of note that they hand-wheeled most of the trails in the book.

I think it very important to state, in response to a comment earlier in this thread, that the Catskill 3500 Club has NO SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS WITH LANDOWNERS WHATSOEVER. One landowner, Joe ("Buzz") Friedel, on Shultis Road, has been exceptionally generous to *all* hikers over the years (as was Nelson Shultis in the same area, now deceased), even to the point of keeping a parking area plowed in winter. I apologize to Dennis for singling his statement out, but this is a common misapprehension.

He is not especially happy at the moment, as he has had a couple of incidents of hikers trespassing on the area around his house. Access to Friday and Balsam Cap over his lands is on the green-blazed woods roads only. No advance notice need be made, but Mr. Friedel appreciates an itinerary tucked under the wiper or on the dash if it's raining. This allays his safety concerns. It will be remembered that Friday Mountain has claimed one life in recent years. If these rules/requests are not observed, it is likely all but a chosen few will lose this convenient access. This comment comes as a result of a lengthy conversation I had with him this week.

Ted

(Outings Chair, Catskill 3500 Club)

 

[MattC]

In the interest of being a completist (I did mention that I'm a bookworm), I can't help but mention one other guide. Not a trail guide per se, but "Catskill Region Waterfall Guide" by Russell Dunn would make a good supplement to the trail guide collection of anyone interesting in checking out waterfalls. It's very readable, and includes cataracts in and around the Shawangunks as well as the Catskills, it contains some nice historical background, good driving directions, and was a great bibliography for anyone wanting to seek out more reading. Dunn also authored an Adirondack Watefall Guide. Both books are published by the nifty little Black Dome Press.

Matt