Sullivan/ Greene County Trails

Please recomend easy trails with views for first timers. Loops preferred but open to all.
Thanks

I would recommend the trails around North Lake. Starting from Scutt Rd on the Escarpment trail is a stretch of trail with some of the best views to be had in the Catskills in a short stretch of trail, with little serious altitude gain. There are many precipitous dropoffs on this trail, so crampons or creepers might be advised on some exposed sections at this time of year.

North Lake is a nice loop, and I know Sullivan County has many nice loops. I havent been over that way yet, but just by looking at my map the Willowemoc Wild Forest looks great. Theres several loops over there around Frick Pond and Mongaup Pond. Denman Mtn I believe has a firetower, and thats a loop too. That is in Sundown Wild Forest, near the Ulster County border.
If you want to look at Delaware County there are also some nice loops over by Mud Pond and Trout Pond. I havent been there yet either, but I have to get over that way this spring. In Delaware County and Sullivan you would probably be on land that rolling, slightly lower in elevation, and abundant ponds and small lakes. Have fun and let us know how it is.

In Sullivan County:
Here is a web link for the Tusten Mountain trail. It is a fairly short loop and with some nice views.

At the following link you will find trail descriptions and maps for the Neversink Gorge / Mullet Brook area (and a few other Sullivan hiking areas). The Neversink Gorge does not have a lot of views, but it has three waterfalls and some nice scenery. The Basha Kill area also described at that web link has some loops with attractive water views. There is also a description of the Red Hill fire tower in southern Ulster County.

Also check out the local hikes described on the Catskill Hiking Shack website.

In Green County:
For the Catskills you will want to obtain the Catskill trail map set from the New York New Jersey Trail Conference.

I agree with the earlier posts that the North Lake State Park is a good starting point. Windham High Peak and nearby Burnt Knob and Acra Point have some nice views, these are not too difficult in winter. There are some fairly short hikes on the Devil's Path to Indian Head, Twin, or Sugarloaf mountains. However, these can be a bit icy in winter for a first timer's hike.

Mark, for a great map of the Catskills you can email the DEC requesting one.
Just send the message to:
[email protected]

Ask for the Catskill Mountains Map and Guide,Kaaterskill-North Mountain Map and Guide, Overlook Mountain Wild Forest Map and Guide, and the Sundown Wild Forest Map and Guide.

Here is the link to there publications locater:
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/locator/landfor.html#recreation

These are all free. Just send them an email with your address and what you want and you should get it within two weeks. They used to have Slide Mtn Wilderness Map and Guide, and Big Indian Wilderness Map and Guide, Balsam Lake Wild Forest Map and Guide, and Willowemoc Wild Forest Map and Guide, but I dont know why they dont have those anymore.

Mink, Thanks for posting the DEC publication locator. It appears that the DEC is in the process of making their publications available as html docs that can now be printed off the web. I have all of those pubs "missing" from that web page that you mentioned (e.g. Slide Mt). In general they have 1998-1999 publication dates. They are probably under revision and should reappear on the DEC publications locator when available again, hopefully as html docs. I always pick up the latest pubs from the DEC booth whenever I am at a county fair. Nice that we can get many of these online now.

The Dec is in the process of chaning those maps. They are going to the colored ones now. Were as the Slide Mt one was just a two color black and white. The new ones are much nicer, the covers are in color and some of the maps show contours. If you cant find the Slide mt or others let me know I may have an extra lying around.

Thanks Mink for the info.

Trails

Thank you all for your suggestions.