Halcott Mountain
Encyclopedia
Halcott Mountain is one of the Catskill Mountains
of the U.S. state of New York. It is mostly located in Greene County
, with some of its lower slopes in Delaware
and Ulster
counties. Its exact summit elevation has not been officially determined, but the highest contour line on the mountain is 3520 feet (1,072.9 m). It is one of the peaks on the divide between the Delaware
and Hudson
watersheds
.
As one of the Catskill High Peaks
above 3500 feet (1,066.8 m) in elevation, a successful ascent of Halcott is required for peakbaggers
seeking to join the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club
. It is on public land, part of the Catskill Park Forest Preserve
, but has no trail. Hikers bushwhack through the relatively open woods to sign the canister
at the summit and prove their climb. It is considered one of the easiest of the 13 trailless High Peaks.
. Some of its lower eastern slopes are in Halcott
to the west, and the tripoint
of the three counties is on one of its southern ridges, putting those points south of the Greene County line in either the Ulster County town of Shandaken
or Delaware County's Middletown
. Most of the land on the mountain in Greene County is part of the 4760 acres (1,926.3 ha) Halcott Mountain Wild Forest, managed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC). The lower eastern slope is outside the Catskill Park Blue Line
, and private tracts are at the base of its slopes in the other two counties. The nearest settlements are the small communities of Fleischmanns
and Pine Hill
a short distance to the southwest and south and smaller West Kill further away to the north.
On three sides Halcott's slopes are defined by alternating creek valleys and ridges that divide them. The eastern slopes are steeper, falling 1700 feet (518.2 m) into Deep Notch
, the pass
between it and Mount Sherrill
to the east, traversed by state highway
NY 42
. The south slopes lead more gradually, with a few steep sections, to the Birch Creek valley. On the southwest the ridge with the tripoint continues to a 1500 feet (457.2 m) height of land between Halcott and 2456 feet (748.6 m) Monka Hill, site of the former Grand Hotel. Another, more westerly ridge reaches a 2420 feet (737.6 m) col between Halcott and one of the several South Mountains in the Catskills. Estimates of the mountain's actual summit elevation range to the higher end of the 20-foot (6 m) contour interval, to as high as 3541 feet (1,079.3 m).
The west slopes make a very gentle grade to the Elk Creek valley, with some steep portions on the northwest at the headwall of Hemlock Gully. To the north a ridge descends gently to 2990 feet (911.4 m) before rising again to the 3408 feet (1,038.8 m) peak officially unnamed but known as either Northeast Halcott or Sleeping Lion.
Bushnellsville Creek and an unnamed tributary
drain the east side of the mountain, both feeding into Esopus Creek
, whose waters are impounded downstream for New York City's Ashokan Reservoir
before draining into the Hudson. Bushnellsville and its tributary both form scenic waterfalls near the bottom of Halcott's slopes near Route 42. Birch Creek, which rises in the valleys south of Halcott, drains into the Esopus at Big Indian
. Elk and Emory creeks (the former via Vly Creek) both drain into Bush Kill, which in turn empties into the East Branch
of the Delaware near Arkville
.
, Halcott was formed not through the upthrust of rock layers but by the gradual erosion of stream valleys in an uplifted region about 350 mya. Its rock layers and bedrock are primarily Devonian
and Silurian
shale
and sandstone
. Later glaciation, primarily the Illinois and Wisconsin periods, shaped the slopes of the mountain, smoothing its slopes on the west when the ice was covering it and steepening the east slopes through erosion
when the meltwater burst through Deep Notch.
Its soils are part of the Halcott-Vly association, reddish silt
loam
s with a large concentration of fragmented rock. They are shallow and extremely acidic with low water capacity. As a result they are erosion-prone and rock outcrops are frequent on the mountain slopes.
, birch
and maple
), with some small Norway spruce
and red pine
plantations at lower elevations and scattered stands of hemlock
left over from the era when those trees were heavily harvested for their tannin
-rich bark. There is also a stand of paper birch
on the southwestern slope of the mountain, as a result of past human disturbance. A 1908 forest fire
resulted in a stand of yellow birch
in the upper reaches of Hemlock Gully.
The slopes of the mountain were logged to some degree up to an average elevation of 3150 feet (960.1 m), leaving a first-growth area of roughly 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) on and below the summit. Trees in this area are stunted and twisted by the wind and weather exposure. There are no boreal evergreens, such as balsam fir
and red spruce
, as found on many other of the other Catskill High Peaks at these elevations. Some boreal herbs, such as wood sorrel
, have remained at those elevations.
DEC estimates that there are 49 mammal species, 20 amphibians, 13 reptiles and 71 birds that live on the slopes and ridges. Among the more visible species are big game
such as white-tailed deer
and black bear
. Fishers
were reintroduced to the Catskills in the late 1970s; a few are taken by trappers every season. Among bird species, the bald eagle
s, red-throated hawk and the eastern bluebird
(New York's state bird), are the first of which are considered threatened
and the latter of concern
, are present.
Between the fields and the first-growth forest on the summit is the forestry
belt, where trees were cut by local farmers as firewood
and hemlocks were harvested so that the tanning
in their bark
could be used to tan
leather, a major regional industry that died out in the late 19th century when most of the accessible groves in the Catskills had been peeled and a synthetic process for making tannin was developed.
After the barkpeeling industry faded, the state created the Forest Preserve
in 1885 to protect what was left by mandating that all the land owned by the state in what is now the Catskill Park be kept "forever wild" and not sold, leased or otherwise transferred. In 1894 that section was written into the state constitution
. A few years later the state bought the lands around Halcott's summit. The west slope was acquired in 1934, with the state land holding reaching its current size by 1957.
DEC has done little management of the land, since no trail has ever been cut on the mountain and it has not needed to. The area is designated as a Wild Forest, allowing in theory for some intensive use, but that is only because it is too small to be a wilderness area. Under its own guidelines, land above 2700 feet (823 m) in wild forests is to be treated as wilderness. The peak has been on the 3500 Club's list since its founding in 1962, and is also popular with hunters as well. In its 2001 unit management plan, DEC raised the possibility of building a trail to connect with another possible westward extension of the Devil's Path
over North Dome
and Mount Sherrill
in the West Kill Wilderness Area to the east, but so far that plan has gone no further.
There are no views from the summit when the trees are in leaf, and in other seasons those views to the south are partially obstructed by other surrounding trees. Views may be available from the southern slopes at the top of steep drops.
Access from the south and west follows gentler slopes but requires gaining permission from landowners to cross private landholdings at the mountain's base. From the north it is possible to hike entirely on public land as well via a long approach across Northeast Halcott.
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
of the U.S. state of New York. It is mostly located in Greene County
Greene County, New York
Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Its name is in honor of the American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. Its county seat is Catskill...
, with some of its lower slopes in Delaware
Delaware County, New York
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of 2010 the population was 47,980. The county seat is Delhi. It is named after the Delaware River, which was named in honor of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, appointed governor of Virginia in 1609.-History:When counties...
and Ulster
Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county located in the state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 182,493. Recent population estimates completed by the United States Census Bureau for the 12-month period ending July 1 are at...
counties. Its exact summit elevation has not been officially determined, but the highest contour line on the mountain is 3520 feet (1,072.9 m). It is one of the peaks on the divide between the Delaware
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
and Hudson
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
watersheds
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
.
As one of the Catskill High Peaks
Catskill High Peaks
The Catskill High Peaks are all of the mountains in New York's Catskill Mountains above 3,500 ft in elevation whose summits are separated either by one-half mile or a vertical drop of at least 250 ft between it and the next nearest separate summit...
above 3500 feet (1,066.8 m) in elevation, a successful ascent of Halcott is required for peakbaggers
Peak bagging
Peak bagging is an activity in which hillwalkers and mountaineers attempt to reach the summit of some collection of peaks, usually those above some height in a particular region, or having a particular feature.Peak bagging can be distinguished from highpointing...
seeking to join the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club
Catskill Mountain 3500 Club
The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club, incorporated as the Catskill 3500 Club and often just referred to as the 3500 Club, is a peakbagging organization for hikers in the Catskill Mountains of New York...
. It is on public land, part of the Catskill Park Forest Preserve
Forest Preserve (New York)
New York's Forest Preserve is all the land owned by the state within the Adirondack and Catskill parks, managed by its Department of Environmental Conservation. These properties are required to be kept "forever wild" by Article 14 of the state constitution, and thus enjoy the highest degree of...
, but has no trail. Hikers bushwhack through the relatively open woods to sign the canister
Summit register
A summit book is a record of visitors to the summit of a mountain, usually one without a maintained trail. It is usually enclosed in a weatherproof, animalproof metal canister. Some books are maintained in an informal manner by an individual or small group, while others are maintained by a club...
at the summit and prove their climb. It is considered one of the easiest of the 13 trailless High Peaks.
Geography
The mountain spreads over a wide area. Most of it is located in the Greene County town of LexingtonLexington, New York
Lexington is a town in Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 805 at the 2010 census.The Town of Lexington is in the southwest part of Greene County.- History :The town was first settled around 1788....
. Some of its lower eastern slopes are in Halcott
Halcott, New York
Halcott is a town in Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 258 at the 2010 census.The Town of Halcott is located in the southwestern corner of the county.- History :...
to the west, and the tripoint
Tripoint
A tripoint, or trijunction , is a geographical point at which the borders of three countries or subnational entities meet....
of the three counties is on one of its southern ridges, putting those points south of the Greene County line in either the Ulster County town of Shandaken
Shandaken, New York
Shandaken is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 3,235. The name is from a native phrase for "land of rapid waters."...
or Delaware County's Middletown
Middletown, Delaware County, New York
Middletown is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 4,051 at the 2000 census.The Town of Middletown is in the southeast part of the county.- History :...
. Most of the land on the mountain in Greene County is part of the 4760 acres (1,926.3 ha) Halcott Mountain Wild Forest, managed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for the conservation, improvement, and protection of natural resources within the U.S. state of New York. It was founded in 1970, replacing the previous Conservation Department...
(DEC). The lower eastern slope is outside the Catskill Park Blue Line
Blue Line (New York State)
The Blue Line is the term used in New York state for the boundaries of the Adirondack and Catskill parks, within which can be found the state's Forest Preserve...
, and private tracts are at the base of its slopes in the other two counties. The nearest settlements are the small communities of Fleischmanns
Fleischmanns, New York
Fleischmanns is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 351 at the 2000 census. Fleischmanns is in the town of Middletown.- History :Early settlers of this area came from Germany, England, Holland and Ireland...
and Pine Hill
Pine Hill, New York
Pine Hill is a hamlet in the western part of the town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a total population of 308.- History :...
a short distance to the southwest and south and smaller West Kill further away to the north.
On three sides Halcott's slopes are defined by alternating creek valleys and ridges that divide them. The eastern slopes are steeper, falling 1700 feet (518.2 m) into Deep Notch
Deep Notch
Deep Notch, sometimes West Kill Notch, or Echo Notch, is a mountain pass in Lexington, New York, United States. It divides two Catskill peaks, both subpeaks of high peaks of the range. The narrow groove between the steep, high slopes on either side is traversed by state highway NY 42 and the...
, the pass
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
between it and Mount Sherrill
Mount Sherrill
Mount Sherrill is a mountain located in Greene County, New York and is part of the Catskill Mountains.Mount Sherrill is flanked to the east by North Dome, and to the west by Balsam Mountain....
to the east, traversed by state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
NY 42
New York State Route 42
New York State Route 42 is a north–south, discontinuous state highway in the Catskill Mountains region of New York in the United States. The southernmost of the highway's two segments begins at an intersection with U.S. Route 6 and US 209 in Port Jervis and ends at a junction with...
. The south slopes lead more gradually, with a few steep sections, to the Birch Creek valley. On the southwest the ridge with the tripoint continues to a 1500 feet (457.2 m) height of land between Halcott and 2456 feet (748.6 m) Monka Hill, site of the former Grand Hotel. Another, more westerly ridge reaches a 2420 feet (737.6 m) col between Halcott and one of the several South Mountains in the Catskills. Estimates of the mountain's actual summit elevation range to the higher end of the 20-foot (6 m) contour interval, to as high as 3541 feet (1,079.3 m).
The west slopes make a very gentle grade to the Elk Creek valley, with some steep portions on the northwest at the headwall of Hemlock Gully. To the north a ridge descends gently to 2990 feet (911.4 m) before rising again to the 3408 feet (1,038.8 m) peak officially unnamed but known as either Northeast Halcott or Sleeping Lion.
Bushnellsville Creek and an unnamed tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
drain the east side of the mountain, both feeding into Esopus Creek
Esopus Creek
Esopus Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River that drains the east-central Catskill Mountains of the U.S. state of New York. From its source at Winnisook Lake on the slopes of Slide Mountain, the Catskills' highest peak, it flows across Ulster County to the Hudson at Saugerties. Many tributaries...
, whose waters are impounded downstream for New York City's Ashokan Reservoir
Ashokan Reservoir
The Ashokan Reservoir is a reservoir in Ulster County, New York, USA. The reservoir is in the eastern end of the Catskill Park, and is one of several reservoirs created to provide the City of New York with water. However, it is one of only two reservoirs in the Catskill Watershed. It is also New...
before draining into the Hudson. Bushnellsville and its tributary both form scenic waterfalls near the bottom of Halcott's slopes near Route 42. Birch Creek, which rises in the valleys south of Halcott, drains into the Esopus at Big Indian
Big Indian, New York
Big Indian is a hamlet within the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, United States, located along State Route 28, within the Catskill Park 17 miles west of Woodstock. The Esopus Creek runs through the area, as Birch Creek feeds in from the north. Big Indian Hollow is located slightly to...
. Elk and Emory creeks (the former via Vly Creek) both drain into Bush Kill, which in turn empties into the East Branch
East Branch Delaware River
The East Branch Delaware River, approximately 75 miles long in the U.S. state of New York, is one of two branches, along with the West Branch, that join to form the Delaware River. It flows through a mountainous area on the southwestern edge of the Catskill Park. For a long stretch it serves...
of the Delaware near Arkville
Arkville, New York
Arkville is a hamlet of the Town of Middletown, New York, United States. It is located along state highway NY 28 a mile north of the village of Margaretville in the western Catskill Mountains. It has the ZIP Code 12406....
.
Geology
Like the Catskills as a whole, a dissected plateauDissected plateau
A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded so that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, metamorphism, extensive faulting, or magmatic activity...
, Halcott was formed not through the upthrust of rock layers but by the gradual erosion of stream valleys in an uplifted region about 350 mya. Its rock layers and bedrock are primarily Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
and Silurian
Silurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. Later glaciation, primarily the Illinois and Wisconsin periods, shaped the slopes of the mountain, smoothing its slopes on the west when the ice was covering it and steepening the east slopes through erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
when the meltwater burst through Deep Notch.
Its soils are part of the Halcott-Vly association, reddish silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
loam
Loam
Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
s with a large concentration of fragmented rock. They are shallow and extremely acidic with low water capacity. As a result they are erosion-prone and rock outcrops are frequent on the mountain slopes.
Flora and fauna
Halcott is extensively forested, primarily in mature northern hardwoods (beechBeech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
and maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
), with some small Norway spruce
Norway Spruce
Norway Spruce is a species of spruce native to Europe. It is also commonly referred to as the European Spruce.- Description :...
and red pine
Red Pine
Pinus resinosa, commonly known as the red pine or Norway pine, is pine native to North America. The Red Pine occurs from Newfoundland west to Manitoba, and south to Pennsylvania, with several smaller, disjunct populations occurring in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and West Virginia, as well...
plantations at lower elevations and scattered stands of hemlock
Eastern Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis, also known as eastern or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as pruche du Canada, is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It ranges from northeastern Minnesota eastward through southern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and south in the Appalachian...
left over from the era when those trees were heavily harvested for their tannin
Tannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
-rich bark. There is also a stand of paper birch
Paper Birch
Betula papyrifera is a species of birch native to northern North America.-Description:...
on the southwestern slope of the mountain, as a result of past human disturbance. A 1908 forest fire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
resulted in a stand of yellow birch
Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis , is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec and Ontario, and the southeast corner of Manitoba in Canada, west to Minnesota, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.It is a...
in the upper reaches of Hemlock Gully.
The slopes of the mountain were logged to some degree up to an average elevation of 3150 feet (960.1 m), leaving a first-growth area of roughly 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) on and below the summit. Trees in this area are stunted and twisted by the wind and weather exposure. There are no boreal evergreens, such as balsam fir
Balsam Fir
The balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States .-Growth:It is a small to medium-size evergreen tree typically tall, rarely to tall, with a narrow conic crown...
and red spruce
Red Spruce
Picea rubens is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and from New England south in the Adirondack Mountains and Appalachians to western North Carolina.-Physical description:...
, as found on many other of the other Catskill High Peaks at these elevations. Some boreal herbs, such as wood sorrel
Oxalis
Oxalis is by far the largest genus in the wood-sorrel family Oxalidaceae: of the approximately 900 known species in the Oxalidaceae, 800 belong here...
, have remained at those elevations.
DEC estimates that there are 49 mammal species, 20 amphibians, 13 reptiles and 71 birds that live on the slopes and ridges. Among the more visible species are big game
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
such as white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
and black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
. Fishers
Fisher (animal)
The fisher is a medium-size mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family, commonly referred to as the weasel family. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American Marten...
were reintroduced to the Catskills in the late 1970s; a few are taken by trappers every season. Among bird species, the bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
s, red-throated hawk and the eastern bluebird
Eastern Bluebird
The Eastern Bluebird, Sialia sialis, is a small thrush found in open woodlands, farmlands and orchards, and most recently can be spotted in suburban areas. It is the state bird of Missouri and New York....
(New York's state bird), are the first of which are considered threatened
Threatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
and the latter of concern
Species of Concern
In wildlife conservation, Species of Concern is an informal term, not defined in the federal Endangered Species Act. The term commonly refers to species that are declining or appear to be in need of concentrated conservation actions. Many agencies and organizations maintain lists of these at-risk...
, are present.
History
Halcott, like the town in which it is partially located, took its name from an early landowner. The west slopes of the mountain were cleared for agriculture to well over 2,000 feet (600 m) in the early days of settlement; the steeper slopes on the east side were generally not cleared much above the road. The exception to that was one field northwest of the former hamlet of Bushnellsville, which went up to 2360 feet (719.3 m). Old stone walls and foundations remain in the forest on the mountain's lower slopes.Between the fields and the first-growth forest on the summit is the forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
belt, where trees were cut by local farmers as firewood
Firewood
Firewood is any wood-like material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form....
and hemlocks were harvested so that the tanning
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
in their bark
Bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
could be used to tan
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
leather, a major regional industry that died out in the late 19th century when most of the accessible groves in the Catskills had been peeled and a synthetic process for making tannin was developed.
After the barkpeeling industry faded, the state created the Forest Preserve
Forest Preserve (New York)
New York's Forest Preserve is all the land owned by the state within the Adirondack and Catskill parks, managed by its Department of Environmental Conservation. These properties are required to be kept "forever wild" by Article 14 of the state constitution, and thus enjoy the highest degree of...
in 1885 to protect what was left by mandating that all the land owned by the state in what is now the Catskill Park be kept "forever wild" and not sold, leased or otherwise transferred. In 1894 that section was written into the state constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
. A few years later the state bought the lands around Halcott's summit. The west slope was acquired in 1934, with the state land holding reaching its current size by 1957.
DEC has done little management of the land, since no trail has ever been cut on the mountain and it has not needed to. The area is designated as a Wild Forest, allowing in theory for some intensive use, but that is only because it is too small to be a wilderness area. Under its own guidelines, land above 2700 feet (823 m) in wild forests is to be treated as wilderness. The peak has been on the 3500 Club's list since its founding in 1962, and is also popular with hunters as well. In its 2001 unit management plan, DEC raised the possibility of building a trail to connect with another possible westward extension of the Devil's Path
Devil's Path (hiking trail)
The Devil's Path is a hiking trail in the Greene County section of the Catskill Mountains of New York, often described as the toughest hiking trail in the Eastern United States...
over North Dome
North Dome (New York)
North Dome is a mountain located in Greene County, New York.The mountain is part of the Catskill Mountains. North Dome is flanked to the east by West Kill Mountain, and to the west faces Mount Sherrill across 1,000-ft.-deep Mink Hollow Notch....
and Mount Sherrill
Mount Sherrill
Mount Sherrill is a mountain located in Greene County, New York and is part of the Catskill Mountains.Mount Sherrill is flanked to the east by North Dome, and to the west by Balsam Mountain....
in the West Kill Wilderness Area to the east, but so far that plan has gone no further.
Access
The most commonly used approach to the summit, since it takes place entirely on public land, starts at the rough parking area on the west side of Route 42 south of Deep Notch, right next to the waterfall on the northern tributary of Bushnellsville Creek, at an elevation of roughly 1800 feet (548.6 m). From here hikers generally follow the ridge to the west, trending a bit southward. Upon gaining the ridge at 3000 feet (914.4 m), they follow it south up mostly gentle slopes to the mountain's summit, where a rough use path runs north-south to the canister, mounted on a cherry tree at the southern end. It is a 1720 feet (524.3 m) ascent via this route, with the round trip covering approximately six miles (9.6 km).There are no views from the summit when the trees are in leaf, and in other seasons those views to the south are partially obstructed by other surrounding trees. Views may be available from the southern slopes at the top of steep drops.
Access from the south and west follows gentler slopes but requires gaining permission from landowners to cross private landholdings at the mountain's base. From the north it is possible to hike entirely on public land as well via a long approach across Northeast Halcott.