Blackhead

"Eight of us did an out and back through Lockwood Gap tagging Black Dome, T. Cole and Blackhead. Steady snow flurries with gusty wind dropping an inch or so in the AM. In the afternoon the snow ceased and the clouds cleared allowing views on our way down from BD and over on Blackhead. Windy all day with moderate temps fortunately." — Nimblefoot • Jan 27, 2019

"I summitted the Blackheads from Barnum road on a clear and chilly day. The summits were a winter wonderland and everything was quite peaceful and beautiful. Only passed a few folks, the exception being a slow moving AMC group; which bordered on the maximum group size. As also a great day to be in the woods." — Right-On • Jan 12, 2019

"Hiked with Tom. We didn't start hiking until almost 11am. The parking lot was filled with cars. We did a loop hike of only Blackhead. We stopped at the viewpoint after the summit before heading down into the col. The weather was nice, but there were some clouds while we were up there. The foliage was nice, but won't be peak for another week probably. Nice easy hike. " — Kim-Stilson • Oct 6, 2018

"Hiked with Kim. We got a late start and the parking lot was packed because it was a holiday weekend. Considering how full the parking lot was I expected to see a lot more people on the trails, but luckily we were able to enjoy the trails and the viewpoint before the descent without too many people. Weather was nice and the foliage is approaching peak. We did a loop up Batavia Kill to the Escarpment trail and down the range trail. " — LGH-Tom • Oct 6, 2018

"Dutcher Notch Trail - Arizona Mtn. - Blackhead Mtn. | and back. The mosquitoes and the loose rocks on Dutcher Notch trail were bad, but the trail beyond that was fantastic. Went up to scope out locations for an upcoming photo assignment [Escarpment Trail Run]." — SR-Shilling • Jul 21, 2018

"We did a horseshoe hike of Windham High Peak and the Blackhead range. Starting at Peck road and finishing at Barnum road. While we took a break at the junction of the Escarpment and Batavia Kill trails a gentleman came up the Batavia Kill and continued on toward Blackhead, he was the only other hiker we would see all day. On our ascent of Blackhead we picked up his printed map in a zip lock and returned it to him just below the rock ledge with a view back towards WHP. He seemed quite relieved to get it back. During our lunch break on the summit of Blackhead he passed us heading on for Black Dome and Thomas Cole." — Nimblefoot • Jul 3, 2018

"I was joined by Steve and Ed for a romp on the Blackhead range today. Strapped on the snowshoes right from the get go to hike over to the normal PA and then onto the trail proper. The climb up to Lockwood gap went smoothly on a packed trail then on our climb to the summit we got hit with a strong breeze that stung our faces and drifted any loose snow from recent flurries. On our descent we found our tracks completely filled in in spots. " — Nimblefoot • Apr 6, 2018

"Laura, Steve, Tim and I went out and played in the snow. We initially started off bare booting up to Lockwood gap then switched to snowshoes just prior to the spring. We almost didn’t bring the SS as we haven’t been even carrying them for the last two weeks or so. The weekend snowfall brought enough fluff to warrant deploying the SS to at least stay above the underlying ice and get some grip. Above the gap we engaged in the winter treat of trail breaking to the view off of Blackhead and on to the summit. On our descent the clouds began to lift allowing for some views and the sighting of distant sunshine." — Nimblefoot • Feb 6, 2018

"Out on a solo hike tagging the three peaks in the Blackhead range. After returning to Lockwood gap from Thomas Cole I headed up to Blackhead to finish the day. Only a few other hikers out on such a nice day." — Nimblefoot • Dec 16, 2017

"The five of us enjoyed a nice wintry stomp acrossed the Blackhead range. Blue sky and bright sun overhead and powdery snow under our feet. A quick tag of the summit and back to the gap slipping, sliding and occasionally skiing the steeper sections." — Nimblefoot • Feb 4, 2017

"We traversed Thomas Cole,Black Dome and Blackhead from Elmer Barnum road to Big Hollow road. From the summit of Black Dome we were joined by a young woman who was working on her Catskill 3500 quest and gave her a lift back to her car on Elmer Barnum road. " — Nimblefoot • Nov 13, 2016

"A thru-hike from Big Hollow road to Elmer Barnum road. We avoided the ice on the Escarpment trail but still from some nice water ice below Lockwood gap and some on the long windy section between the view and the summit. Early spring day!" — Nimblefoot • Mar 8, 2016

"beautiful day for a snowshoe! I let two guys go ahead of me to pack the trail a bit. once we reached the col, the snowshoe path only went to blackhead. those poor guys had to break trail up to black dome. the snow on the steep section of the blackhead trail was very powdery and slippery. heavy, thick snow on ridge. almost cavelike to walk through. beautiful. took a side trip up to the batavia kill lean to after. definitely not of my favorite lean to's. " — Hillary • Feb 11, 2015

"We enjoyed this range as a nice thru hike from Barnum Rd to Big Hollow with our friend Nancy and 'Rob' whom we met at the trailhead and who joined us to continue on the hike thru. It was a nice easy to moderate hike over ~6.5 miles with roughly 3100' of gain under a mixture of cloud/sun skies. The trail starts off gently along an old logging type road for about 0.45 miles and then hooks a left towards the Blackhead Mountain range. The initial climb is fairly easy and as you go through the range thru Caudel, Camels Hump, Thomas Cole, Black Dome and Blackhead the trail is in nice shape with some open meadow-like and conifer ridges interspersed with ledges and cols. The cols become progressively deeper as you move through the trail and the last dip of the trail after the Black Dome summit towards parking includes a nice little set of scrambles and then some excellent views as you descend the ridge. Excellent hike which took us about 6 hours which included many photos stops, side trail excursions for views and stopping to talk with many hikers along the way. Very fun day." — deb-and-rob • Oct 25, 2014

"Back to Lockwood gap from Thomas Cole and up to Blackhead before heading back down. Viewing ledge had ice on the front of it and more ice on the trail beyond the ledge. If we have enough time we'll head to WHP to make it a 4-peak day. Still a nice sunny and cool day." — Nimblefoot • Nov 20, 2013

"Our 4th peak of a thru hike of Windham High Peak and the Blackheads along the Escarpment trail. Another empty summit and last one for the wife who was going to bail on BD & TC." — Nimblefoot • Aug 18, 2013

"Had lunch on our 3rd and final peak. Clouds blocking the bright sun nicely keeping the heat index down. Beginning to run into hikers out for the holiday weekend. Parking lot empty at 9 and overflowing at 1pm. Ice Cream time...woo hoo!" — Nimblefoot • Jul 6, 2013

"Great Day - Snow up high, but gorgeous sun - we were in t-shirts! We wanted to head to Acra Point, but it was too icy on the Escarpment Trail heading down from Blackhead. We went back down the Black Dome trail instead." — PJSelmer • Apr 22, 2013

"Last summit of the three planned for day before descending back into the foggy valley to stay at the Batavia Kill creek lean-to shelter. The clouds being so low in the valley made it appear this summit was a lot higher in altitude than it actually was. Overall good hike. " — MooseHiker • Oct 26, 2012

"With Frank. Completed the required winter ascent of Blackhead on my 50th birthday. Used crampons to go up, found some snow near top. Took one bad fall when one crampon gripped and one slid. Beautiful. Sunny. Wonderful views." — barbaratraver • Jan 14, 1989