Region
Most climbed route
Highlights
- Caudal, meaning pertaining to the tail, is aptly named because it is the tail end of the Blackhead Range.
Routes
1 summit • 3.0 mi • 846 ft gain • 2 hr 7 min
Latest summits
"A very quiet Labor Day Monday. In the morning I did Bearpen and Vly out of Johnson Hollow without seeing a soul. Maybe the early morning showers and high humidity scared everyone off.
For the afternoon I headed over to the Blackhead range to visit the summits of Thomas Cole and Black Dome. Because Barnum road trailhead was closer than Big Hollow road I started from it, something I haven’t done in probably 5 yrs or more. This allowed me to tick off the Caudal and Camels Hump once again. I even headed off trail to make sure I got the summit “X” on the Caudal.
I only met one couple with their pup getting all three peaks of the range.
" — Nimblefoot • Sep 4, 2023
"My brother and I wanted to knock off a few more his list. We decided to park a car at the Barnum road trailhead and went to the big hollow trailhead and took the Batavia kill trail to the Black Dome Range trail. Someone took the Batavia kill trail in the past few days with bare boots and the post holes were a bit of a pain. Luckily the snow wasn't too deep. Roughly 2 feet of snow on the summit. We saw 2 other hikers. 1 gentleman we met at Lockwood Gap and followed us up to Black Dome for about 150-200 yards. He seemed like he was in a race and blew by us. It was pretty windy when we started in the morning but as the day went on it slowed down and the sun came out. It was a snowshoer's paradise. " — LGH-Topple • Jan 28, 2021
"Out and back of the Blackhead Range today. 10 miles and 3500 feet of gain. The day was truly beautiful and clear. I wore trail crampons all the way. This was the toughest I’ve done solo. Officially at 24/39 for my Catskills 3500. " — pandyabear • Mar 9, 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
"Horseshoe hike of Windham HP and the Blackhead range. Hiked over the Caudal on our way out to Barnum road with visions of rehydration beverages awaiting us in our coolers. Another warm day though cooler and less humid than Sunday the 1st." — Nimblefoot • Jul 3, 2018
"Ed, Steve and I out for a romp on the Blackhead range. After descending the Camels Hump we cruised over the little pup known as the Caudal, our 5th peak, on our way down to Barnum road. The snow depth is shrinking making the rocky/boulder sections trickier to get through especially when there is ice under the snow. Our snowshoes are alternating between friend and foe as we descend.
" — Nimblefoot • Apr 6, 2018
"So today my original plan was to hike Thomas Cole and Black Dome mountains to check off 2 more mountains off my winter Catskill 3500 requirement. I hiked th he first 1.3 miles and things started to get real difficult between Caudal and Camel's hump. That .7 miles was rough, breaking through 2+ feet of snow drifts basically the whole way. My legs were already tired. I kept falling. Before I even made it to Camel's Hump I was thinking about turning back. I made it up a few minutes later and could see Tommy Cole, just under a mile away. It was hard for me to be that close and have to turn around because I couldn't do it. So I shotgunned my beer (in perfect LGH fashion) and I started to head back. Until I realised what I was doing. I was quitting. Something that I have never done before. It didn't feel right. So I stopped and turned back to Tommy Cole and told myself that I at least had to try. Luckily I did. From Camel's Hump on I stayed on top of the snow and the hiking was A LOT better from then on. I pressed on taking my time stopping every once and a while so I didn't burn myself out. I made it to the summit of Tommy Cole and decided to continue on to Black Dome. The hiking was ..." — LGH-Topple • Feb 9, 2018
"Laura, Steve, Tim and I out playing in the snow on the Blackhead range. Our sashay from the Hump to the Caudal was fun despite the snow becoming less deep and more tripping hazards appearing. Beyond the Caudal everything went downhill literally. It was totally PITA with less snow, warming afternoon temps, sticky rice snow and rocks. We entertained ourselves and each other with hoots, hollers, slips, slides and occasional falls. We made it out safely with everyone still smiling after a fine day with friends playing in the snow. Another snowstorm tomorrow....yippee!" — Nimblefoot • Feb 6, 2018
"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