Slide Mountain

Slide is the highest peak in the Catskills, though it wasn't known as such until the late 1800's. Its elevation is still not official but several surveys show it to be over 4200'
Bicknell's thrush was first identified on Slide Mt.
One of the 4 peaks in the Catskills 3500 Peak Challenge requiring a winter ascent.

Latest summits

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"Did a loop traverse of the "Catskill 9" with two hiking companions to close out my winter round finish of the Catskill 35 in style (35/35 on Rocky Mountain, and the rest were bonus summits). We started from the Denning Road Trailhead at 7 AM, heading counterclockwise up Table and Peekamoose before bushwhacking over the four trailless peaks. Climbing the col from Friday to Dink and Cornell was brutal. The forest is dense and fights you at every step. When we finally hit marked trail again, we were banged up, bloody, and grateful to be out of the mess. My favorite Outdoor Research Whirlwind Hoodie did not survive Dink's wrath. The snowpack is high over the burroughs range, and being elevated into the forest canopy felt like we were still bushwhacking. The Cornell Crack required a rope to safely negotiate. Once down, we dropped our packs and jogged the trail out and back to Wittenberg. Climbing up Slide's eastern face on tired legs was a real challenge. We enjoyed an ice cold celebratory beer at the top, and then made the long descent back to the car. The trip was just under 20 miles and about 5100 feet of gain." — wacbravo • Mar 16, 2019

"Beautiful sunny day for Tom and I to do a traverse of the Burroughs range. Chatted with a guy in the Slide PA, planning to do just Slide for one of the 4 required peaks, would be the only other hiker we would see all day. Nice packed trail all the way to the summit but then unbroken toward Cornell." — Nimblefoot • Mar 11, 2019

"Of all the mountains and hills that I have climbed over the past 30 months, Slide Mountain probably had the lowest reward-to-effort ratio in my estimation. The initial challenge was crossing a fairly large stream with rushing water, thin ice patches, and not too many rocks to assist with the stream crossing. Taking the advice of a person I spoke with on Hunter Mountain, I headed a considerable distance upsteam before making my way across. After that, it was a steady incline up the mountain without too much leveling off until I got close to the top -- around the 3,800-ft. mark according to the topo map. The views from the summit were only so-so. Better ones were found a short distance away, but even those paled in comparison to Overlook's and Hunter's offerings from their respective firetowers. On the plus side, it wasn't crowded at all. I only passed two other hikers the entire time (not bad for a Saturday afternoon!) and had complete solitude on the summit and for the entire second-half of my hike. All totaled, I saw fewer than a dozen people on the three popular hikes I did today (Overlook, Hunter, and Slide). I was expecting it to be at least 10x as crowded. Due to being..." — theascent • Feb 9, 2019

"Ten of us rendezvoused at the Slide mountain PA to hike the final peak of Miyon Sung’s 3-season Cat 35 quest. On the summit we met another festive group led by fellow gridders Charlie and Val. Both groups had their share of beverages and treats to eat. After passing the true summit of Slide Miyon reached the “celebrated summit “ ledge under an arch of trekking poles and the tune of “Celebration” by Kool and Gang playing on Yong Ae’s phone and Tom taking a video of the proceedings. Once packs were dropped and puffies put on the feast of sliders, scones and babka was consumed among other treats. Two bottles of bubbly were popped in her honor followed by the presentation of her patch and a hand made poster of the 35 peaks with dates and sights from the summits suitable for framing. Photo ops and clean up then it was time to descend back to the PA where Charlie and Val led their gang in a celebration dance in honor of Miyon’s completion. Off to Brios where Miyon treated us to pizza to complete a lovely day. " — Nimblefoot • Feb 3, 2019

"Nine of us took a stroll across the Burrough Range to complete Laura’s and Tom’s first Catskill 420 Grid and my second. We arrived earlier than planned but were still greeted by six friends and the summit steward. More friends would arrive in ones and twos within the next hour. Everyone including the steward and other hikers were treated to a cooler filled with ice cream sandwiches and fruit bars, homemade cookies and rhubarb crumb bars and homemade fruit filled hand pies from a CIA chef/instructor. A complete sugar rush for two hours before heading down to the PA for celebratory beverages. We lucked out with a beautiful sunny day with the heat and humidity at a more reasonable level compared to the previous week. " — Nimblefoot • Jul 8, 2018

"Steve and I decided not to be present at Mr Magoo’s Catskill Grid finish on Balsam Lake mtn. and instead visit two more peaks for our grids, Slide and Balsam. The trail up Slide was mostly free of ice or snow except for the final stretch to the summit area. We skirted the ice patches on our way up then chose to pop on the micros for easier striding on our descent. Cleared most of the limbs and blow downs that we found on the trail." — Nimblefoot • May 5, 2018

"Steve joined me for a hike through the Burroughs Range. After dropping a car off in Woodland Valley and driving up to the Slide PA we had an easy ascent up Slide on a well packed trail. We spent extra time clearing off any limbs or blow downs from the trail as a force of habit. An excellent day to be out with the nice clear blue sky and warmer temps. Had the summit to ourselves before pushing on to Cornell." — Nimblefoot • Apr 21, 2018

"Seven of us hiked the Long Path and Burroughs range from Lanes street to the Slide mountain PA. We deviated onto the pleasant Curtis-Ormsby trail on our descent to avoid the rocky W-C-S trail. A wonderful day in the mountains was made very unpleasant with me falling ill from food poisoning or stomach flu just as we got to the cars. That was the worst two hour drive back home that I have experienced.....not recommended!" — Nimblefoot • Oct 28, 2017

"Out with the wife hitting Slide and West Kill mountains for the month. Got an early start so we had the summit to ourselves then passed the weekend crowds as we descended back to car. Had a short chat with the summit steward heading up just before we reached the parking lot." — Nimblefoot • Sep 2, 2017

"Steve and I joined a Mohonk hikers/ Rip Van Winkle hikers group hike led by our friends Tom & Anna traversing the Burroughs range. Trail between Cornell and Slide was definitely wet and mucky making us look forward to an ascent in order to have a dry trail. On top we find two summit stewards from the NYNJ trail conference who seem to be just hanging out and not interacting with the hikers on the open ledge. We got lucky with the weather and made it down to the Slide mtn PA before the rain started coming down which shortened our rehydration/snack period." — Nimblefoot • Aug 12, 2017

"Enjoyed a beautiful hike of this mountain. perfect conditions for snowshoeing. Roughly 5.4 miles RT, mostly moderate trail, great views from the summit. We started to head over to Cornell but the trail had not been tracked out and the deep, dry snow was slick on the backside - not having been on the trail before we dropped a few hundred feet, navigated a few tricky spots but without knowing the trail we decided it was better to wait to complete another day. We climbed back up, enjoyed the views along the way and made our way back to the car." — deb-and-rob • Jan 28, 2017

"Took advantage of the fresh snow and beautiful weather for a midweek snowshoe. Intended on doing Slide, Cornell, and Wittenberg, but had to turn around in the col between Slide and Cornell when I lost a pin on the binding of one of my snowshoes. Felt it would not be wise to go through the deep snow ahead with a bum wheel, so I made a temporary fix with a zip tie (didn't last long) and turned back. Still was a great day in the mountains though. " — wacbravo • Jan 11, 2017

"Tom,Steve and I joined "Cake & Coffee" for a romp across the Burroughs range on a fine autumn day. They are nearing the completion of their Cat 35 quest and we are filling in holes in our Grids. We had a bit of a challenge getting Kate's dog Beans down some of the small ledges on the backside of Slide but he persevered with the help of his hiker friends." — Nimblefoot • Oct 15, 2016

"Took advantage of leap day and did a quick trip up Slide for the 4K per day challenge.Late start allowing for the morning showers to subside. Plenty of ice on the trail above 3500' and smaller patches down lower that are easily bypassed." — Nimblefoot • Feb 29, 2016

"Great way to start the New Year, unfortunately there was overcast and the views from the summit which there are only a couple of spots to view from weren't good. Snow on the ground, cold but we wanted to complete the 2 Catskill 4000 foot hikes!" — hbotc • Jan 1, 2016

"The third and final peak of the day. The whole purpose of the hike. Views were so-so from the summit. I heard that there were views from the trail if you came up the western side of the mountain. Will have to check it out again someday. There were a couple of guided hiking groups at the summit as well. Some more scrambly stuff that required using my hands from Cornell to Slide. Went back the same way I came in. " — newenglandwarrior • Jul 19, 2015

"Steve and I did a Burroughs range traverse to close out my month of April. Up high there is still a narrow monorail of packed snow, fall off and you sink into soft snow up to your knees. Clear blue skies allowed for a nice view of our next objective of Cornell mountain." — Nimblefoot • Apr 18, 2015

"wanted to do the loop by taking the CO trail, but it looked as though no one had been on it for a few days. so went straight up. at the junction, the trail was very thickly covered w/ snow drifts. very windy on top but great views. " — Hillary • Jan 29, 2015

"Hiking the loop of P-E and W-C-S trails. Hitting Witt, Corn and Slide but no views were had do an abundant amount of low clouds. The sun took a holiday then peeked out on our drive home." — Nimblefoot • Nov 11, 2014

"took the curtis ormsbee trail up and made a loop. what a scenic section through the layered rock slabs! even the rock is interesting. summit is virtually viewless, but crowded. windy and cold. was glad for the additional layers that I had packed. " — Hillary • Oct 25, 2014