"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

"We did a horseshoe hike of Windham HP and the Blackhead range starting from Peck road and finishing at Barnum road. Hiked over Camels Hump on our way out. Got a nice view over to Windham but anything further was blocked by haze." — Nimblefoot • Jul 3, 2018

"Ed, Steve and I out for romp on the Blackhead range. The day is finally starting to warm up and less wind on the Hump but the clouds are still obscuring the usually good views. Short break then head over to the Caudal." — 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. With the three peaks behind us we continue our sashay to the Hump with its prominent spruce tree. The previous group turned around just passed Thomas Cole so now we are breaking trail through a desert of wonderful white fluff so nice it makes us wish we were skiing rather than walking with flip-flops on. Now we are getting much better views back to where we came from, where we are going and beyond. It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood and now it’s all downhill to our exit on Elmer." — Nimblefoot • Feb 6, 2018

"Topped out on Camels Hump on my way to Thomas Cole and Black Dome from Elmer Barnum road. Out from under the tree cover and a cloudless sky making for a warm hike with the temperature in the mid to upper 80's." — Nimblefoot • Jun 11, 2017

"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