How to Hike Indian Head & Twin Peaks in the Catskill Mountains
If you are ready for a challenge, try the Catskill 35er. Two awesome loop hikes apart of the 35ers are Indian Head, Twin, Plateau, and Sugarloaf Mountains, and (a separate loop), Slide, Cornel, and Wittenberg Mountains. After hiking these loops you will have completed 7 out of the 35 high peaks of the Catskills, which we will discuss in this article. All these mountains are 3,500ft or above in elevation.
This article is all about Indian Head Mountain, Indian Head hike, plus the other peaks listed above, and more about the Catskill Mountains in general.
This post is all about Indian Head.
Indian Head :
How to Get There Via Devil’s Path
Both hikes are apart of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. To get to our first hike, Indian Head Mountain, Twin, Plateau, and Sugarloaf, you will get on Interstate 87 North or South (depending if you’re coming North or South of Exit 21). You will get off on Exit 21 toward NY-23, Catskill. From the exit you will go through an old toll booth that is no longer in service. Then you will come to a light, where you want to take a left onto CR-23B (coming from 87 South, you will take a right).
In about half a mile, you will take another left onto NY-23 East, (there is no sign for this route, so pay attention to the mileage if you don’t have a GPS). Then in .9 of a mile, you will take a slight right turn onto US-9W, South toward Catskill. Then continue straight for 17 miles. At South Main St. you take a slight left turn, then in about 1.9 miles you will take a left onto Platte Clove Road. Then in 3.9 miles take a slight right turn onto Prediger Road. Then, in .3 of a mile take a right, then in .2 of a mile you will be at the parking lot.
{Related Post : More About the Catskill Mountains}
Hiking Via Devil’s Head
To hike Indian Head, Twin, Plateau, and Sugarloaf Mountains, you will start by following the red markers, or the Devil’s Path towards Indian Head Mountain. It will be flat for about 1-2 miles, then pretty steep for about half a mile, where you will come to an intersection and then turn left for Indian Head. Indian Head does not have an official summit, or view, it’s pretty much in the middle of the trees. However, Twin Mountain has a great view.
To get to twin, you will hike back down to that first intersection (there will be signs pointing you towards Twin, so no worries, you won’t get lost). Once you get back to the intersection, you will follow the trail signs to Twin Mountain which is about half a mile to a mile to the summit. There are actually a couple different summits here. There is one about half way up to your left. Then you will continue on your way and follow the different trail markers to Twin Mountain summit, and there will be two other views, with one being the actual summit.
The first view point is a little bigger than the actual summit, thus you might want to eat lunch or have a break here. But, it’s up to you, because the actual summit has good views too, it’s just not as big of a viewing area as the first lookout is. Thus, to get to the actual summit from the viewing point, you will continue to walk and follow the red trail markers for about half of a mile.
Getting to Plateau & Sugarloaf Peaks
After this summit, there will be more red markers to follow that will bring you to Plateau and then Sugarloaf Mountain. However, if you want, you could stop at Twin Mountain, and come back another day to hike Plateau and Sugarloaf, if you are too tired. There is another way you can hike up and only do Plateau and Sugarloaf, instead of doing all four peaks. However, if you are feeling good, you can continue to Plateau and Sugarloaf, by continuing to follow the red trail markers. Here you will find the total mileage and elevation gains of this loop, as well as here, you will find another article explaining the loop even further.
Slide, Cornell & Wittenberg Loop Hike Getting There
Another great loop to complete is the Slide, Cornell, and Wittenberg loop. This loop is found within the Slide Mountain Wilderness. In total it’s 15.1 miles long with an elevation gain of 4,000ft. To get here, you will get on Interstate 87 South or North (depending on where you live) and you will get off on Exit 20. From the exit, you will take a left (coming from 87 South, you will take a right coming from 87 North) onto NY-32 toward Saugerties and Woodstock. In 8.8 miles you will take a left onto Tinker Street, then continue onto Wittenberg Road for about 1.9 miles.
In 2.6 miles you will take a right onto Wittenberg Road, then in 5.1 miles you will take a left onto NY-212. Next, in half a mile you will take a right onto NY-28, then in 12 miles you will take a slight left onto Oliverea Road. Finally, in 7.3 miles take a right onto Oliverea Road, in 1.9 miles take a left, then in 100ft your destination will be on your right.
Slide, Cornell & Wittenberg Hike
For this loop, you will hike the red trail markers towards Slide Mountain, then continue to on to Cornell and Wittneberg Mountains. This loop is about 15.1 miles with about a 4,000ft elevation gain. Here is more information about the climb and a complete guide. Slide Mountain is the tallest peak within the Catskills, standing at 4,184ft tall. You can also turn these peaks into a backpacking trip as well.
{Related Post : Indian Head Adirondacks}
Overall, these two loop hikes are beautiful places within the Catskills. All of these hikes, have views along their entire journey and are all peaks apart of the Catskill 35er. Thus, when you complete these, you also complete more of the 35er challenge. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you hike some of these awesome peaks!
