Palenville Overlook Hike - One of the Catskills Best Views

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We began at North South Lake State Campground (South Lake Dam) and then hiked down to Palenville Overlook, and then all the way down to the Harding Road Trailhead in Palenville. We had two cars for this hike. You can also reach the Palenville Overlook as an in and out from either North South Lake State Campground (down and then up) or from the Harding Road Trailhead (up and then down).

From the South Lake Dam, we followed the yellow marked trail that follows the northern shore of the two lakes. From the dam, it starts off on the old railroad grade that travels on the left side of the lake (if you were standing on the dam). It then enters the campsite area of the campground, before intersecting with the Escarpment Trail near the North Lake Beach. At the intersection with the Escarpment Trail, turn right (south) and follow it for a short distance to an unmarked trail junction with the horse trail. Take a right and follow it down. The trail descends quickly at first, but then flattens out. It’s clearly an old road that you are following. You’ll reach the first marked trail junction fairly quickly. The horse trail splits, with the branch going straight ahead descending down to Mountain House Road (no parking available), and the branch to the right that we followed, descending quickly and making its way to the Palenville Overlook. After the Overlook, continue following the yellow marked trail and you’ll return to the main trail at the 2nd trail junction. From there, stay on the horse trail, climbing fairly steeply at first and then more gently afterwards until the horse trail intersects with the Harding Road Trail. At the Harding Road Trail, turn left and follow the Harding Road Trail down to the Harding Road Trailhead located on Route 23a in Palenville.

This was a roughly 6.7 mile hike with about 540 feet of elevation gain (the vast majority of the hike is downhill, but there is that uphill from the Palenville Overlook to the Harding Road Trail).

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