Hiking Peekamoose Mountain in the Catskills

At 3,819′ in elevation, Peekamoose Mountain is one of the high peaks of the Catskills, and part of the Catskill 3500 hiking challenge. The mountain makes a great destination in all seasons and includes one of the few rare mountaintop vistas in the Catskills from its summit.

The Peekamoose-Table Trail is the only trail that climbs Peekamoose (along with neighboring Table Mountain) from both the east and the west. We opted for the eastern approach, which climbs directly to the Peekamoose summit from the trailhead on Peekamoose Road (County Route 42). Note that the trailhead is located in the same area as the popular Peekamoose Blue Hole, so if you are hiking from this area between May 15th and September 15th, you’ll need a permit to park. We were there in February, so no permit was needed, though the parking lot was mostly full when we got there for our (late) morning start.

Normally a hike near the end of February would have required full winter gear for the most part (snowshoes, microspikes, multiple layers of clothing, etc.), but this is no ordinary February. Snow and ice didn’t start until after you were above about 3,000-feet in elevation. From there the snow depth increased, but was very well packed and frozen, so all that we needed were microspikes.

From the summit we went back down the way we came for a total of just under 8 miles and about 2500-feet of elevation gain. We’d rate this as a moderate to difficult hike, not for any technically difficult climbing sections, but due to the length and the amount of elevation gain, both of which are longer than many other climbs in the Catskills.

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