One of the Catskills Best Views - Palenville Overlook Hike
The Palenville Overlook sit above the Village of Palenville, right at the eastern edge of the Catskill Mountains. It offers a tremendous view of the entire Hudson Valley.
For this hike we began at North South Lake State Campground and then hike 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, making its way on both natural surfaces and campsite roads before intersecting with the Escarpment Trail near the North Lake Beach.
At the intersection with the Escarpment Trail, turn right (south) on the Escarpment Trail and follow it for a short distance to an unmarked trail junction with the horse trail. In this case having the Trail Conference Catskill Trail Maps either through Avenza Maps on your phone or the physical map set, will be very helpful since there isn’t a trail junction sign and the horse trail may not be completely obvious.
At the intersection 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 it’s way to the Palenville Overlook.
You’ll descend rather quickly from the trail junction to the next flat area of the mountain, where the trail turns right and then goes along the face of the mountain once again. Along the way, you’ll cross a power line cut, which is actually the old Otis Elevating Railroad grade. This railroad brought guests from the Hudson Valley, up the face of the Catskills to the Catskill Mountain House. For more info on Catskill railroads, check out the Rip Van Winkle Railroads book.
The trail then comes to two closely spaced trail junctions, but only the second junction is marked. Both with trails to the left. Both of these trails head out to the Palenville Overlook. You should turn left at the 1st unmarked trail junction, which brings you directly to the Palenville Overlook.
The overlook offers tremendous views overlooking the Village of Palenville, Kaaterskill Clove, and the Hudson Valley beyond. It’s well worth spending some time here soaking in the view and relaxing in the stone chairs that have been built here.
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.
All told 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).
You can find this hike on:
For additional information and resources for the Catskill Park, check out the Catskills Visitor Center.
We offer Hiking, Backpacking and Camping Services in the Catskills through our guiding company, Hike On Guides, and can guide you on this hike!
Gear we used and/or carried on this hike:
Hydration and nutrition for this hike:
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