Catskills Fire Tower Challenge In A Day!
Today in the Catskill Park, five mountain peaks are home to a fire tower rising high above the summit offering amazing 360 degree views. While these towers were used in the past to search for and pinpoint fire locations, today they are hiking destinations that offer amazing vistas of the surrounding Catskill Mountains. In the Catskills today, there are towers on Hunter Mountain, Overlook Mountain, Mount Tremper, Balsam Lake Mountain, and Red Hill. There is also a fire tower at the Catskills Visitor Center.
Catskill Fire Tower Challenge
In 2019, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation announced a new challenge for hikers to explore the fire towers of the Catskill Park and have some fun along the way - the Catskills Fire Tower Challenge. Those who visited all five of the towers, took their selfies at the towers, and submitted their info to the DEC were able to get several rewards. When the new Fire Tower Challenge was announced, it got us to thinking that maybe we could make it a bit more challenging by visiting all five of the fire towers in a single day — and we wanted to be able to get the challenge done first!
Since our first finish in the Challenge, it has been expanded to include the six Fire Towers located in the Catskill Park, including the newest tower at the Catskills Visitor Center. If you’re looking to take on the we have a guide and videos below to each of the five Fire Towers on the peaks of Catskill Park.
Logistics of the Fire Tower Challenge in a Day
Looking at the logistics, there's no clear way to hike between all the towers, especially in a single day, so we organized the day to try to reduce the driving between locations as much as possible. Given that we're based out of the northeastern Catskills, we choose to start at Red Hill in the south, so we were working our way closer and closer to home throughout the day.
We stocked up a couple of coolers in the car with sandwiches, snacks, sports drinks and several Mountain Dews, Coca Colas, and some beers to (hopefully) celebrate our finish . We had several changes of socks, multiple hiking and running shoes depending on what we felt like for a mountain and a few changes of clothes if we needed them for the weather. We also packed plenty of acetaminophen and ibuprofen.
Red Hill Fire Tower
We started off on the adventure the morning of Sunday, July 14th at 6am. We arrived at the Red Hill Trailhead on Dinch Road (only seasonally maintained) around 7:30am and started off. This was the only fire tower that none of us had been to yet and it didn't disappoint.
The trail climbs steadily, but easily up Red Hill, where you are rewarded with a wonderful view of the Catskills to the north, the Gunks to the southeast and the hills and valleys of NJ and PA to the southwest. The Volunteer Steward from the Catskill Fire Tower Project was there to greet us and we enjoyed spending some time up in the Fire Tower with him as he talked about the history of the Tower and the work that the volunteers do. It was a bit hazy, but even so, the view was great. There's only one trail on Red Hill, so it was back the way we came to the trailhead.
Note that there’s now a new trail up Red Hill that opened in 2020. Learn more about this new trail here. This is a much better route up Red Hill that starts from Denning Road, which is open year-round.
2.5 miles on the Red Hill Trail
794 feet of elevation gain
Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Tower
Then it was north and west to the Mill Brook Road trailhead where we took the Dry Brook Ridge Trail south 2.2 miles to the Balsam Lake Mountain Trail and then up the 0.8 miles to the fire tower. This is a relatively easy climb, except for a few steep sections on the Balsam Lake Mountain Trail as you make the final series of ascents to the top of the mountain.
By the time we got to Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Tower, the haze had been reduced a bit, so we got even better views from the tower than we had at Red Hill. There are a couple of trails to choose from on Balsam Lake Mountain, but in the interest of time and keeping mileage low, we headed back the way we came to the trailhead on Mill Brook Road.
6 miles on the Dry Brook Ridge and Balsam Lake Mountain Trails
1198 feet of elevation gain
Detailed hike description for Balsam Lake Mountain and the Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Tower
Mount Tremper Fire Tower
From Balsam Lake Mountain, we headed east towards Mount Tremper. This trail, while it does follow an old road for the most part, is steep and rocky and even on a good day can be a challenging hike unto itself. For us, it was hike #3 of the day and we definitely felt it!
The Fire Tower Steward was just coming down the tower when we arrived at the summit, so we chatted and let them head home before we enjoyed our second or third lunch and plenty of snacks. The day definitely was warming up. On Red Hill, it almost felt cool in the early morning. Balsam Lake is mostly shaded on the trails and wasn't too bad, but the heat definitely turned up as we made our way up to the Fire Tower on Tremper. From the tower, we headed back down, cursing those loose rocks before making our way back to the car.
5.5 miles on the Phoenicia Trail
1965 feet of elevation gain
Detailed hike description to Mount Tremper Fire Tower via the Willow and Warner Creek Trails.
Overlook Mountain Fire Tower
Further east we went to Woodstock and then up Meads Mountain Road to the Overlook Mountain Trailhead. This is a busy trailhead and even at 5pm on a Sunday, there were only a few parking spots left.
We parked and made good time hiking/walking what was the smoothest trail of the five peaks that we climbed that day.
The Overlook Spur Trail follows a well-maintained dirt road almost all the way to the summit. That allowed us to make some good time. We enjoyed the view of the Devil's Path and the Hudson Valley, got our selfies, and then headed back to the car at the Meads Mountain Road trailhead for the final fire tower of the day.
4.5 miles on the Overlook Spur Trail
1375 feet of elevation gain
Detailed hike description to the summit of Overlook Mountain and the Overlook Mountain Fire Tower
Hunter Mountain Fire Tower
We saved Hunter for last since it was closest to home and picked the Becker Hollow Trail since it is the quickest way up and down the mountain. That said, perhaps we should have done it earlier in the quest and perhaps we should have picked the Spruceton Trail to ascend and descend since when we hit the Becker Hollow Trailhead around 8pm, all three of us were feeling good, but we were definitely tired. We stretched a bit and then we started the grinder that is the Becker Hollow Trail.
Darkness fell quickly so we were hiking with headlamps so we couldn't see all that we had to ascend, but it was difficult nevertheless, especially after a full day of hiking. We did make it though and then took our time making our way back down the very steep and rocky trail.
4.6 miles on the Becker Hollow Trail
2238 feet of elevation gain
Hunter Mountain Fire Tower Hike on YouTube (via Spruceton Trail and Devil’s Path)
For the day, we began walking at 7:30am and ended at 10:30pm. There was about 4 1/2 hours of driving and a lot of hiking in between drives! If we did it again, we'd probably move Hunter into a different position. The Becker Hollow Trail should never be the last trail you do after a day full of hiking. The driving made the trek challenging too. It broke up the hikes so you got breaks, but it also let your muscles tighten up as you drove between trailheads.
That said, it was an amazingly epic day in the Catskills!
Having visited most of these fire towers multiple times over the years, we didn't feel too bad about not being able to enjoy each hike to the fire towers. That's because each of the fire towers and each mountain they sit on, makes for a very enjoyable individual hike. To string them all together, you lose the ability to really experience and enjoy the little things along the trails that make each mountain and each tower unique. We had our heads down, our pace was fast and we just knocked them out.
If you haven't visited the fire towers, we'd recommend that you take a day for each, experience them, experience the trail and the trip to them and enjoy all that is wonderful about the Catskills. If you're a fire tower regular, then maybe a single day climb of all fire towers is something for you!
In the end we did 23 miles of hiking and just over 7,500 feet of elevation gain (and loss).
Learn more about Catskill Fire Towers by visiting the Catskill Center’s Catskill Fire Tower Project!
This is an oldie, but a goodie. We did the challenge in 2019 just after the NYSDEC announced the start of the Catskill Fire Tower Challenge, the two of us, along with a friend, decided we’d hike all five of the Catskill Fire Towers in a single day. This was from our old blog and was the adventure we had, getting through what turned out to be a very long day of hiking and driving across the Catskills.
For more information
You can find information on these hikes on:
Additional Catskill Park information available at the Catskills Visitor Center (5096 Route 28 in Mt. Tremper)
Hike On Guides: Need help on a hike like this? Moe is a NYS licensed hiking and backpacking guide. You can hire him for Hiking, Backpacking and Camping Guide Services at Hike On Guides for hikes in New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
Gear we used on this video:
(Product links are affiliate links, so if you purchase something through them, it helps us out)
Important Hiking Considerations:
Weather: Check the weather forecast before your hike and be prepared for changes in conditions.
Safety: Some sections of the trail can be steep and rocky, so use caution and watch your footing.
Leave No Trace: As with any outdoor activity, remember to follow the principles of Leave No Trace. Pack out any trash, stay on the trail, and be respectful of the natural environment.
