Balsam Mountain (Ulster County, New York)
Encyclopedia
Balsam Mountain is one of the High Peaks
of the Catskill Mountains
in the U.S. state of New York
. Its exact height has not been determined, so the highest contour line
, 3600 feet (1,097.3 m), is usually given as its elevation. It is located in western Ulster County
, on the divide between the Hudson
and Delaware
watersheds
. The summit and western slopes of the peak are within the Town of Hardenburgh
and its eastern slopes are in Shandaken
. The small community of Oliverea
is near its base on that side. Most of the mountain is publicly owned, managed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
as part of the state Forest Preserve
, part of the Big Indian-Beaverkill Range Wilderness Area in the Catskill Park. The summit is on a small corner of private land.
As one of the High Peaks it is a popular destination for hikers
, especially peakbaggers
seeking membership in the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club
, since along with Slide, Panther
and Blackhead it is one of four peaks that members must climb twice, at least once in winter. The Pine Hill-West Branch Trail (PHWB) crosses its summit; hikers usually approach from either side via the Oliverea-Mapledale Trail, which intersects the PHWB south of the summit, and make the ascent from there. The northwestern approach makes a loop route possible via the Mine Hollow Trail; the southeastern ascent, from McKenley Hollow, has the steepest stretch of trail on any ascent of a Catskill High Peak.
near Slide Mountain. It is the second northernmost peak on the range after Belleayre Mountain
, and the northernmost to exceed 3500 feet (1,066.8 m), the threshold for inclusion as a High Peak. A ridge almost two miles (3.2 km) in length separates it and Belleayre. South of Balsam the ridge turns to the southwest, connecting it to 3420 feet (1,042.4 m) Haynes Mountain after a mile (1.6 km). The summit
, a small bump, is at the south end of a narrow ridge 2000 feet (609.6 m) in length with a slight dip between it and the false summit on the northern end.
On its east the slopes drop generally steeply down to Big Indian Hollow, the valley of the headwaters of Esopus Creek
, around 1200 feet (365.8 m) above sea level. There some more gently sloped areas at mid-mountain level, around 2200 to 2700 ft (670.6 to 823 m), on the southeast side. Tributaries
and subtributaries of the Esopus drain even steeper valleys radiating out in a fan-shaped pattern from Lost Clove at the northeast to McKenley (also McKinley) Hollow in the southeast.
The valleys on the west side are also steep but not as numerous, and converge at a higher elevation, 2100 feet (640.1 m) than the base on the eastern side. A narrow valley carries the combined streams down to Dry Brook, a tributary of the East Branch
of the Delaware River
. The northernmost valley, Mine Hollow, is the only one with an official name, the result of a failed attempt to mine gold believed to be in the area. The larger valley it forks off from is known informally as Rider Hollow.
, Balsam was formed not through the uplift
of rock layers but by the gradual erosion of stream valleys in an uplifted region about 350 mya. Its rock layers and bedrock are primarily Devonian
and Silurian
shale
and sandstone
. Later glaciation, primarily the Illinois and Wisconsin periods, shaped the slopes of the mountain, making them even steeper and gradually forming Esopus Creek from its meltwater
.
The steeper slopes and deeper valley on the east side reflect the unusual orogeny
of the Esopus and Panther Mountain
to the east. The rocks of the stream are fractured and faulted much more than elsewhere in the Catskills, and it and its tributary Woodland Creek make an almost complete circle around the mountain, a rosette pattern similarly unusual in the region. Yngvar Isachsen of the New York State Geological Survey has found evidence strongly suggesting that the entire Panther Mountain region is the inverse
form of a crater
that formed after an ancient meteor impact when the Catskills were a river delta
at the northeastern corner of the inland sea that is now the Allegheny Plateau
. The rims of the crater wall were thus more prone to erosion and created a deeper valley for the eventual headwaters of the Esopus.
, primarily beech
, birch
and maple
species, predominate, with some occasional cherry
and mountain ash
. Southern species such as oaks, isolated American chestnut
s that survived the blight
, shagbark hickory
and dogwood
s are located close to streams near the base. The northern hardwood species become more stunted and dwarfed at higher elevations, more so on the ridges. On the mountain's summit, boreal species such as balsam fir
and red spruce
make an appearance, forming some small stands but not a continuous cover as is seen on higher peaks in the range. Around 1970, Catskill forest historian Michael Kudish
found the few remaining trees in a fir stand at 3150 feet (960.1 m) on the north slope; these have since all died due to heavy deer browse
. A large stand of tall hemlock
is located in Mine Hollow around 2400 feet (731.5 m).
Most of the upper forest remains in first growth, having never been logged or otherwise exploited. Kudish puts the average lower boundary of this area at around 2300 feet (701 m). The sole exception is 2940 feet (896.1 m) on the north slope, where the absence old sugar maple
s and the presence of white ash are signs that a small area along the ridgeline was logged at some point in the past.
The mountain's forests support a diverse ecosystem
of typical Catskill species. Black bear
and white-tailed deer
, both favorites of hunters
, are the largest omnivores and herbivore mammalian species. Smaller mammals, mainly rodent species like porcupine
s and chipmunk
s are joined by salamanders and toads.
tribes who first settled the Hudson Valley
rarely went high into the mountains except to hunt. The earliest human settlements, by the descendants of Dutch
and English colonists, near the mountain date to 1805. Small farms were established on the mountain's lower slopes; as late as 1900 the U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle
maps of the area show a road going up the ridge between Lost Clove and McKenley Hollow to a structure called Platt's Cabin just below 2500 feet (762 m). It was exceptionally high; most other farmland on that side went no higher than 1800 feet (548.6 m). A 1910 photograph shows a small farm in the head of Rider Hollow on the west.
Balsam's slopes were originally more abundant in hemlock than they are now. Most were harvested by tanners
for the tannin
in their bark. Roads built to reach hemlock stands survive in McKenley Hollow as high as 2360 feet (719.3 m). The Mine Hollow stand is located at the end of another one on the west side.
In 1885, political machinations by the Ulster County delegation to the state legislature led to the Catskill counties being included in the newly created Forest Preserve
along with the Adirondacks
. Tax-delinquent lands, many of them abandoned by loggers and tanners who had taken all the harvestable timber, which had become the county's by default were transferred to the state as a way of settling the county's outstanding property tax
obligations to the state. They were to remain "forever wild", with no timber being harvested again from them. In 1894, a more strongly worded version of the law was incorporated into the state constitution
as Article 14.
Under these provisions, the state bought most of the land it currently owns on Balsam, about three-quarters of the mountain, in 1918. By 1931 the trail that had been built up Belleayre for tourists to reach its lookout tower had been extended over Balsam and was marked as a state-maintained trail on maps. The other two trails had been built by that time as well, the Oliverea-Mapledale trail possibly following an old cattle-herding route over the ridge. A few years later, the pairs of lean-to
s in McKenley and Rider hollows were built.
The large tract of state land on the range west of Esopus Creek and extending south toward the Beaver Kill Range was designated a wilderness area in the 1980s following a recommendation made in the first Catskill Park State Land Master Plan. This committed the state Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) to manage the land with the goal of minimizing human impact as much as possible. Accordingly the lower of the two McKenley Hollow lean-tos was removed as it had become a site for parties due to its proximity to the trailhead
and parking lot on that side. The lower Rider Hollow lean-to burned in 1995 and was likewise not replaced.
, the main state highway
through the central Catskills. The western approach, from Rider Hollow, is more distant from main roads but regarded as more scenic. It can be combined with the Mine Hollow Trail to make a loop route.
The McKenley Hollow approach begins at the parking lot 1 mile (1.6 km) west of County Route 47 in Oliverea, 1600 feet (487.7 m) above sea level, where state land begins on the south side of the brook that drains the hollow. The Oliverea-Mapledale Trail follows red plastic markers
along the brook past the trail register and the former site of the first lean-to, then the second, in its first, climbing gently. It follows a wood road and begins to climb a little more, still paralleling the brook although higher above it, for the next 0.6 mile (1 km).
A series of stone steps in the trail here begin a section that climbs over 450 feet (137.2 m) in the next 0.25 mile (400 m). This 35% grade is the steepest section of trail in the Catskills. At the top it levels off and reaches the trail junction.
On the Rider Hollow side, the trailhead
at the end of Rider Hollow Road is at a higher elevation, 2000 feet (609.6 m). Its first mile remains relatively level as it follows the brook on that side closely, passing the lean-to site on that side and a developed spring. The Mine Hollow Trail's yellow markers fork off to the left 0.4 miles (643.7 m) from the parking lot. Almost a mile later, the trail crosses another tributary and begins to climb steeply, ascending 750 feet (228.6 m) in the next 0.8 miles (1.3 km). After passing another spring below a rock ledge, the trail levels out and reaches the junction.
From the junction, the blue-blazed Pine Hill-West Branch Trail ascends the final 570 feet (173.7 m) moderately up the 0.75 miles (1.2 km) to the summit
. Just below the summit a sign at 3500 feet (1,066.8 m) advises hikers of special DEC regulations allowing camping above that elevation only in wintertime, and prohibiting open fires. Shortly afterwards it crosses a corner of the large private holding that goes down to Lost Clove. The mountain's actual height of land is a small mound less than 100 feet (30.5 m) northeast of the trail, in open forest. The total ascent and mileage is 2000 feet (609.6 m) and 2.15 miles (3.5 km) from McKenley Hollow, 1600 feet (487.7 m) and 1.95 miles (3.1 km) from Rider Hollow.
After the summit the trail drops down slightly again. In the saddle between the two summits a small ledge allows for views to the northwest over the hamlet of Big Indian
with West Kill
, Hunter
and Plateau
mountains, all High Peaks, beyond. It is the only view available from the mountain when the leaves are up.
Hikers from Rider Hollow taking the Mine Hollow loop continue over the lower northern summit to where the trail begins a 700 feet (213.4 m) descent through a rock cut down the north slope of Balsam to the Mine Hollow Trail junction, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north of the true summit. That trail descends at first steeply through more rock outcrops and then levels off in a hemlock grove. A mile (1.6 km) from the junction it reaches the Oliverea-Mapledale Trail. The loop's total length is 5.2 miles (8.4 km).
Backpackers
doing overnight trips along the Pine Hill-West Branch Trail also climb the peak. From the northern end in Pine Hill
, it is 4.3 miles (6.9 km) over the southern summit of Belleayre Mountain. The southern terminus of the trail is near Frost Valley YMCA along County Route 47, 9.9 miles (15.9 km) away, and entails climbing Big Indian
, Eagle and Haynes mountains before Balsam.
Catskill High Peaks
The Catskill High Peaks are all of the mountains in New York's Catskill Mountains above 3,500 ft in elevation whose summits are separated either by one-half mile or a vertical drop of at least 250 ft between it and the next nearest separate summit...
of the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
in the U.S. state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Its exact height has not been determined, so the highest contour line
Contour line
A contour line of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value. In cartography, a contour line joins points of equal elevation above a given level, such as mean sea level...
, 3600 feet (1,097.3 m), is usually given as its elevation. It is located in western Ulster County
Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county located in the state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 182,493. Recent population estimates completed by the United States Census Bureau for the 12-month period ending July 1 are at...
, on the divide between the Hudson
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
and Delaware
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
watersheds
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
. The summit and western slopes of the peak are within the Town of Hardenburgh
Hardenburgh, New York
Hardenburgh is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 208 at the 2000 census.The Town of Hardenburgh is located in the western part of Ulster County. The town is inside the Catskill Park.- History :...
and its eastern slopes are in Shandaken
Shandaken, New York
Shandaken is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 3,235. The name is from a native phrase for "land of rapid waters."...
. The small community of Oliverea
Oliverea, New York
Oliverea is a populated place in Ulster County, New York, USA. Mount Tremper is situated along Ulster Country Route 92 within Catskill State Park. The community is located at . in the town of Shandaken....
is near its base on that side. Most of the mountain is publicly owned, managed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for the conservation, improvement, and protection of natural resources within the U.S. state of New York. It was founded in 1970, replacing the previous Conservation Department...
as part of the state Forest Preserve
Forest Preserve (New York)
New York's Forest Preserve is all the land owned by the state within the Adirondack and Catskill parks, managed by its Department of Environmental Conservation. These properties are required to be kept "forever wild" by Article 14 of the state constitution, and thus enjoy the highest degree of...
, part of the Big Indian-Beaverkill Range Wilderness Area in the Catskill Park. The summit is on a small corner of private land.
As one of the High Peaks it is a popular destination for hikers
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
, especially peakbaggers
Peak bagging
Peak bagging is an activity in which hillwalkers and mountaineers attempt to reach the summit of some collection of peaks, usually those above some height in a particular region, or having a particular feature.Peak bagging can be distinguished from highpointing...
seeking membership in the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club
Catskill Mountain 3500 Club
The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club, incorporated as the Catskill 3500 Club and often just referred to as the 3500 Club, is a peakbagging organization for hikers in the Catskill Mountains of New York...
, since along with Slide, Panther
Panther Mountain (New York)
Panther Mountain is one of the Catskill High Peaks, located in the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York. At approximately 3,720 feet in elevation, it is the 18th highest in the range...
and Blackhead it is one of four peaks that members must climb twice, at least once in winter. The Pine Hill-West Branch Trail (PHWB) crosses its summit; hikers usually approach from either side via the Oliverea-Mapledale Trail, which intersects the PHWB south of the summit, and make the ascent from there. The northwestern approach makes a loop route possible via the Mine Hollow Trail; the southeastern ascent, from McKenley Hollow, has the steepest stretch of trail on any ascent of a Catskill High Peak.
Geography
Balsam Mountain is one of several peaks on an officially unnamed range that carries the watershed divide to Winnisook LakeWinnisook Lake
Winnisook Lake is an artificial lake located in Oliverea, New York, United States. It is the source of Esopus Creek and the highest lake in the Catskill Mountains at above sea level....
near Slide Mountain. It is the second northernmost peak on the range after Belleayre Mountain
Belleayre Ski Center
Belleayre Ski Center, in Catskill Park in the United States, is owned and operated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation...
, and the northernmost to exceed 3500 feet (1,066.8 m), the threshold for inclusion as a High Peak. A ridge almost two miles (3.2 km) in length separates it and Belleayre. South of Balsam the ridge turns to the southwest, connecting it to 3420 feet (1,042.4 m) Haynes Mountain after a mile (1.6 km). The summit
Summit (topography)
In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a local maximum in elevation...
, a small bump, is at the south end of a narrow ridge 2000 feet (609.6 m) in length with a slight dip between it and the false summit on the northern end.
On its east the slopes drop generally steeply down to Big Indian Hollow, the valley of the headwaters of Esopus Creek
Esopus Creek
Esopus Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River that drains the east-central Catskill Mountains of the U.S. state of New York. From its source at Winnisook Lake on the slopes of Slide Mountain, the Catskills' highest peak, it flows across Ulster County to the Hudson at Saugerties. Many tributaries...
, around 1200 feet (365.8 m) above sea level. There some more gently sloped areas at mid-mountain level, around 2200 to 2700 ft (670.6 to 823 m), on the southeast side. Tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
and subtributaries of the Esopus drain even steeper valleys radiating out in a fan-shaped pattern from Lost Clove at the northeast to McKenley (also McKinley) Hollow in the southeast.
The valleys on the west side are also steep but not as numerous, and converge at a higher elevation, 2100 feet (640.1 m) than the base on the eastern side. A narrow valley carries the combined streams down to Dry Brook, a tributary of the East Branch
East Branch Delaware River
The East Branch Delaware River, approximately 75 miles long in the U.S. state of New York, is one of two branches, along with the West Branch, that join to form the Delaware River. It flows through a mountainous area on the southwestern edge of the Catskill Park. For a long stretch it serves...
of the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
. The northernmost valley, Mine Hollow, is the only one with an official name, the result of a failed attempt to mine gold believed to be in the area. The larger valley it forks off from is known informally as Rider Hollow.
Geology
Like the Catskills as a whole, a dissected plateauDissected plateau
A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded so that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, metamorphism, extensive faulting, or magmatic activity...
, Balsam was formed not through the uplift
Tectonic uplift
Tectonic uplift is a geological process most often caused by plate tectonics which increases elevation. The opposite of uplift is subsidence, which results in a decrease in elevation. Uplift may be orogenic or isostatic.-Orogenic uplift:...
of rock layers but by the gradual erosion of stream valleys in an uplifted region about 350 mya. Its rock layers and bedrock are primarily Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
and Silurian
Silurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. Later glaciation, primarily the Illinois and Wisconsin periods, shaped the slopes of the mountain, making them even steeper and gradually forming Esopus Creek from its meltwater
Meltwater
Meltwater is the water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice and ice shelfs over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing...
.
The steeper slopes and deeper valley on the east side reflect the unusual orogeny
Orogeny
Orogeny refers to forces and events leading to a severe structural deformation of the Earth's crust due to the engagement of tectonic plates. Response to such engagement results in the formation of long tracts of highly deformed rock called orogens or orogenic belts...
of the Esopus and Panther Mountain
Panther Mountain (New York)
Panther Mountain is one of the Catskill High Peaks, located in the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York. At approximately 3,720 feet in elevation, it is the 18th highest in the range...
to the east. The rocks of the stream are fractured and faulted much more than elsewhere in the Catskills, and it and its tributary Woodland Creek make an almost complete circle around the mountain, a rosette pattern similarly unusual in the region. Yngvar Isachsen of the New York State Geological Survey has found evidence strongly suggesting that the entire Panther Mountain region is the inverse
Inverted Relief
Inverted relief is a landscape that is part of a planet's surface, e.g. Mars, that contains positive landforms, i.e. hills and ridges, that were once depressions in its surface...
form of a crater
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
that formed after an ancient meteor impact when the Catskills were a river delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
at the northeastern corner of the inland sea that is now the Allegheny Plateau
Allegheny Plateau
The Allegheny Plateau is a large dissected plateau area in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio...
. The rims of the crater wall were thus more prone to erosion and created a deeper valley for the eventual headwaters of the Esopus.
Flora and fauna
Balsam's slopes are covered with typical forestatiion for their elevations in the Catskills. Northern hardwoodsNorthern hardwood forest
The northern hardwood forest is a general type of North American forest ecosystem found over much of southeastern and south central Canada, extending south into the United States in northern New England and New York, and west along the Great Lakes to Minnesota and western Ontario...
, primarily beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
and maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
species, predominate, with some occasional cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
and mountain ash
Sorbus
Sorbus is a genus of about 100–200 species of trees and shrubs in the subfamily Maloideae of the Rose family Rosaceae. Species of Sorbus are commonly known as whitebeam, rowan, service tree, and mountain ash...
. Southern species such as oaks, isolated American chestnut
American Chestnut
The American Chestnut is a large, deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. Before the species was devastated by the chestnut blight, a fungal disease, it was one of the most important forest trees throughout its range...
s that survived the blight
Chestnut blight
The pathogenic fungus Cryphonectria parasitica is a member of the ascomycota category, and is the main cause of chestnut blight, a devastating disease of the American chestnut tree that caused a mass extinction in the early 1900s of this once plentiful tree from its historic range in the eastern...
, shagbark hickory
Shagbark Hickory
Carya ovata, the Shagbark Hickory, is a common hickory in the eastern United States and southeast Canada. It is a large deciduous tree, growing up to 27 m tall, and will live up to 200 years. Mature Shagbarks are easy to recognize because, as their name implies, they have shaggy bark...
and dogwood
Dogwood
The genus Cornus is a group of about 30-60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. Most dogwoods are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen...
s are located close to streams near the base. The northern hardwood species become more stunted and dwarfed at higher elevations, more so on the ridges. On the mountain's summit, boreal species such as balsam fir
Balsam Fir
The balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States .-Growth:It is a small to medium-size evergreen tree typically tall, rarely to tall, with a narrow conic crown...
and red spruce
Red Spruce
Picea rubens is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and from New England south in the Adirondack Mountains and Appalachians to western North Carolina.-Physical description:...
make an appearance, forming some small stands but not a continuous cover as is seen on higher peaks in the range. Around 1970, Catskill forest historian Michael Kudish
Michael Kudish
Michael Kudish is an author, railroad historian, forester, and retired professor. He received his Ph.D. in 1971 from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse. His dissertation, on the history of Catskill forests, was the beginning of a lifelong...
found the few remaining trees in a fir stand at 3150 feet (960.1 m) on the north slope; these have since all died due to heavy deer browse
Browsing (predation)
Browsing is a type of herbivory in which an herbivore feeds on leaves, soft shoots, or fruits of high growing, generally woody, plants such as shrubs. This is contrasted with grazing, usually associated with animals feeding on grass or other low vegetation...
. A large stand of tall hemlock
Eastern Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis, also known as eastern or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as pruche du Canada, is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It ranges from northeastern Minnesota eastward through southern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and south in the Appalachian...
is located in Mine Hollow around 2400 feet (731.5 m).
Most of the upper forest remains in first growth, having never been logged or otherwise exploited. Kudish puts the average lower boundary of this area at around 2300 feet (701 m). The sole exception is 2940 feet (896.1 m) on the north slope, where the absence old sugar maple
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas...
s and the presence of white ash are signs that a small area along the ridgeline was logged at some point in the past.
The mountain's forests support a diverse ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
of typical Catskill species. Black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
and white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, both favorites of hunters
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, are the largest omnivores and herbivore mammalian species. Smaller mammals, mainly rodent species like porcupine
Porcupine
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...
s and chipmunk
Chipmunk
Chipmunks are small striped squirrels native to North America and Asia. They are usually classed either as a single genus with three subgenera, or as three genera.-Etymology and taxonomy:...
s are joined by salamanders and toads.
History
The IroquoisIroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
tribes who first settled the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
rarely went high into the mountains except to hunt. The earliest human settlements, by the descendants of Dutch
Dutch colonization of the Americas
Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas precede the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. Whereas the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo river in Guyana and on the Amazon date from the 1590s...
and English colonists, near the mountain date to 1805. Small farms were established on the mountain's lower slopes; as late as 1900 the U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle
Quadrangle (geography)
In geology or geography, the word "quadrangle" usually refers to a United States Geological Survey 7.5-minute quadrangle map, which are usually named after a local physiographic feature. The shorthand "quad" is also used, especially with the name of the map; for example, "the Ranger Creek, Texas...
maps of the area show a road going up the ridge between Lost Clove and McKenley Hollow to a structure called Platt's Cabin just below 2500 feet (762 m). It was exceptionally high; most other farmland on that side went no higher than 1800 feet (548.6 m). A 1910 photograph shows a small farm in the head of Rider Hollow on the west.
Balsam's slopes were originally more abundant in hemlock than they are now. Most were harvested by tanners
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
for the tannin
Tannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
in their bark. Roads built to reach hemlock stands survive in McKenley Hollow as high as 2360 feet (719.3 m). The Mine Hollow stand is located at the end of another one on the west side.
In 1885, political machinations by the Ulster County delegation to the state legislature led to the Catskill counties being included in the newly created Forest Preserve
Forest Preserve (New York)
New York's Forest Preserve is all the land owned by the state within the Adirondack and Catskill parks, managed by its Department of Environmental Conservation. These properties are required to be kept "forever wild" by Article 14 of the state constitution, and thus enjoy the highest degree of...
along with the Adirondacks
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
. Tax-delinquent lands, many of them abandoned by loggers and tanners who had taken all the harvestable timber, which had become the county's by default were transferred to the state as a way of settling the county's outstanding property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
obligations to the state. They were to remain "forever wild", with no timber being harvested again from them. In 1894, a more strongly worded version of the law was incorporated into the state constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
as Article 14.
Under these provisions, the state bought most of the land it currently owns on Balsam, about three-quarters of the mountain, in 1918. By 1931 the trail that had been built up Belleayre for tourists to reach its lookout tower had been extended over Balsam and was marked as a state-maintained trail on maps. The other two trails had been built by that time as well, the Oliverea-Mapledale trail possibly following an old cattle-herding route over the ridge. A few years later, the pairs of lean-to
Lean-to
A lean-to is a term used to describe a roof with a single slope. The term also applies to a variety of structures that are built using a lean-to roof....
s in McKenley and Rider hollows were built.
The large tract of state land on the range west of Esopus Creek and extending south toward the Beaver Kill Range was designated a wilderness area in the 1980s following a recommendation made in the first Catskill Park State Land Master Plan. This committed the state Department of Environmental Conservation
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for the conservation, improvement, and protection of natural resources within the U.S. state of New York. It was founded in 1970, replacing the previous Conservation Department...
(DEC) to manage the land with the goal of minimizing human impact as much as possible. Accordingly the lower of the two McKenley Hollow lean-tos was removed as it had become a site for parties due to its proximity to the trailhead
Trailhead
A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles...
and parking lot on that side. The lower Rider Hollow lean-to burned in 1995 and was likewise not replaced.
Access
Hikers usually approach Balsam from the south, by climbing the Oliverea-Mapledale Trail from either hollow to the PH-WB junction at 3030 feet (923.5 m) and then going up the summit from there. The eastern approach, from McKenley Hollow, is more frequently used as it is more convenient to NY 28New York State Route 28
New York State Route 28 is a state highway extending for in the shape of a "C" between the Hudson Valley city of Kingston and southern Warren County in the U.S. state of New York. Along the way, it intersects several major routes, including Interstate 88 , U.S. Route 20 , and the...
, the main state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
through the central Catskills. The western approach, from Rider Hollow, is more distant from main roads but regarded as more scenic. It can be combined with the Mine Hollow Trail to make a loop route.
The McKenley Hollow approach begins at the parking lot 1 mile (1.6 km) west of County Route 47 in Oliverea, 1600 feet (487.7 m) above sea level, where state land begins on the south side of the brook that drains the hollow. The Oliverea-Mapledale Trail follows red plastic markers
Trail blazing
Trail blazing, or trailblazing, is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with blazes, markings that follow each other at certain — though not necessarily exactly defined — distances and mark the direction of the trail...
along the brook past the trail register and the former site of the first lean-to, then the second, in its first, climbing gently. It follows a wood road and begins to climb a little more, still paralleling the brook although higher above it, for the next 0.6 mile (1 km).
A series of stone steps in the trail here begin a section that climbs over 450 feet (137.2 m) in the next 0.25 mile (400 m). This 35% grade is the steepest section of trail in the Catskills. At the top it levels off and reaches the trail junction.
On the Rider Hollow side, the trailhead
Trailhead
A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles...
at the end of Rider Hollow Road is at a higher elevation, 2000 feet (609.6 m). Its first mile remains relatively level as it follows the brook on that side closely, passing the lean-to site on that side and a developed spring. The Mine Hollow Trail's yellow markers fork off to the left 0.4 miles (643.7 m) from the parking lot. Almost a mile later, the trail crosses another tributary and begins to climb steeply, ascending 750 feet (228.6 m) in the next 0.8 miles (1.3 km). After passing another spring below a rock ledge, the trail levels out and reaches the junction.
From the junction, the blue-blazed Pine Hill-West Branch Trail ascends the final 570 feet (173.7 m) moderately up the 0.75 miles (1.2 km) to the summit
Summit (topography)
In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a local maximum in elevation...
. Just below the summit a sign at 3500 feet (1,066.8 m) advises hikers of special DEC regulations allowing camping above that elevation only in wintertime, and prohibiting open fires. Shortly afterwards it crosses a corner of the large private holding that goes down to Lost Clove. The mountain's actual height of land is a small mound less than 100 feet (30.5 m) northeast of the trail, in open forest. The total ascent and mileage is 2000 feet (609.6 m) and 2.15 miles (3.5 km) from McKenley Hollow, 1600 feet (487.7 m) and 1.95 miles (3.1 km) from Rider Hollow.
After the summit the trail drops down slightly again. In the saddle between the two summits a small ledge allows for views to the northwest over the hamlet of Big Indian
Big Indian, New York
Big Indian is a hamlet within the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, United States, located along State Route 28, within the Catskill Park 17 miles west of Woodstock. The Esopus Creek runs through the area, as Birch Creek feeds in from the north. Big Indian Hollow is located slightly to...
with West Kill
West Kill Mountain
West Kill Mountain, or Westkill Mountain, is located in Greene County, New York.The mountain is named after the West Kill stream which flows along its northern side, and is part of the Devil's Path range of the Catskill Mountains....
, Hunter
Hunter Mountain (New York)
Hunter Mountain is in the towns of Hunter and Lexington, just south of the village of Hunter, in Greene County, New York, USA. At approximately 4,040 feet in elevation, it is the highest peak in the county and the second-highest peak in the Catskill Mountains.While the mountain is closely...
and Plateau
Plateau Mountain (New York)
Plateau Mountain is a mountain located in Greene County, New York.The mountain is part of the Devil's Path range of the Catskill Mountains.Plateau has a two-mile-long summit ridge above ....
mountains, all High Peaks, beyond. It is the only view available from the mountain when the leaves are up.
Hikers from Rider Hollow taking the Mine Hollow loop continue over the lower northern summit to where the trail begins a 700 feet (213.4 m) descent through a rock cut down the north slope of Balsam to the Mine Hollow Trail junction, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north of the true summit. That trail descends at first steeply through more rock outcrops and then levels off in a hemlock grove. A mile (1.6 km) from the junction it reaches the Oliverea-Mapledale Trail. The loop's total length is 5.2 miles (8.4 km).
Backpackers
Backpacking (wilderness)
Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...
doing overnight trips along the Pine Hill-West Branch Trail also climb the peak. From the northern end in Pine Hill
Pine Hill, New York
Pine Hill is a hamlet in the western part of the town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a total population of 308.- History :...
, it is 4.3 miles (6.9 km) over the southern summit of Belleayre Mountain. The southern terminus of the trail is near Frost Valley YMCA along County Route 47, 9.9 miles (15.9 km) away, and entails climbing Big Indian
Big Indian Mountain (New York)
Big Indian Mountain is a mountain located in Ulster County, New York.The mountain is part of the Catskill Mountains.It is flanked to the northwest by Eagle Mountain, to the southeast by Fir Mountain, and to the southwest by Doubletop Mountain....
, Eagle and Haynes mountains before Balsam.
External links
- Balsam Mountain Hiking Information Catskill 3500 Club