Graham Mountain (New York)
Encyclopedia
Graham Mountain is the seventh highest of the Catskill
High Peaks
and the highest privately owned mountain in the range. It is located in the town of Hardenburgh
, New York, United States.
Its summit is unique in the Catskills for its pygmy hardwood forest
cover and absence of evergreen boreal species that normally dominate at that elevation in the range, despite the presence of balsam fir
on the slopes below the summit. In the early 1960s a relay station was built there for Instructional Television
, a predecessor to today's Public Broadcasting Service
. The relay station was abandoned after a few years and its ruins can be seen from the slopes and summits of neighboring peaks.
Graham is within the Catskill Park. Only part of it is in the state-owned Forest Preserve
; the summit and the most common access route are owned by descendants of railroad magnate Jay Gould
, a native of the region. Despite being private property requiring permission to enter and cross, it is a popular hike, particularly since a successful ascent is required for membership in the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club
.
in the west and centered around the lengthy Mill Brook Ridge. A ridge with two summits known unofficially as East and West Schoolhouse mountains connects Graham with Balsam Lake Mountain
, the westernmost High Peak. Between Graham and Doubletop
, the Catskills' highest trailless peak, to the east is a steep and deep col
900 feet (274.3 m) below the summits on either side.
The slopes of the mountain on the north and south alternate between steep hollows carved out by creeks and gentler hollows between them. The largest is Drury Hollow on the north, drained by an unnamed brook that rises far down the slopes. Flatiron Brook to the northeast drains a narrower, unnamed valley. The northwest slopes form the southern wall of Turner Hollow, also drained by an unnamed brook. All three are tributaries
of Dry Brook, itself a short tributary of the East Branch
of the Delaware River
. Since Dry Brook drains into the East Branch above Pepacton Reservoir
, this puts the north slope of the mountain within New York City's water supply system.
The southern slopes are gentler, draining to the higher plateau around the headwaters of the Beaver Kill, which itself rises just south of the Doubletop col. Gulf of Mexico Brook drains a narrow valley on the southwest, and Tunis and Vly ponds near the mountain's base also feed the Beaver Kill. The Beaver Kill also, eventually, drains into the East Branch at East Branch, below the reservoir and thus outside of the city watershed.
Graham's L-shaped summit ridge is narrow, with its spurs pointing northwest and southwest. The United States Geological Survey
benchmark
indicating the mountain's 3868 feet (1,179 m) height of land is at the northwest end, near the ruins of the relay station. The southwest end descends gently to 3660 feet (1,115.6 m) before dropping off more steeply into the Doubletop col.
The north slopes and most of the summit are within a large tract of land purchased by George Jay Gould I
, the son of Jay Gould
, a native of nearby Roxbury
. Known as Furlow Lodge, it still is owned by the Gould descendants and serves as a family retreat. The south slopes, up to almost 3500 feet (1,066.8 m) on the summit ridge's southwest spur, are publicly owned Forest Preserve
in the Big Indian-Beaverkill Range Wilderness Area.
of beech
, birch
and maple
. Unlike the other peaks in the range, first-growth forest begins well above 3000 feet (914.4 m), as high as 3545 feet (1,080.5 m) on one slope. The summit itself is covered with a pygmy forest
, unique in the Catskills, with its black cherry
and mountain ashes
barely taller than average human height. Balsam fir
, which dominates the summits of both Doubletop and Balsam Lake mountains to either side of Graham, is found in small stands on the slopes below the summit of Graham.
Catskill forest historian Michael Kudish
has studied the range's balsam fir distribution patterns. There are no other peaks where balsam fir occurs on the slopes of the peak, but not the summit, and factors such as elevation, soil, and topography
do not suffice to explain the phenomenon. He has concluded that all peaks represent different stages of forest evolution, in which the stunted and twisted ridge hardwoods gradually have replaced balsam fir over the last 8,500 years.
The forests on the mountain support a typical animal community for the Catskills. Black bear
and white-tailed deer
are the larger mammal species, with many species of rodent
, such as snowshoe hare
, lower on the food chain
. Beaver
s have been common over the years, with Kudish finding more evidence of present and past dams and meadows on the slopes of Graham and its neighboring peaks.
and Silurian
periods, when the sands and silt that had eroded from the Acadian Mountains
to the northeast collected in a river delta
at the mouth of the shallow inland sea that is now the Allegheny Plateau
. The delta uplifted
as a single unit and gradually streams eroded valleys, creating a dissected plateau
. The harder, younger shale
and sandstone
remains as the mountain summits. Later glaciation made the valleys steeper and smoother.
As with most other peaks in the Mill Brook Ridge range, there was very little human impact on Graham for most of its recorded history. That changed drastically after the construction of Turner Hollow Road in the late nineteenth century, connecting Seager
with the end of Beaver Kill Road, allowing anglers
to reach private fishing clubs on the Beaver Kill headwaters from the Arkville Station on the Ulster and Delaware Railroad
. Around 1890 George Gould bought the Furlow Lodge tract, including most of the mountain, since his father had enjoyed fishing at the lake so much.
Turner Hollow Road (rerouted to the west in the late 19th century) made the upper slopes of Graham more accessible to logging operations. Their impact on the mountain still is visible to elevations of well above 3000 feet (914.4 m), well above their extent elsewhere in the area. One of the last of these took place in the early 1960s, when the relay station was built on a one-acre (4,000 m²) clearing at the summit. A technician and pilot were marooned on the summit for 24 hours after their helicopter crashed there on a maintenance trip during a heavy snowstorm in early 1963. It remained in service for a few more years after that and was abandoned sometime before 1969.
in the Catskills at 2580 feet (786.4 m). Hikers follow the blue-blazed
trail, the old jeep road to the Balsam Lake Mountain fire tower
, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) to where the unblazed Old Tappan Road, a relocated stretch of the Turner Hollow Road, forks off to the left at an elevation of 3340 feet (1,018 m).
At this point hikers leave the trail and its public easement
. Permission is required from the Furlow Lodge caretaker
to climb from there to the summit of Graham since it is private property. The Old Tappan Road curves around the side of Turner Hollow, descending 100 feet (30 m) before ascending again after a fork where an older portion of the Turner Hollow Road descends on the left to Drury Hollow. The road ahead continues the gentle ascent until 3400 feet (1,036.3 m), where it climbs more sharply up a series of switchbacks, passing some of the balsam firs on the slope at higher elevations.
The summit is marked by a U.S. Geological Survey
benchmark
with the 3868 feet (1,179 m) elevation set in a rock at the west edge of the ridge where the road ends. The old relay station, a one-story cinderblock structure with no remaining roof and the three steel supports that can be seen from various viewpoints in the area near the mountain, is at the center of a large clearing. An informal poll of 3500 Club members has found Graham ranks with nearby Eagle as their least favorite summit among the Catskill High Peaks.
There are open views west to Balsam Lake Mountain
. Rough use paths lead along the ridge through the pygmy forest to views over the Dry Brook valley and Big Indian
, Eagle and Fir
mountains to the northwest, and Doubletop and the Beaver Kill's headlands to the southeast.
Other access routes include a bushwhack approach from the Seager-Big Indian Trail along Dry Brook; this usually is combined with an ascent of Doubletop. It also is hiked in combination with Balsam Lake, for which the hike sometimes begins from the south, at the end of Beaverkill Road north of Quaker Clearing.
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...
High Peaks
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...
and the highest privately owned mountain in the range. It is located in 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 :...
, New York, United States.
Its summit is unique in the Catskills for its pygmy hardwood forest
Pygmy forest
A pygmy forest is a forest which, for pedological and geological reasons, contains only miniature trees. Pygmy forests may occur over various world locations with notable occurrences being noted in the literature of the: California coastal terraces and inner coastal mountains of Northern...
cover and absence of evergreen boreal species that normally dominate at that elevation in the range, despite the presence of 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...
on the slopes below the summit. In the early 1960s a relay station was built there for Instructional Television
Instructional Television Fixed Service
The Educational Broadband Service was formerly known as the Instructional Television Fixed Service . ITFS was a band of twenty microwave channels available to be licensed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to local credit granting educational institutions...
, a predecessor to today's Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
. The relay station was abandoned after a few years and its ruins can be seen from the slopes and summits of neighboring peaks.
Graham is within the Catskill Park. Only part of it is in the state-owned 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...
; the summit and the most common access route are owned by descendants of railroad magnate Jay Gould
Jay Gould
Jason "Jay" Gould was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. He has long been vilified as an archetypal robber baron, whose successes made him the ninth richest American in history. Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Gould as the 8th worst American CEO of all time...
, a native of the region. Despite being private property requiring permission to enter and cross, it is a popular hike, particularly since a successful ascent is required for 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...
.
Geography
Graham is near the eastern end of the range beginning at Barkaboom Mountain in Delaware CountyDelaware County, New York
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of 2010 the population was 47,980. The county seat is Delhi. It is named after the Delaware River, which was named in honor of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, appointed governor of Virginia in 1609.-History:When counties...
in the west and centered around the lengthy Mill Brook Ridge. A ridge with two summits known unofficially as East and West Schoolhouse mountains connects Graham with Balsam Lake Mountain
Balsam Lake Mountain
Balsam Lake Mountain is one of the Catskill Mountains, located in the Town of Hardenburgh, New York, United States. It is the westernmost of the range's 35 High Peaks...
, the westernmost High Peak. Between Graham and Doubletop
Doubletop Mountain (New York)
Doubletop Mountain is a mountain located in Ulster County, New York.The mountain is part of the Catskill Mountains.Doubletop Mtn. is flanked to the northwest by Graham Mountain, to the east by Big Indian Mountain, and to the southwest by the Beaver Kill Range....
, the Catskills' highest trailless peak, to the east is a steep and deep col
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
900 feet (274.3 m) below the summits on either side.
The slopes of the mountain on the north and south alternate between steep hollows carved out by creeks and gentler hollows between them. The largest is Drury Hollow on the north, drained by an unnamed brook that rises far down the slopes. Flatiron Brook to the northeast drains a narrower, unnamed valley. The northwest slopes form the southern wall of Turner Hollow, also drained by an unnamed brook. All three are 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...
of Dry Brook, itself a short 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...
. Since Dry Brook drains into the East Branch above Pepacton Reservoir
Pepacton Reservoir
The Pepacton Reservoir, also known as the Downsville Reservoir or the Downsville Dam, is a reservoir in Delaware County, New York that was formed by impounding over ¼ of the East Branch of the Delaware River...
, this puts the north slope of the mountain within New York City's water supply system.
The southern slopes are gentler, draining to the higher plateau around the headwaters of the Beaver Kill, which itself rises just south of the Doubletop col. Gulf of Mexico Brook drains a narrow valley on the southwest, and Tunis and Vly ponds near the mountain's base also feed the Beaver Kill. The Beaver Kill also, eventually, drains into the East Branch at East Branch, below the reservoir and thus outside of the city watershed.
Graham's L-shaped summit ridge is narrow, with its spurs pointing northwest and southwest. The United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
benchmark
Benchmark (surveying)
The term bench mark, or benchmark, originates from the chiseled horizontal marks that surveyors made in stone structures, into which an angle-iron could be placed to form a "bench" for a leveling rod, thus ensuring that a leveling rod could be accurately repositioned in the same place in the future...
indicating the mountain's 3868 feet (1,179 m) height of land is at the northwest end, near the ruins of the relay station. The southwest end descends gently to 3660 feet (1,115.6 m) before dropping off more steeply into the Doubletop col.
The north slopes and most of the summit are within a large tract of land purchased by George Jay Gould I
George Jay Gould I
George Jay Gould I was a financier and the son of Jay Gould. He was himself a railroad executive, leading both the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Western Pacific Railroad ....
, the son of Jay Gould
Jay Gould
Jason "Jay" Gould was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. He has long been vilified as an archetypal robber baron, whose successes made him the ninth richest American in history. Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Gould as the 8th worst American CEO of all time...
, a native of nearby Roxbury
Roxbury, New York
Roxbury is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 2,509 at the 2000 census.The Town of Roxbury is at the eastern end of the county.- History :...
. Known as Furlow Lodge, it still is owned by the Gould descendants and serves as a family retreat. The south slopes, up to almost 3500 feet (1,066.8 m) on the summit ridge's southwest spur, are publicly owned 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...
in the Big Indian-Beaverkill Range Wilderness Area.
Flora and fauna
Most of Graham's slopes, given their high base elevation, are covered in northern hardwood forestNorthern 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...
of 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...
. Unlike the other peaks in the range, first-growth forest begins well above 3000 feet (914.4 m), as high as 3545 feet (1,080.5 m) on one slope. The summit itself is covered with a pygmy forest
Pygmy forest
A pygmy forest is a forest which, for pedological and geological reasons, contains only miniature trees. Pygmy forests may occur over various world locations with notable occurrences being noted in the literature of the: California coastal terraces and inner coastal mountains of Northern...
, unique in the Catskills, with its black cherry
Black Cherry
Prunus serotina, commonly called black cherry, wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus...
and mountain ashes
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...
barely taller than average human height. 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...
, which dominates the summits of both Doubletop and Balsam Lake mountains to either side of Graham, is found in small stands on the slopes below the summit of Graham.
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...
has studied the range's balsam fir distribution patterns. There are no other peaks where balsam fir occurs on the slopes of the peak, but not the summit, and factors such as elevation, soil, and topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
do not suffice to explain the phenomenon. He has concluded that all peaks represent different stages of forest evolution, in which the stunted and twisted ridge hardwoods gradually have replaced balsam fir over the last 8,500 years.
The forests on the mountain support a typical animal community for the Catskills. 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...
are the larger mammal species, with many species of rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
, such as snowshoe hare
Snowshoe Hare
The Snowshoe Hare , also called the Varying Hare, or Snowshoe Rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet and the marks its tail leaves. The animal's feet prevent it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks...
, lower on the food chain
Food chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
. Beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
s have been common over the years, with Kudish finding more evidence of present and past dams and meadows on the slopes of Graham and its neighboring peaks.
History
The Catskills were formed 250-350 million years ago, during the DevonianDevonian
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...
periods, when the sands and silt that had eroded from the Acadian Mountains
Acadian orogeny
The Taconic, Acadian and Alleghenian orogenies are the three tectonic phases responsible for the formation of the present Appalachian Mountains. The Acadian orogeny is a middle Paleozoic mountain building episode dating back 325-400 million years which should not be regarded as a single event but...
to the northeast collected in 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 mouth of the shallow 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 delta uplifted
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:...
as a single unit and gradually streams eroded valleys, creating a dissected plateau
Dissected 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...
. The harder, younger 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,...
remains as the mountain summits. Later glaciation made the valleys steeper and smoother.
As with most other peaks in the Mill Brook Ridge range, there was very little human impact on Graham for most of its recorded history. That changed drastically after the construction of Turner Hollow Road in the late nineteenth century, connecting Seager
Seager, New York
Seager, New York is a former village in Ulster County, New York, U.S.A. within Catskill Park and the Catskill Mountains.It was a small hamlet that vanished after tanning in the Catskills ended in the late 19th century. Today it consists of one house and a hiking trailhead for the Seager West Branch...
with the end of Beaver Kill Road, allowing anglers
Angling
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...
to reach private fishing clubs on the Beaver Kill headwaters from the Arkville Station on the Ulster and Delaware Railroad
Ulster and Delaware Railroad
The Ulster and Delaware Railroad Company was a Class I railroad located in New York State, headquartered in Rondout and founded in 1866. It was often advertised as "The Only All-Rail Route To the Catskill Mountains." At its greatest extent, the U&D ran from Kingston Point, on the Hudson River,...
. Around 1890 George Gould bought the Furlow Lodge tract, including most of the mountain, since his father had enjoyed fishing at the lake so much.
Turner Hollow Road (rerouted to the west in the late 19th century) made the upper slopes of Graham more accessible to logging operations. Their impact on the mountain still is visible to elevations of well above 3000 feet (914.4 m), well above their extent elsewhere in the area. One of the last of these took place in the early 1960s, when the relay station was built on a one-acre (4,000 m²) clearing at the summit. A technician and pilot were marooned on the summit for 24 hours after their helicopter crashed there on a maintenance trip during a heavy snowstorm in early 1963. It remained in service for a few more years after that and was abandoned sometime before 1969.
Access
The most frequent route to the summit follows the Dry Brook Ridge Trail from the Mill Brook Road crossing, the highest trailheadTrailhead
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...
in the Catskills at 2580 feet (786.4 m). Hikers follow the blue-blazed
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...
trail, the old jeep road to the Balsam Lake Mountain fire tower
Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station
The Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station is located at the summit of the mountain of that name in the Town of Hardenburgh, New York, United States...
, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) to where the unblazed Old Tappan Road, a relocated stretch of the Turner Hollow Road, forks off to the left at an elevation of 3340 feet (1,018 m).
At this point hikers leave the trail and its public easement
Easement
An easement is a certain right to use the real property of another without possessing it.Easements are helpful for providing pathways across two or more pieces of property or allowing an individual to fish in a privately owned pond...
. Permission is required from the Furlow Lodge caretaker
Property caretaker
A Property caretaker is a person, group or organization that cares for real estate for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a barter for rent-free living accommodations...
to climb from there to the summit of Graham since it is private property. The Old Tappan Road curves around the side of Turner Hollow, descending 100 feet (30 m) before ascending again after a fork where an older portion of the Turner Hollow Road descends on the left to Drury Hollow. The road ahead continues the gentle ascent until 3400 feet (1,036.3 m), where it climbs more sharply up a series of switchbacks, passing some of the balsam firs on the slope at higher elevations.
The summit is marked by a U.S. Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
benchmark
Benchmark (surveying)
The term bench mark, or benchmark, originates from the chiseled horizontal marks that surveyors made in stone structures, into which an angle-iron could be placed to form a "bench" for a leveling rod, thus ensuring that a leveling rod could be accurately repositioned in the same place in the future...
with the 3868 feet (1,179 m) elevation set in a rock at the west edge of the ridge where the road ends. The old relay station, a one-story cinderblock structure with no remaining roof and the three steel supports that can be seen from various viewpoints in the area near the mountain, is at the center of a large clearing. An informal poll of 3500 Club members has found Graham ranks with nearby Eagle as their least favorite summit among the Catskill High Peaks.
There are open views west to Balsam Lake Mountain
Balsam Lake Mountain
Balsam Lake Mountain is one of the Catskill Mountains, located in the Town of Hardenburgh, New York, United States. It is the westernmost of the range's 35 High Peaks...
. Rough use paths lead along the ridge through the pygmy forest to views over the Dry Brook valley and 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 Fir
Fir Mountain (New York)
Fir Mountain is a mountain located in Ulster County, New York.The mountain is part of the Catskill Mountains.Fir Mountain is flanked to the northwest by Big Indian Mountain, and to the southeast by Spruce Mountain....
mountains to the northwest, and Doubletop and the Beaver Kill's headlands to the southeast.
Other access routes include a bushwhack approach from the Seager-Big Indian Trail along Dry Brook; this usually is combined with an ascent of Doubletop. It also is hiked in combination with Balsam Lake, for which the hike sometimes begins from the south, at the end of Beaverkill Road north of Quaker Clearing.
External links
- Graham Mountain Hiking Information Catskill 3500 Club