Catskill Highest Hundred: Criteria

Created, compiled and researched by Mark Schaefer
Acme Maps by Tom Rankin

Peak names are as they appear on the current USGS maps (although I have used current spellings for Belleayre and Schultice). A few unnamed summits have borrowed names from subpeaks which are named on the current USGS maps (Bearpen, Beaver Kill Range, Barkaboom, Cowan). The Old Clump on the list is the historically correct peak (as it was shown on the 1904 Hobart quad). The 1945 USGS Hobart quad has erroneously placed the Old Clump name on a peak known as Gray Hill on the 1904 Hobart quad. I have used the name (E Gray Hill) for the 2980' east summit of Gray Hill. Names and partial names that are in parentheses are not on the current USGS maps. These are names borrowed from nearby geographic features, associative names from nearby summits, prior historical names, or alternative spellings. Leavitt Peak is a recently proposed name for SW Hunter to honor the first two members of the Catskill 3500 Club, William and Elinore Leavitt. County high points are also noted.

Hyperlinks to Acme maps are provided for the HH list and the two county points in the subpeak list to aid in locating the peaks. The summit coordinates on the maps are not necessarily the summit or canister location. They are merely placed within the (or one of the) highest contour(s).

Criteria: The summit must have a 200' topographical prominence. Where there is no actual summit and col measurements, the highest contours are used. No interpolations nor conservative/optimistic assumptions are made. There is a further discussion of the criteria following the list.

Peak Order is by:

* Measured elevation shown on the current USGS maps.
* highest contour if there is no measured elevation. For example Red Hill is on the list at 2980', although many guidebooks note its elevation as an interpolated 2990' (2980' highest contour plus 10' half the contour interval).

Comments on the criteria used in earlier published Catskill lists:

• Catskill 3500 Club Criteria for the list of 35 peaks of 3500' or higher (per the Club bylaws). The criteria is detailed on the Catskill 3500 Club website and in the ADK guidebook Catskill Trails (all editions).

  Quote:

  ... there must be at least a 250 foot drop between the peak and any other peak on the list, or the peak must be at least one-half mile away from any other peak on the list.

  This criteria does mirror the Adirondack 46er criteria. The 250' drop is curious as there have never been USGS maps with 50' or 10' contours that could accurately determine a 250' drop. But the real problem is that it would include at least 12 peaks over 3500' not currently on the list of 35 (all of the subpeaks higher than 3500' listed below except Dink, which is within a half mile of Cornell). Also if this criteria were applied to the peaks below 3500' it would include nearly 100 additional peaks on the 3000' list.
• The list of the 98 Catskill 3000' peaks was first published in the 1975 Guide to the Catskills by Adams, Coco, Greenman and Greenman, published by Walking News - the criteria had no distance clause:

  Quote:

  summit peaks must rise at least 200 feet from the nearest adjacent high peak.

  Comment: As strictly stated this wording is a bit lax as a peak might rise less than 200' from a more distant high peak. The loop hole was undoubtedly unintentional. In the Catskills no peak meeting this loop hole exists, so the resulting list is the same as the HH. The criteria I used requires at least a 200' rise from all adjacent high peaks. Note: the same list of 98 Catskill 3000' peaks appears in the ADK guidebook Catskill Trails (all editions), but without any discussion of the criteria for the lower 63 peaks.
• Northeast 3000' lists. There are several versions. To my knowledge all include the same list of 98 Catskill 3000' peaks, though the wording and interpretation of the 200' topographical prominence may differ.

Subpeaks: prominence less than 200' and book/map errors.

The subpeaks are enumerated here only to explain why they do not make the HH list. This a partial list of the subpeaks which are more than a half mile from the main summit or next higher point on the ridge. Above 3500' all are listed, and it does illustrate the undesirability of including an "or half mile distance" clause in the 3500 or HH list criteria. Below 3500' I only listed those with 100' prominence or with a name on the USGS maps. There are many more with prominence less than 100'.

The prominence from the higher summit is noted. In a few cases the higher summit I have noted is itself a subpeak (not on the HH list). I noted the intervening summit merely for clarity on its location (e.g. those on the ridge which includes (NW) Slide, (N) Slide, leading to the actual summit of Slide Mtn.

3860 (W Slide): 40' from Slide Mtn
3800 (N Slide): 20' from Slide Mtn
3780 (Mid) Plateau: 20' NW from Plateau Mtn
3720 (E West Kill): 80' from West Kill Mtn
3700 (Orchard Point): 20' NW from (Mid) Plateau
3655 (Dink): 55' S from Cornell Mtn
3640 (E Rusk): 140' rise from Rusk Mtn
3640 (NW Slide): 80' from (N) Slide
3580 (Dibble / Mink Mtn): 20' N from Sugarloaf Mtn
3580 (S Twin): 120' from Twin Mtn
3540 (Camel's Hump): 80' W from Thomas Cole Mtn
3520 (S West Kill): 20' from West Kill Mtn
3520 (Delaware Co. high point): 40' W from Bearpen Mtn
3480 (E Schoolhouse Mtn): 180' E from Balsam Lake Mtn
3440 (S Dry Brook): 120' from Dry Brook
3440 (W Schoolhouse Mtn): 120' E from Balsam Lake Mtn
3420 Haynes Mtn: 180' N from Eagle Mtn
3400 (Arizona Mtn): 100' SE from Blackhead Mtn (Mt Webster / The Sentinel)
3380 (Bloomberg Mtn): 100' W from Roundtop
3380 (N Panther): 140' from Panther
3380 Spruce Top: 100' N from Plateau Mtn
3380 (SW Plateau): 140' from Plateau Mtn
3375 (SE) Belleayre: 135' from Belleayre Mtn
3360 Evergreen (Bee Line) Mtn: 180' W from Rusk Mtn
3360 (NE) Beaver Kill: 180' from Beaver Kill Range
3340 (Mid Beaver Kill): 100' NE from Beaver Kill Range
3340 Balsam Mtn: 120' W from Sherrill Mtn
3320 (Caudal / Camel's Tail): 120' W from Camel's Hump
3320 (Turner Hollow Ridge): 120' N from W Schoolhouse Mtn
3310 (SW Beaver Kill): 110' from Beaver Kill Range
3300 (S Doubletop): 160' from Doubletop Mtn
3280 (Deep Notch): 160' W from Balsam Mtn
3260 (Mid) Mill Brook: 140' W from Mill Brook Ridge
3260 (W Hunter): 160' from Hunter Mtn
3240 Hemlock Mtn: 100' from Spruce Mtn
3202 (Far N Plattekill): 102' from (N Plattekill)
3200 Colonels Chair: 20' N from Hunter Mtn
3200 (N High Falls): 180' from (High Falls Ridge)
3200 (NE Panther): 100' from Panther
3180 McGregor Mtn: 60' from Utsayantha Mtn
3180 (Mid Wildcat): 180' W from (E Wildcat)
3180 North Mtn: 60' E from Stoppel Point
3180 (W Mill Brook): 140' from Mill Brook Ridge
3160 (S Narrow Notch): 140' from (Narrow Notch)
3160 (Mid) Moresville: 100' from (NW) Moresville Range
3118 (Beech Mtn) (Sullivan Co. high point): 118' S from Mongaup Mtn
3100 (E Narrow Notch): 140' from (Narrow Notch)
3100 (S Cradle Rock): 120' from Cradle Rock Ridge
3080 (NE) Cowan: 120' from Cowan Mtn
3080 (SE Schultice): 120' from Schultice Mtn
3080 (SE Vly): 120' from (S Vly)
3080 (W Burnt Knob): 100' from Burnt Knob
3060 Ashland Pinnacle: 180' E from Huntersfield Mtn
3060 Little Rocky Mtn: 120' W from Olderbark Mtn
3060 (S Acra Point): 120' from Acra Point
3040 (Furlough Lake): 180' SE from (S Dry Brook)
3040 (W East Jewett): 120' from East Jewett Range
2989 (Mid) Mongaup: 189' E from Mongaup Mtn
2980 Richtmeyer Peak: 40' from Richmond Mtn

Additional mountains listed in some books or maps at or above 2980 that are not on the HH list:

• Tower Mtn is 2980 in some books and on the 1903 USGS. It is 2960 on the current USGS.
• (SE) Moresville Range, 2940, appears to be 3140 due to a typo 2700 (actually 2500) contour.
• Pakatakan Mtn is 3100 in some books. 2500 on USGS, NW end of Dry Brook Ridge, w/o any summit.