We took a day trip to the Catskills to explore the area and hike. Our first stop was the visitors center where we asked for some recommendations and picked up a few maps. We decided to check out Overlook Mountain which was one of the hikes I’d read about when I was researching before our trip. We got back in the car, drove through Woodstock and found the parking lot at the trailhead off Meads Mountain Road across from a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. It was later in the day, and with this being a popular hike, the lot was at capacity and we ended up parking along side the road.
The hike is on an old carriage road and the views didn’t change much as we made our way up steadily gaining in elevation. In a little over a mile and a half we came upon the ruins of the old Overlook Hotel. The ruins here are the remains of the third building that was built at this location. The first was built in the early 1800s. Over the years, the Overlook Hotel changed hands serval times. It seemed to be a failed endeavor right from its start. It burned down twice before it was rebuilt it in concrete. In the early 1900s, the failed Overlook Hotel closed its doors indefinitely as the trend of luxury resort hotels in the Catskills phased out and the clientele took their money elsewhere. Today, the Overlook’s ruins are one of the only historic resorts left in the Catskills. In the 1970s, the hotel burned yet again, but the concrete structure withstood the fiery blaze.
After exploring the ruins, we continued up the trail until we reached the summit of Overlook Mountain at 3,140 feet. There’s a cabin just before the fire tower and a short spur trail that took us to a rocky outcropping with expansive views of the Hudson River Valley and Ashokan Reservior. After checking out the vista, we continued to the fire tower. We climbed the tower’s stairs, but the door to the actual lookout was closed. We cllimbed up the 60 foot tower as high as we could go and enjoyed the views before heading down to have a snack at one of the convenient picnic tables on the summit.
After our snack, we began to make our way back. We decided to quick check out a side trail to Echo Lake which had much less people, but as we began to give up elevation, we decided to turn around and save it for another day since it was a little late and we’d have to hike it back up and then down again on our original trail.
It was a lovely day and although this was a more populated hike, I did enjoy the climb up the fire tower and it was a nice intro to the Catskills.
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