Hiking Huntersfield Mountain

The Windham Path | Hiking Huntersfield Mountain | Catskill Mountains, New York | May 2025

After leaving Leonard Hill State Forest, we drove South to Windham so that we could get gas and figure out our next move. When searching for an activity that would be Charlie friendly, we decided to check out the Windham Path, located just East of town. The trail makes a 1.2 mile loop on a wide, well maintained path through an open area. It was the perfect activity for the morning, with plenty of views of the surrounding mountains, a creek, wildflowers, and a covered bridge. The trail also apparently connects to the downtown area. We let Charlie take her time, and when we were finished we had a little picnic in the parking lot before continuing on.

Curtis picked out another peak that would be an easy hike for his prominence list, and since it was in a state forest it would be ok for us to camp in for the night. We drove about 20 minutes Northwest to Huntersfield State Forest. The turnoff into the forest was a bit sketch and looked almost like a driveway, but sure enough there was a gate and sign and some old cellar holes. But the drive up to the ‘trailhead’ was super steep – definitely not something we would recommend in inclement weather. Once we made it to the trailhead, I set up the bed for Charlie to take her afternoon nap, then settled in to read while Curtis went for his hike.

Curtis: This was a short hike on old ATV trails to an old Long Path shelter right below the peak of Huntersfield Mountain – which also has the distinction of being the highest peak in Schoharie County. But because of the access requirements and the reroute of the Long Path off of the peak, I wasn’t expecting the trail to be well maintained – or even existent at all. But to my surprise someone has been keeping up the trail maintenance, except for the mud from the recent rain, it was a wide and open path, easy to follow, and not too steep.

The summit had the old trail shelter with a decent view out towards the South with Hunter Mountain well in view. Someone had even taken the time to paint a picture of the shelter and hang it up inside. A short use trail brought me to the summit proper which was tree blocked, but had a benchmark.

Since it was only about a mile and change to the top, I took my time at the shelter before heading back down. We decided that because of the effort to get up to the trailhead, we were probably fine staying here for the night. And we were right about that — we didn’t see anyone else at this trailhead or driving the road, though we did pass someone who was possibly camping at a pullout right inside the forest boundaries when we left the next morning.