Kaaterskill Falls / Leonard Hill State Forest

Return to Kaaterskill Falls | Camping in Leonard Hill State Forest | May 2025

Today we woke up to the sun shining and birds chirping – the best feeling after a day and a half straight of rain! Curtis had to call into a meeting, so we enjoyed a slow morning in this spot before packing up and moving on. Our goal for today was to find a place to stay put for the weekend. State forests in the Catskills allow you to camp for up to three nights without a permit; if you want to stay longer, you can obtain a free permit from a ranger. We liked where we had been staying, but we had now been here for 3 (non consecutive) nights, and wanted to move on. We picked out another state forest on iOverlander that was over an hour North of us, pretty far removed from the more popular areas in the Catskills, which we hoped meant that it wouldn’t be too busy. We packed up and began our drive North.

When searching for things we could do together along the way, we noted a couple of rail trails that we knew would be easy enough for Charlotte, but when we saw that Kaaterskill Falls wasn’t too far off our route, we couldn’t resist returning there just for the sake of revisiting a spot we had frequented during our time living in New York. We drove to a lot on the upper side, and started the trail through the woods. We realized later that we could have made it even easier for Charlie if we had parked at the first trailhead, but after being cooped up so much it was probably for the better that we went for the longer walk.

It was while we were walking to the falls when I realized that the last time we were here was exactly 8 years ago today. Back then, we had just hiked 6 miles up Tremper Mountain, our second to last peak for the Fire Tower Challenge, and we returned here to see what the falls looked like in the spring (we had been here twice before, in the fall and winter). After walking to the upper overlook, we continued hiking on other trails and made another 6 mile loop, just because we could. We were at the top of our game hiking wise, and feeling on top of the world after Curtis had just finished 6 months of intense training and had orders to our dream location, Washington State, in hand. Of course, all that would change in just 3 days, but on that day, we felt unstoppable.

Compare that with today: We walked to the overlook wearing flip flops and taking our sweet time, letting Charlie go at her own pace. When we made it to the overlook, Charlie laid down and took a nap on the platform, and I decided to join her, because we had all the time in the world to enjoy this beautiful space. As I sat, I reflected on who we were back then, and where we are now, and the journey we took to get here. We certainly aren’t the same people we were the last time we were here, but despite the twists and turns that life threw us, we’re exactly where we wanted to be: traveling together full time, getting to share so many experiences together in all these beautiful places. Back then, this was just another check off of our bucket list that was miles long. Now, all I want is to savor what we have, and be able to fully enjoy wherever life has brought us to at the moment. And I want to know that all these beautiful places that we’ve visited will still be out there, wild and wonderful, preserved and protected, so that we can return and reflect and find pieces of ourselves we didn’t know were lost.

While Charlie and I relished the moment, Curtis went off to find a letterbox, then brought then van over to the closer lot so Charlie wouldn’t have to go so far in the heat. When we were finished here, we got back on the road and drove further North to our chosen spot for the weekend, at the top of Leonard Hill in Leonard Hill State Forest. Since I was already in a reflective mood, this site couldn’t have been better: we had a dispersed site with a great view of other peaks and a reservoir, and there was a historic fire tower at the top! Not on any list and we couldn’t climb up it, but it really made this spot feel like home. And home it was for the weekend! We enjoyed the views, sunsets, wildflowers, and walking up and down the forest road. The first two days were warm and buggy, but then we had another rainy day which kept us inside for the most part. When the weekend was over, we were ready to move on, but we were so glad we found this spot and had so much time to enjoy it and slow down for the weekend.