Catskill Mountains,
Sullivan County,
New York
Total Time: 1:20 hr
Estimated Distance: 2.1 miles
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Level of Interest: Not interesting; poorly marked trails and lousy view.
Points Of Interest: Good biking trails, but not much interest in way of hiking.
Google Map of Parking:
View Hiking Blog Localities in a larger map
Walnut Mountain is a very visible mountain in Sullivan County, New York. It is not a big mountain and I have seen it many times spending some of my summer days in the Catskills, and was staying in Monticello for the week and decided I will climb this mountain. I saw on Google Maps there is a park called William E Pearson Park where the mountain is, so I went to explore. There are many different two-lane trails going up the mountain, presumably for biking, as well as several spur hiking trails. I didn't know which to take and there was no clear markings on the trail, making this a confusing mountain to climb. Once I got to the summit I tried looking around different areas for a view, but there was none to be found. I eventually found somewhat of a view in a clearing of trees slightly below the southern portion of the mountain. I then looped around the mountain again on the path and found a different way out back to where I parked.
 |
| Map of the Route |
 |
| Orange Salamander while climbing up. There were lots of these to be found on the trail. |
 |
| Rock Formations near the Summit. |
 |
| The best view I could get. Facing South. |
 |
| Another angle of the view. You can see Route 17 in the distance near Monticello. |
