Catskill Hiking: Platte Clove Preserve to the Overlook Mountain Fire Tower

by Alan Powell

Distance: Approximately 13 miles round trip
Time: 8–9 hours
Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous. The hike is long, but it does not require a major rock scramble. Elevation gain: Approximately 1,600 feet.

Key Landmarks: Plattekill Falls, Little Red Cabin, Historic Bluestone Quarries, Devils Kitchen, Cod Fish Point, Overlook Mountain House Ruins, Overlook Fire Tower, Hudson Valley Vistas.

Trail Description

Give yourself plenty of time for this hike. Parking along Platte Clove Road is limited, so arrive early. We got there at 9 a.m. and took the last available space. We began with a short excursion past the Red Cabin, which has been used by artists and writers for more than a century. The view of Platte Clove recalls the painters of the Hudson River School, including Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, and Frederic Edwin Church. Their nineteenth-century paintings helped establish a distinctly American vision of the landscape: rugged and sometimes forbidding, yet also pristine and full of promise.

From the cabin, we descended steeply toward Plattekill Falls. Good hiking boots and trekking poles helped us navigate the turns and rocky ledges. The climb back up from the falls was the steepest of the day. We then followed the trail across a wooden bridge and into the quiet hemlock forest of Platte Clove Preserve.

Signs along this section describe the trees and the land’s history. Hemlock bark was once harvested for the tanning industry, while bluestone was quarried from the surrounding mountains. Commercial quarrying expanded in the nineteenth century. Workers split the stone by hand and hauled heavy slabs by horse toward Kingston and the Hudson River.

As we walked, we spotted honey mushrooms, turkey tail fungi, and oyster mushrooms growing on fallen tree trunks. Red russulas and yellow amanitas added color beside the path.

Our first long stop was Devil’s Kitchen, where abandoned bluestone slabs have been arranged into simple seats and tables. Rectangular pieces of cut stone lie among moss and ferns beside the trail. We passed the Devil’s Kitchen lean-to and a nearby stream, grateful that we had carried enough water for the full hike. The nickname traces back to 19th century folklore and a dark warning about the landscape’s rugged dangers.

The trail rose gradually toward Codfish Point, our first broad view across the Hudson Valley. An abandoned bluestone quarry sits beside the overlook. According to local lore, the point takes its name from quarry workers who were stranded there during a storm with only salted codfish to eat.

Beyond Codfish Point, the trail continued with a gentle rise to the junction for Echo Lake. It then curved around the western side of Overlook Mountain, passing exposed rock and windswept trees. Near the summit, we found small clearings bright with goldenrod and blue asters.

The trail eventually joined the old carriage road that climbs from Woodstock. Near the summit stand the ruins of the Overlook Mountain House. The original hotel opened in 1871 and could accommodate about 300 guests. It burned in 1875; its replacement burned in 1923. The imposing remains visible today belong to a later rebuilding project that was never completed. Beyond the ruins, the Overlook Mountain Fire Tower offered another chance to take in the Hudson Valley views.

Our descent to Platte Clove Road was long and quiet. We stopped once more near the Devil’s Kitchen lean-to where we met a trail steward checking that hikers were safely heading down or properly prepared to spend the night. After hours among old quarries, forest and open views, it felt like a fitting end to the day.