Balsam Mountain
Balsam Mountain rises to 1,099 m in New York. Slide Mountain stands 1,266 m to the southeast, 8.2 miles off. The nearest named place is Haynes Mountain, a peak 1.3 miles away. Shawangunk Mountains Scenic Byway passes 23 miles off.
The story
Balsam Mountain is one of the High Peaks of the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. Its exact height has not been determined, so the highest contour line, 3,600 feet (1,100 m), is usually given as its elevation. It is located in western Ulster County, on the divide between the Hudson and Delaware watersheds. The summit and western slopes of the peak are within the Town of Hardenburgh and its eastern slopes are in Shandaken. The small community of Oliverea is near its base on that side. Most of the mountain is publicly owned, managed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as part of the state Forest Preserve, part of the Big Indian-Beaverkill Range Wilderness Area in the Catskill Park. The summit is on a small corner of private land. As one of the High Peaks it is a popular destination for hikers, especially peakbaggers seeking membership in the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club, since along with Slide, Panther and Blackhead it is one of four peaks that members must climb twice, at least once in winter. The Pine Hill-West Branch Trail (PHWB) crosses its summit; hikers usually approach from either side via the Oliverea-Mapledale Trail, which intersects the PHWB south of the summit, and make the ascent from there. The northwestern approach makes a loop route possible via the Mine Hollow Trail; the southeastern ascent, from McKenley Hollow, has the steepest stretch of trail on any ascent of a Catskill High Peak.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q4852538, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1099.41 m
How to reach it
- 23.5 mi off the Shawangunk Mountains Scenic Byway
Overlooks nearby
- High Falls · 26 mi
- Panther Rock · 26 mi
- White Dot · 27 mi
- Compass Rock · 28 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Haynes Mountain: 1.3 mi
- Belle Ayr Mountain: 1.8 mi
- Eagle Mountain: 2.3 mi
- Hirams Knob: 2.8 mi
- Belleayre Gondola Peak: 3.0 mi
- Oliverea Unit: 2.0 mi
- McKinley Hollow Unit: 2.2 mi
- Indian Grove Unit: 2.4 mi
- Little Red Kill Unit: 5.3 mi
- Shandaken Unit: 5.6 mi
- Otter Falls: 5.4 mi
- High Falls: 7.8 mi
- Cornell Falls: 8.5 mi
- Buttermilk Falls: 12.2 mi
- Stratton Falls: 13.2 mi
- Big Indian Park: 2.3 mi
- Smith Park: 3.0 mi
- Glenbrook Park: 5.1 mi
- Fleischmann Athletic Park: 5.1 mi
- Lower Birch Creek Trailhead of the Shandaken Wild Forest: 5.2 mi
- Pine Hill Honor Roll: 2.9 mi
- Burroughs Monument: 4.1 mi
- ETS Relay (Ruin): 4.7 mi
- Forstmann Castle: 7.1 mi
- Curtiss & Ormsbee Monument: 7.6 mi
- Empire State Railway Museum: 9.3 mi
- Red Hill Observer's Cabin & Museum: 11.6 mi
- Zadock Pratt Museum: 15.7 mi
- Pratt Museum: 15.7 mi
- Piano Performance Museum: 16.2 mi
- Giant Ledge: 6.0 mi
- Cornell Crack: 9.1 mi
- Samuels Point: 11.3 mi
- Spencers Ledge: 13.5 mi
- Devils Tombstone: 15.2 mi
- Winnisook: 2.4 mi
- Shandaken Eagle: 8.8 mi
- Fabulous Furniture Sculpture Garden: 13.3 mi
- Rip Van Winkle: 15.2 mi
- The Great Knot: 22.9 mi
- Table Mountain Spring: 9.8 mi
- Piped Spring: 9.8 mi
- Piped Spring: 12.0 mi
- Devil's Acre spring: 14.1 mi
- Keyhole Spring: 14.7 mi
- Rail Explorers: 9.3 mi
- World's Largest Kaleidoscope: 10.7 mi
- Pratt Rock: 15.5 mi
- VanTran Covered Bridge: 21.4 mi
- Belleayre Beach: 2.6 mi
- Tongore Park Beach: 23.3 mi
- Hunter Mountain North Picnic Area: 15.1 mi
- Notch Lake Picnic Area: 15.4 mi
- Roscoe: 22.4 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 10.0 miles of Balsam Mountain. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slide Mountain | SE 140° | 1,266 m | 8.2 mi |
| Doubletop Mountain | SSW 205° | 1,180 m | 4.8 mi |
| Doubletop Mountain - South Peak | SSW 202° | 1,175 m | 5.0 mi |
| Graham Mountain | SW 221° | 1,174 m | 4.7 mi |
| Cornell Mountain | SE 132° | 1,174 m | 9.2 mi |
| Wittenberg Mountain | SE 128° | 1,152.75 m | 9.2 mi |
| Balsam Lake Mountain | WSW 240° | 1,136 m | 6.3 mi |
| Panther Mountain | ESE 116° | 1,135.08 m | 5.4 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:02 | 18:33 | 19:10 |
| June solstice | 05:23 | 19:56 | 20:38 |
| September equinox | 06:46 | 18:20 | 18:57 |
| December solstice | 07:24 | 15:45 | 16:30 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 20 | 22 | 29 | 41 | 53 | 60 | 65 | 64 | 57 | 46 | 36 | 26 |
| Precip in | 4.7 | 3.2 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 5.4 | 5.5 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Slide MTN, 6 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/357546567
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