he
Big Indian Wilderness Area begins near Highmount and
Pine Hill and runs south and east toward the Sullivan
and Delaware County borders.
It is said that there
is virgin forest in this area, so keep your eyes open.
Roads into Big Indian
Wilderness are County Road 47, which runs through
Big Indian Hollow, and Dry Brook Road (also known
as County Route 49). Both these roads are accessed
from State Route 28.
Lost
Clove Road Trail
Lost Clove Road Trail.
Take County Road 47 at the sign for Big Indian, south
from Route 28. About 1/2 mile after you turn onto
Road 47, you will see Lost Clove Road on the right.
Follow this road until you see the parking area. There
you will find the trailhead to Lost Clove Trail.
Lost Clove Trail is marked
with red tags. It is 1.3 miles long to the junction
with blue-blazed Pine Hill - West Branch Trail with
an ascent of 780 feet.
The trail ascends into
the woods, climbing the ridge of Belleayre Mountain.
You can continue onto the Belleayre Ridge Trail, marked
in red, the Cathedral Glen Trail marked in blue or
the Pine Hill-West Branch Trail marked in blue (see
below).
Belleayre
Ridge Trail
Belleayre Ridge Trail
is marked with red tags. It leads to Chairlift #1
and the summit ski lodge of Belleayre Ski Center.
There are excellent views north and fair views south
on the summit. The route is an almost level grass
covered jeep trail. From the Lost Clove/Pine Hill
junction, distance is approximately 1.25 miles so
that the entire trip from the Parking Area is 2.55
miles.
Cathedral
Glen Trail
Cathedral Glen Trail.
This trail is marked with blue tags. Distance to junction
with Belleayre Ridge Trail is 2.2 miles, ascent 1,590.
Distance from junction of Belleayre Ridge Trail to
chairlift is 1 mile for a total of 3.2 miles. Elevation
at chairlift is 3,420 feet.
You can approach the Cathedral
Glen Trail from the Village of Pine Hill. From Pine
Hill's Main Street, turn left onto Bonnie View Avenue.
Cross Mill Street to Station Road. Drive south on
Station Road to the railroad tracks. Park on the side
of the road.
The first half of this
trail passes through old hemlocks and beautiful hardwoods
to the base of a ski slope. The second half climbs
steeply up the slope providing good views.
Walk west along the abandoned
railroad tracks 1/2 mile. There is an old stone wall
paralleling the tracks to your left. As you walk,
the wall moves higher up on the bank and then closer
to the track. When the wall is nearly even with the
track again, you'll see a trail sign and blue DEC
markers. This is the trailhead.
Follow the markers as
you enter an open meadow a bit over a mile into the
trail. Across the meadow in the trees is a picnic
table and fireplace.
Beyond the picnic table,
the gradual grades soon become moderate. This trail
ends at the Belleayre Ridge Trail (with red markers)
and you can either return to Pine Hill or turn right
to Chairlift #1, which has lovely views.
Pine
Hill - West Branch Trail
Pine Hill - West Branch
Trail. This is a long trail of 14.9 miles that runs
between Belleayre Mountain and County Road 47. If
you want to hike the entire length of this Trail,
call the DEC, The Adirondack Club, the NY-NJ Trail
Conference or Catskill 3500 for detailed information.
The trails mentioned above
intersect the Pine Hill - West Branch Trail. Additional
trails, which intersect Pine Hill, are the Mine Hollow
Trail, the Oliverea-Mapledale Trail and the Seager-Big
Indian Trail.
Mine
Hollow Trail
The hiker can reach this
trail by taking either the Lost Cove Trail or the
Cathedral Glen Trail to the Pine Hill West Branch
Trail.
This trail is marked with
yellow tags.
Distance from Lost Cove
Trailhead to the end of Mine Hollow is 3.6 miles.
The Mine Hollow Trail has some steep grades to it
so managing it requires some exertion. If you just
want to go for a walk, this is not the trail for you.
This trail can also be
approached from the West.
From Arkville (which is
on Route 28) find Dry Brook Road. Drive south. Turn
left on Rider Hollow Road (also called County Road
49A). Bear right at the Todd Hill Road fork, staying
on Rider Hollow Road and look for the parking area.
Oliverea
- Mapledale Trail
Oliverea - Mapledale Trail
is marked in Red.
This trail is rarely hiked
as a through trip. Hikers either start on the west
or east sides of the trail and turn around at the
junction of the Pine Hill- West Branch Trail. This
is a 3.6 mile trail.
From the East. From Route
28, turn south onto County Rood 47 at Big Indian.
Drive to Oliverea; turn right onto McKenley Hollow
Road. 1 mile further is the DEC parking area, near
the Mountain Gate Inn.
Walk 1/10th of a mile
along McKenley Road and follow red DEC markers along
the brook. It's a lovely walk and it's only 1.85 miles
to the junction of Pine Hill Trail. When you reach
this junction, you can turn right to Balsam and Belleayre
Mountains. Turn left to Haynes and Eagle Mountains.
Or continue straight ahead following the Red markers.
This leads to the yellow-blazed Mine Hollow trail
which leads toward Belleayre Mountain.
After crossing a stream
on stepping stones, the trail ends at the parking
area at the end of Rider Hollow Road. At this point,
you have traveled 3.6 miles from the parking lot on
McKenley Hollow Road with an ascent of approximately
1400 feet.
From the West. From Arkville
(which is on Route 28) find Dry Brook Road. Drive
south. Turn left on Rider Hollow Road (also called
County Road 49A). Bear right at the Todd Hill Road
fork, staying on Rider Hollow Road and look for the
parking area.
Seager
Trail
This trail also intersects
Pine Hill- West Branch Trail. Seager Trail is 3 miles
long with an ascent of 1,110 feet. It is blazed with
yellow markers.
From the West. From Arkville
(which is on Route 28) find Dry Brook Road (also known
as County Route 49). Drive south through Mapledale
to the end of Dry Brook Road where you will find the
Parking Area.
This trail provides a
nice journey along old roads and past a very pretty
waterfall. It becomes a steep climb about 2 1/2 miles
in. It meets the Pine Hill- Branch Trail between Eagle
and Big Indian Mountains.
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