Hiking Wittenberg Mountain: Wait Until You See the View!

Are you looking for a rugged, yet rewarding hike to push your limits?  Then you need to go hike Wittenberg Mountain!

Wittenberg Mountain is part of the Burrough Mountain Range in Catskill Park, or what is commonly referred to as The Catskills.  The Catskills in upstate New York have some incredible mountains.  And while these aren’t the tallest mountains on the east coast, or even in the state, here is why you should go hiking in the Catskills.  

But first, let’s get some helpful details for you!  Then we’ll cover where to park, what to expect and the stats of the hike!

Important Links (Map, State Park Website, Link to Camping Article)

Slide Wilderness Map – PDF

Slide Wilderness Website

AllTrails Map and Info – Download the Map

Day Hiking Checklist – Free!

Location

Catskill Park is made up of 700,000 acres of land and home to some truly amazing mountains.  Within the park there are 33 mountains that stand over 3,500 feet tall.  Wittenberg Mountain is one of these 33 peaks. 

Approximately 2.5 hours north of New York City, the Catskills offer peace and quiet for those looking to get away from the city.  Catskill Park is also just 1 hour south of Albany, NY, 35 minutes from Poughkeepsie, NY and the west entrance is just 2 hours from Syracuse, NY.  With those relatively short distances, the Catskills are the perfect weekend getaway location!

And if hiking isn’t your thing, there are also a plethora of nearby small towns, breweries, wineries, and campgrounds in the area for ways to stay and enjoy.  

Alright, let’s get to the hike and dive into hiking Wittenberg Mountain.

Parking

First up, we need to discuss where to park.  In short, you’ll park here, the Woodland Valley Campground.  There is a $6 parking fee to park here.  

This is the closest parking lot that will give you the shortest hike to the summit of Wittenberg Mountain (7 miles).  

But if you’re more interested in a place with free parking, you could park at the base of Slide Mountain and hike over Slide, Cornell and then up to Wittenberg.  This is a much harder and longer hike (12 miles), but it is still an option.  

Trail Details

This trail is about 7 miles round trip, with 2400 feet of elevation gain.  

Now, this might not sound like a hard hike, but the amount of rock scrambling, mud, and roots made this a slow and rugged hike.  You will also probably not be able to keep your normal hiking pace as there are several technical spots that will require a pause before you continue.  

If you’re still up for this tough hike, let’s dive right in!

What to Expect

The trailhead for Wittenberg Mountain is across the street from where you parked.  This trail is very well labeled with red colored marks and you should be easily able to follow this trail.  

You will begin, summit and return on the Slide, Cornell and Wittenberg Trail for this hike.  Should you decide to continue onto Cornell Mountain or even Slide Mountain, you will stay on this trail for its entirety. Either way, you are on one trail the entire time, so it’s quite easy to follow.

Ascent

This trail begins with elevation right away.  The first 1.8 miles has over 1,300 feet of elevation gain.  And unfortunately, that means there aren’t many flat sections. So don’t be afraid to stop and get a drink as you warm up on this hike.  

Up until this point, the trail is rocky and filled with tree roots, but there is nothing too technical.  

You will then reach an intersection where you can choose to head towards other mountains.  But you are here to hike Wittenberg Mountain, so you will initially turn right, and then another quick right as you head for the summit.  

This area is well marked with wooden signs and is the only flat spot on this trail until you reach the summit.  So if you need a rest, this will be the easiest place to do it. 

After you have made both of those right turns, you will have the not-so-warm welcome of rock faces and scrambles to complete.  This is where the ruggedness begins.  OH, and more elevation gain!

From approximately 2.2 miles until you reach the summit at 3.5 miles, you will conquer an additional 1,100 feet of elevation.  And trust me, some of these sections are essentially sheer rock walls, with a few ledges for your feet and hands.  

The Summit

After the final grueling miles of this trail, you will be greeted with the stunning views of Catskill Park.  You’ll see layers and layers of mountains, as well as a gorgeous Upper Ashokan Reservoir below.  

This view is beautiful, even on a hazy day like when we hiked it.  This is also a great place to stop and refuel with water and snacks.  

We spent about a half hour here and enjoyed the views with as many as 10 other hikers at one point.  When we had eaten and were ready to head back down, we took a few more photos and then headed back to the car.  

The Descent

The descent on this trail is arguably harder than the ascent.  With all the rock scrambling and borderline rock climbing you had to do, now you have to scramble down those sections.  

While this may not seem so bad on paper, trust me, there were sections that had us sitting on our butts and sliding down to the next flat section.   

Take your time as you head back to your car and enjoy the struggle!  It’s not an easy descent, but it’s a great form of full-body exercise.  We were definitely glad to be back at the truck when we finished up.  

Hiking Recovery

Hiking up Wittenberg Mountain is not for everyone and it is definitely deserving of it’s “Hard” rating.  And regardless if it took you 3 hours or 8 hours, you will need to refuel your body.  

Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and something with electrolytes to rehydrate your body.  You’ll also want to eat a well balanced meal with plenty of protein to help repair your muscles.   

Our Hike

My husband, myself, and our yellow lab hiked Wittenberg Mountain in July of 2024.  This hike was tough on all 3 of us, and we were definitely sore the next day, but this was the perfect amount of challenge vs. reward.

In other words, the pay off of the view made this hike totally worth the struggle.  The rock scrambling had its difficult moments for sure, but overall, we really enjoyed this hike!

Our lab did fairly well on this trail, but there were a few sections that we had to lift her up to the next ledge.  So while we did this hike with a dog, I wouldn’t recommend it, unless your dog is very athletic like ours is.

After reaching the summit of Wittenberg, we did continue onto the summit of Cornell Mountain.  But in all honestly, it wasn’t worth it. There was no view at the top of Cornell, and the views on Wittenberg kicked Cornell’s butt!  So unless you are hiking to become a member of the 3500 club, you can safely skip Cornell Mountain.   

Camping 

In Catskill Park, there are loads of campgrounds!  Some are bigger than others, but I highly recommend using this website to determine which campground is best for you. 

For us, we opted to camp at Interlake RV Park and Campground in Rhinebeck, NY.  Yes, this made us have about an hour drive to the trailhead of Wittenberg Mountain, but we needed electric and water hook-up, as well was phone service so my husband can work.  

These luxuries (service and hook-ups) are a requirement as we travel full-time in our camper around the country.  If you want to just completely unplug, there are plenty of options for you.  But we do highly recommend Interlake RV Park if you need a few luxuries on your trip to the Catskills.  

Things To Do in the Area

Catskill Park is huge!  We barely scratched the surface of this giant park.  But here are a few things that we did when we weren’t hiking, that will help you round out your trip!

Wineries, Breweries, Cideries

We visited Millbrook Winery during our 2 week stay near the Catskills.  This beautiful winery has a tour that you can take ($18 per person) and even has their vineyard on the grounds for you to walk through if you want!

There are also dozens of other wineries, cideries and breweries for those who would like to do a tour of some sort.

Explore Small Towns

These little mountain towns are truly adorable.  The town of Catskill, NY (yes it’s a town!) was simply darling.  Woodstock, NY had several cute shops and people were abuzz with the farmers market.  

Across the Hudson River we stopped in Red Hook and Rhinebeck, NY.  I would personally skip Red Hook as there wasn’t much there but Rhinebeck was adorable and had lots of adorable shops.  

These were just 4 of the towns that we visited, and they all had their charm.  Plus it was a way to stretch our legs after a long hike the day before.   

Conclusion

Hiking Wittenberg Mountain is not for the weak, but don’t let that intimidate you from hiking this rugged 7 mile trail!  Between rock scrambling and dodging roots and mud, this hike will challenge you and leave you feeling sore the next day.  But you’ve got this!

There’s plenty of things to do in Catskill Park if hiking isn’t your thing.  And with so many camping options in the area, there are plenty of ways to stay for cheap.

As always, if you have any questions about this hike or the area, feel free to reach out to averagewildexperience@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to help.

Happy Hiking!