Hunter Mountain (New York)

Hunter Mountain
Hunter Mountain from Black Dome to the north. Ski trails visible at right.
Highest point
Elevation	4,040 feet (1,231 m)+
Prominence	2,160 ft (660 m)
Listing	Catskill High Peaks Northeast 111
Coordinates	42°10′40″N 74°13′50″W / 42.1778662°N 74.2304216°W / 42.1778662; -74.2304216Coordinates: 42°10′40″N 74°13′50″W / 42.1778662°N 74.2304216°W / 42.1778662; -74.2304216
Geography
Location	New York, US
Parent range	Catskills
Topo map	USGS Hunter
Climbing
First ascent	unknown
Easiest route	old road

Hunter Mountain is in the towns of Hunter and Lexington, just south of the village of Hunter, in Greene County, New York, United States. At approximately 4,040 feet (1,231 m) in elevation, it is the highest peak in the county and the second-highest peak in the Catskill Mountains.

While the mountain is closely associated with the highly popular eponymous ski area built around the Colonel's Chair ridge at the mountain's northwest corner, that takes up only a small portion of the mountain. The actual summit, some distance from the ski area, is graced with a fire lookout tower, the highest in the state and second-highest in the Northeast. The former road to it is open to hikers, horses (and possibly mountain bikers in the future). It is the most popular route to the mountain's summit.

Hunter takes the shape of a medium-length ridge, rising steeply from Stony Clove Notch in the east, then gently to the summit in the center, and gently back down to the west where the land makes a much less steep drop into Taylor Hollow, the col between it and neighboring Rusk Mountain. As with its eastern neighbor Plateau Mountain, there is a considerable amount of level ground above 3,500 feet (1,067 m), the cutoff elevation for inclusion in the Catskill High Peaks.

The relative steepness of the mountain's north slopes facilitated the growth of the ski area, but have made it an otherwise unattractive route up the mountain (only one of the several trails to the summit comes to it from the north). On the south side, slopes are equally steep and challenging to the southeast. However, a ridge splits off at a level area, known as Devil's Acre, midway along the mountain, rising to a 3,740-foot (1,140 m)) summit unofficially known as Southwest Hunter Mountain. Beyond that ridge, the slopes again steepen, reflecting the glacial cirque between Southwest Hunter and Hunter that opens up into the Spruceton Valley.