Home ⎟ Hikes & Wanderings ⎟ New York⎟ Catskills⎟ Hunter + SW/Leavitt + Colonel’s Chair

Distance: 12 miles

Time: 7.5 hours

Difficulty: Moderately Strenuous

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Elevation Gain: 2,200 Feet

Trailhead Directions: From the NYS Thruway, take Exit 19. Make a slight right onto NY-28 West and go 28 miles. Turn right onto NY-42 N and go 7 miles. Make another right onto Spruceton Road and park in the trailhead parking lots at the end of the road.

Hike Directions: From the Spruceton Road Trailhead, take the blue-blazed Spruceton Trail 2.4 miles to its intersection with the yellow-blazed Colonel’s Chair Trail departing left. Turn left here and take the short yellow trail just a mile to an expansive vista over Hunter Mountain Ski Area. Return to the Spruceton Trail, turning left and continuing your ascent to the summit of Hunter Mountain, marked by a fire tower just 1.3 miles from the yellow blazes. After enjoying the fire tower, continue a few hundred feet to the end of the Spruceton Trail and continue straight onto the yellow-blazed Hunter Mountain Trail for 1.35 miles. At its southern terminus, you’ll reach the red-blazed Devil’s Path and keep right as you continue 0.25 miles to an unmarked path where you’ll make a left and ascend to the summit of Southwest Hunter Mountain (also known as Leavitt Mountain). Retrace your steps on the unmarked path, making a left onto the Devil’s Path, continuing a half mile to Geiger Point. 1.4 miles beyond Geiger Point you’ll reach Diamond Notch Falls.  Carefully watch for signs here as you depart from the Devil’s Path at the falls and take the blue-blazed Diamond Notch Falls path downhill for 1 mile back to the parking area.

Scenery: 10/10