2024-01-03: Steenburg Mountain

Steenburg Mountain, elevation 2565'. Solo winter bushwhack ascent from Durham Road. 0.94 mi, 318' gain, 27m RT.

Steenburg Mountain isn't on any peakbagging lists as far as I'm aware. It's a relatively insignificant peak covered in dense spruce trees and hidden among higher summits in central Conesville NY. However, it has some personal importance, as it's visible from my house and, until this hike, was the only mountain visible from home that I hadn't climbed yet.

The weather was too iffy to commit to any town highpoints that would require a long drive, so this was an excellent day to climb Steenburg, a short bushwhack only a few miles from home. I parked at the intersection of Durham Road and a truck road in South Mountain State Forest, the same spot that I used as my trailhead for North Richtmyer Peak several years ago, and headed up the eastern ridge of this steep, pyramidal mountain.

Birdshot-addled signage near the trailhead.

Steenburg is most notable for its two main features: steepness and density. The mountain is shaped like a steep pyramid with three main ridges, and grades over 50% are found on some of its slopes. While hardwoods seem to dominate its steep landscape, an understory of thick young spruce trees covers nearly the entire mountain. There is no simple approach to Steenburg. 

The underbrush is really the worst on the lower two hundred feet of the mountain. Getting through was pretty easy once I gave up any attempt to not get repeatedly thwacked by needle-ridden branches. Once I neared the summit, the forest began to clear out a little, and the ground, which was bare even at the trailhead, was covered in a few inches of snow. 

Hardwoods and a very limited view from near the summit.

The highest point on Steenburg Mountain is poetically situated at the base of a great maple tree, growing over a somewhat smaller rock. There are no views from up here, although some glimpses of the surrounding landscape are visible through the trees. I was glad to have climbed in winter, as the summit seemed to have an abundance of brush and thickets that were easily stepped over when dead. I didn't linger long, however, and after a few minutes, I began my steep descent.

More forest and clouds on upper portion of the mountain.

I tracked a little farther to the east on descent than I had on ascent, bushwhacking through some denser areas of spruce forest that still weren't quite as bad as I had expected on this peak. In a few minutes I was back at the car and headed home for a more restful afternoon.