2024-05-30: Utsayantha Mountain

Utsayantha Mountain, elevation 3214'. Catskill Hundred Highest 49/100.

Last summer, work didn't start up until June, so I had an unexpected chunk of time to just climb mountains. Utsayantha Mountain, located in the town of Stamford, doesn't involve much climbing, as a road goes nearly to the summit. However, I wanted to bag a couple peaks in one day, and that's significantly easier when one of them is a drive-up.

That doesn't mean the drive itself was easy, however. Tower Road, which climbs from central Stamford up to the peak's summit, is a steep, washed-out, single lane dirt road with a lot of twists and turns. Between the condition and the grade, it seemed just below the limits of what my passenger car could handle, and even then, I stopped a little below the summit itself.

A view of South Gilboa from Hang Glider's Point.

I parked at Hang Glider's Point, an area with an overgrown picinic table that has evidently been used for hang gliding. The views from here, mainly to the northeast, were incredible, as extensive as any high Catskills peak, yet without the climb required to get there.

Looking north from the overlook, towards more forested, gentler hills.

It was a shot walk up the remainder of the road to the pleasant summit. Ustayantha's summit is one of the most developed in the Catskills, featuring a fire tower, communications towers, an old observation deck, picnic tables, campsites, an overlook, and several information kiosks. I spent longer here than I expected, just trying to see everything there was to see.

A view of the old, now-defunct observation deck (from the fire tower).

A wide shot of the summit, decked with tables and towers.

Of course, I was first drawn to the observation deck, due to its opportunity for mountain views. The deck itself is abandoned and inaccessible, but there are still some incredible views from an overlook in front of it. This view looks northwest, over the town of Stamford and the western foothills of the Catskills. A building in Stamford had recently burned, and I could see the damage to its third floor well from here.

A wide shot of Stamford and the surrounding countryside.

A closer view of the western part of town along NY-23.

An information kiosk nearby tells of the history of the mountain. The name 'Utsayantha' supposedly came from an Iroquois legend that turned out to be completely made up for tourism. The mountain has hosted observation towers since the late 1800s, periodically blown down by windstorms, and the current one dates from the 1970s. While once the center of the local tourism industry, Utsayantha's popularity has waned over the years, although its views are just as worth a visit as they ever were.

A memorial to Dr. Churchill, a local historical figure, at the summit.

Pleasant rural landscapes north of Stamford.

Finally, I had to climb the fire tower. The fire tower at Ustayantha Mountain seemed steeper than normal, although that may have just been my impression. The day was largely windless, allowing me to stably enjoy excellent views in every direction. Views to the southwest were dominated by the nearby Churchill Mountain, while the McGregor Range stretched out towards the east.

Churchill Mountain, another Catskill 100er that I would climb later in the day.

The McGregor Mountains in the foreground. Background at far right are Doubletop and Graham Mountains, Catskill high peaks that have been off-limits to hikers since 2021.

After a lengthy an unsuccessful search for a USGS survey marker, I departed Utsayantha's summit, riding my brakes and lower gears down Tower Road until I was back on a main road. My next stop was the nearby Churchill Mountain, a more challenging bushwhack peak that would take up the rest of my afternoon.