Burroughs Range: Slide, Cornell, and Wittenberg

Slide Mountain Wilderness, Catskill Forest Preserve (Ulster County)

The Burroughs Range is the three-peak ridge of Slide, Cornell, and Wittenberg in the southern Catskills. Slide, at 4,180 feet, is the highest mountain in the Catskills, according to the NY-NJ Trail Conference. The red-blazed Wittenberg-Cornell-Slide Trail links the three summits, and much of it is also the Long Path.

Day hikers do it as a long out-and-back, but the designated campsites in the col between Slide and Cornell make it a natural overnight.

The hike

The DEC lists the Wittenberg-Cornell-Slide (Burroughs Range) Trail at 9.75 miles with about 3,620 feet of gain, rated challenging. It can be reached from Woodland Valley Campground on the east, the harder approach with rock ledges, or from the Phoenicia-East Branch Trail on the west. The DEC’s summit route starts at the Slide Mountain lot on Oliverea Road: 0.7 mile on the Phoenicia-East Branch Trail and then 2.0 miles on the Burroughs Range Trail reaches Slide’s summit (DEC). Mountain Hiking, which calls this the hardest Catskills hike on its site, notes that the Neversink must be crossed near the start without a footbridge.

The Trail Conference’s Long Path guide describes the ridge from the Denning Road side. A rock outcrop about 300 feet past Slide’s summit looks east to the Ashokan Reservoir and holds the Burroughs plaque. Just beyond, on the way down toward Cornell, are wooden steps on the steepest pitch and a signed spring the guide calls dependable.

The descent toward Cornell is “steep and rugged,” in the Trail Conference’s words. The col between Slide and Cornell holds the camping: the DEC counts six designated sites there, and the Trail Conference notes at least four decent sites within a quarter mile plus a spring about 300 feet off the trail. Mountain Hiking counted at least five primitive sites, some small and some large, and found them well kept.

Next comes Cornell Crack, a large V-shaped cleft that Mountain Hiking says is hard for most people. The same guide also flags Slide Crack, a chimney about 900 feet past Cornell Crack, and a knife-edge col called Bruin’s Causeway. Mountain Hiking’s writer climbed through with a pack on dry rock but warns that wet rock, snow, or ice changes everything. A ledge before Cornell’s somewhat overgrown summit looks over the Panther-Slide country and the Devil’s Path peaks. Wittenberg’s summit ledge looks out over the Ashokan Reservoir, and on clear days to the Hudson and the Taconics.

From Wittenberg the trail descends the ledgy eastern side to Woodland Valley. The yellow Terrace Mountain Trail leaves the Burroughs Range Trail for a lean-to 0.9 mile away that has no water (DEC).

To make a longer Long Path traverse, add the Peekamoose-Table Trail to the south.

Tips

Shuttle or out-and-back. Woodland Valley and the Slide Mountain lot are on opposite sides of the ridge.
Fill up at the spring past Slide’s summit or at the col spring; Terrace Mountain lean-to is dry.
Skip the ridge when it’s wet or icy. The rock clefts are the crux.
Expect no cell service from Slide through the col, per Mountain Hiking.
Come midweek. Northeast Explorer says lots fill quickly on fall weekends.

Camping

At-large primitive camping is allowed in the Slide Mountain Wilderness at least 150 feet from roads, trails, and water, according to the DEC, plus at designated sites marked for camping. Camping above 3,500 feet is banned from late March to late December, so on the ridge, use the designated sites in the Slide-Cornell col. A Forest Ranger permit is needed for more than three nights or groups of 10 or more. The wilderness has three lean-tos, including Terrace Mountain at the end of its 0.9-mile side trail.

Inside Intel: Mountain Hiking’s writer camped solo in the Slide-Cornell col, among at least five primitive sites he found well maintained, and called it remote and demanding. He warns you’re “very much on your own” there, with no cell service, and regretted taking the steep truck trail on the way out; he suggests descending the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail instead.

Trail facts

Distance: About 10.5 miles, Slide Mountain lot to Woodland Valley (DEC segment figures)
Route type: Point to point, or out and back from either end
Difficulty: Strenuous; about 3,620 feet of gain (DEC)
Campsites: Six designated sites in the Slide-Cornell col; Terrace Mountain lean-to; at-large below 3,500 feet
Water: Spring just past Slide’s summit; spring near the col; none at Terrace Mountain lean-to
Permits: None for groups under 10 staying three nights or fewer
Trailheads: Slide Mountain lot, Oliverea Road (west); Woodland Valley Campground (east); Denning Road (south)
Last verified: October 17, 2026

The Lowdown

Down the wooden steps past Slide's summit:

Just past Slide Mountain's summit, wooden steps mark the steepest pitch, and the descent toward Cornell is steep and rugged. Our pole tips cover choking down on steep pitches and sparing your knees.

Get the trekking pole tips →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.