Slide Mountain is the highest summit in the Catskill Mountains at 4,180 feet, rising above the town of Shandaken in Ulster County. Its name traces to a 19th-century landslide that scarred its western slopes and was visible for miles across the surrounding valleys. Naturalist John Burroughs climbed the peak repeatedly in the 1880s and wrote memorably about his ascents, helping introduce the mountain to a wide readership and securing Catskill lands for New York's Forest Preserve. A bronze plaque at the summit still marks his connection to the place.
Three main routes reach the top. The most direct starts at the Oliverea Road South trailhead, following yellow then red blazes via the Phoenicia-East Branch and Burroughs Range trails for about 2.7 miles and 1,900 feet of gain. The blue-blazed Curtis-Ormsbee Trail offers a gentler alternative with three open ledge viewpoints to the south and west. A longer traverse from the east links the summits of Wittenberg and Cornell before finishing on Slide, covering about 7 miles with some ladder-assisted scrambling.
The summit is forested, but a short path leads to a rocky overlook with views south and west into the wilderness. Ice on the upper trail makes microspikes advisable from late fall through early spring. The Slide Mountain Wilderness Area surrounding the peak covers nearly 47,500 acres, and its side trails at lower elevations offer considerably more solitude than the busy main summit routes.
