Thomas Cole Mountain carries the name of the Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole, who lived from 1801 to 1848. It is the westernmost peak of its range, reached along the Black Dome Range Trail, which follows red blazes for 7.5 miles between Barnum Road and the Escarpment Trail.
The top is wooded, and the summit sits slightly off the main trail. A small opening in the balsams on Black Dome, the next summit east, is the nearby place to look for a view. Underfoot the trail is rocky, and traction helps on the steeper pitches of the climb.
Most hikers pair the mountain with its neighbor. The out-and-back from Big Hollow Road covers Thomas Cole and Black Dome in 6.5 miles, and stretching the day east adds Blackhead on a longer loop. The mountain lies within the Windham-Blackhead Range Wilderness in Greene County, home to deer, black bear and fisher, with spruce-fir forest on the higher ground. Camping above 3,500 feet is prohibited from March 21 to December 21.
