Hunter Mountain (New York) - Geography

Geography

Hunter takes the shape of a medium-length ridge, rising steeply from Stony Clove Notch in the east, then gently to the summit in the center, and gently back down to the west where the land makes a much less steep drop into Taylor Hollow, the col between it and neighboring Rusk Mountain. As with its eastern neighbor Plateau Mountain, there is a considerable amount of level ground above 3,500 feet (1,067 m), the cutoff elevation for inclusion in the Catskill High Peaks.

The relative steepness of the mountain's north slopes facilitated the growth of the ski area, but have made it an otherwise unattractive route up the mountain (only one of the several trails to the summit comes to it from the north). On the south side, slopes are equally steep and challenging to the southeast. However, a ridge splits off at a level area, known as Devil's Acre, midway along the mountain, rising to a 3,740-foot (1,140 m)) summit unofficially known as Southwest Hunter Mountain. Beyond that ridge, the slopes again steepen, reflecting the glacial cirque between Southwest Hunter and Hunter that opens up into the Spruceton Valley.

The entire mountain is in the Hudson River watershed, with runoff from the north taking a circuitous route to it via Schoharie Creek and the Mohawk River. On the southeast corner, the route is much more direct, as water follows Stony Clove Creek to Esopus Creek and thence to the Hudson. The cirque on the southwest gives rise to a Schoharie tributary, the West Kill, also fed by Hunter Brook. Regardless of the stream, all of Hunter is part of New York City's watershed, as the Esopus is impounded in Ashokan Reservoir and the Schoharie in the similarly named reservoir downstream.

While Hunter is traversed by the Devil's Path hiking trail and is often considered part of the range of the same name, it is distinct from the Devil's Path topographically due to the fork in the range.