Kaaterskill High Peak - Natural Environment

Natural Environment

Typically for the Catskills, High Peak and much of the state land around it are covered with a northern-hardwood slope forest in which beech, birch and maple predominate. The summit dome of both High Peak and Round Top are likewise home to a boreal forest of balsam fir and red spruce, with paper birch as a deciduous associate species. Despite the heavy development of the mountain, much of the forest above 3,000 feet (914 m) is first-growth.

Spruce, fir and pines also predominate in an area called Pine Plains, roughly due east and east-northeast of the summit, just below 3,000 feet (910 m) near high ground along the Escarpment. Poor drainage here gives these species opportunities they would not otherwise have at that point. It remains wet and muddy even through dry weather, and in late spring it is often one of the best places to see some of the wildflower species of the Catskills, such as trillium and clintonia.