I recently wrote about the great opportunities to hike here in the Catskill Mountains. The DEC has just announced that they are expanding the Fire Tower Challenge. Two new towers in Delaware County are being added.

The Challenge now consists of 8 fire towers. Historically, it consisted of five (Balsam Lake Mountain, Hunter Mountain, Overlook Mountain, Red Hill and Mount Tremper). A couple of years ago, the Upper Esopus Fire Tower was erected at the Catskills Visitor Center and added to the Challenge. Now Bramley Mountain and Mt. Utsayantha are being added. I’ve hiked the original 5 many times. In fact, I did so long before the Catskills Fire Tower Challenge was a thing. The views from the towers are amazing. I highly recommend hiking to them.

The hikes to the towers vary widely in their level of difficulty. I think that’s a good thing because it opens the experience up to hikers of different abilities. The recent addition of the Upper Esopus tower was actually done at the Visitor Center for that exact purpose, so that folks can see a tower and climb up it without a strenuous hike up a mountain to get to it.

A word of caution is in order. Some of the hikes are quite difficult, with Mount Tremper and the full hike up Hunter being two of the hardest. Make sure you carry plenty of water and don’t overdo it.

A second word of caution is also in order. The first time I hiked up Mount Tremper was a very, very hot summer day (almost too hot to hike up a steep mountain). As I was making my way up the hill, I heard a weird buzzing sound kind of like cicadas rubbing their wings. I didn’t think much of it. It turns out that it was coming from a place called Rattlesnake Quarry along the trail. Apparently it was dozens of them shaking their tails while sunning themselves in the quarry for some reason. Yikes.

Do not try to pet the rattlesnakes. Do not try to pick them up by their tails and say “Danger, danger, danger” like that Australian fool on TV. Leave them in peace. Stay in the center of the trails and stay alert. Overlook Mountain even has signs posted to warn people. My two favorite towers are Balsam Lake Mountain and Red Hill. They are close by, and I recognize many of the mountains in the views from them. Both towers have two trails to reach the summit and are a fun hike.

One last thing about the towers, there is an annual Lighting of the Fire Towers Event. It is usually held on Labor Day weekend. The towers are lit by lanterns to honor the folks that served in them to help make our forests safe.

Our own Doug Hamilton from the Red Hill Fire Tower Committee started the event. It now runs statewide and includes at least 34 towers in the Catskills and Adirondacks. By the way, if you are ever hiking Red Hill and see Doug on the trail or at the top (he is there a lot), tell him I said “Hello.”

Let’s all enjoy the outdoors!