Twin Mountain and Sugarloaf Mountain Loop Trail is a 9.2 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Elka Park, New York that features a lake and is rated as difficult. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from April until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
backpacking
birding
camping
hiking
nature trips
walking
forest
lake
views
waterfall
wildlife
rocky
scramble
Difficult but fun hike .
Had to change out of snowshoes and into spikes for the final ascent. There was too much scrambling for snowshoes( (3/25/17), though at lower elevation they were very useful. Only made Twin. One of the better, more technical trails in the Catskills I think, especially in winter conditions. Devils path hey?
This hike is no joke! We went up the eastern side (red path) -- the first two miles were not too hard, with a nice view and a path past a waterfall. But once you get on the top ridge (after the crossroads) there is an extremely steep ascent where you are scrambling up rocky paths. The descent was almost as treacherous. The day we went, it had rained the previous night and the rocks were very slick on the path down.
Overall, a very diverse and challenging hike! Vistas are not the best but it's a pretty wooded area with a lot of variety.
It was s nice hike. We took the red path up to Twin Peak. The trail is well marked and you begin on yellow, move onto blue and red takes you to the top. We retraced out ascent back down instead of completing the loop as the additional .7 mile trek up to the peak was quite steep. The hike took 5 hours but we stopped for lunch. It was strenuous and we were in all fours part of the time but it was worth the effort. I am a fiit 61 and would do it again. There was a nice stream and a beaver pond on the way up. The views were good but not great.
Absolutely fantastic trail. The forests are lovely and it's constantly in the shade. You go from smooth inclines to really steep climbs, and it's a great hiking experience for those who enjoy some climbing. Forests, swamps, cliffs, everything is wonderfully photogenic. The name Twin Mountain Trail is misleading, however, because the actual trail does NOT go onto Twin Mountain Peak, it goes to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. If you want to to the twin mountain peak, add an additional 1.4 miles to your trek (.7 to the top of twin mtn and then .7 back), that part being a 1000 foot elevation change in a short distance. Take out some time for the hike, it's not short due to the steep inclines. But overall, great challenging trail, and definitely worth it for the hike itself.