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.
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.