Slide Mountain Wilderness Area

The Slide Mountain Wilderness Area is, at 47,500 acres (19,200 ha), the largest tract of state-owned Forest Preserve in New York's Catskill Park, and the largest area under any kind of wilderness area protection between the Adirondacks and the southern Appalachians. It is located in the towns of Shandaken, Denning and Olive in Ulster County.

Location

Within those three towns, the Slide Wilderness might be better described as contained within the lands bounded on the north roughly by Esopus Creek and Route 28, the east by Ulster County Route 42 (known in different towns as Sundown Road or Peekamoose Road) almost to the shores of Ashokan Reservoir, the west by Ulster County Route 47, and on the south by Sugarloaf Road and Red Hill Road.

The area's wilderness character is buffered not only by restrictive local zoning and conservation of neighboring private lands but also by bordering on two other large state-owned tracts, the Big Indian-Beaver Kill Wilderness Area to the west and the Sundown Wild Forest to the east.

Mountain Wilderness

Mountain Wilderness is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to the preservation of mountain areas, in their natural and cultural aspects. The organization was founded in Europe and has a stronger presence in alpine and pyrenean regions. It has, however, a worldwide reach, with representatives and actions on all continents.

Objectives

Mountain Wilderness shares some of the values and objectives of alpine clubs and environmentalist organizations, but is clearly distinct from both. Mountain Wilderness was founded by mountaineers and places a stronger emphasis on the human experience of wilderness than on the exclusive defense of wildlife for its own sake. Even in the most remote mountain regions, there remain vanishingly few untouched wilderness zones in a strict sense. Contrary to what a literal interpretation would suggest, Mountain Wilderness does not focus on such "pure", pristine wilderness. Nearly all mountain landscapes, and, to an even higher degree, the perception of mountains by humans, bear a strong cultural imprint. Mountain Wilderness works towards the inclusive preservation of this natural and cultural mountain environment at large, in three complementary ways :

Slide Mountain (Ulster County, New York)

Slide Mountain is the highest peak in the Catskills. It is located in the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, in southern New York. While the 4,180-foot (1,270 m) contour line on topographic maps is generally accepted as its height, the exact elevation of the summit has never been officially determined by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, and many informal surveys suggest the mountain may actually top 4,200 feet (1,280 m) above sea level.

While it was not identified as the range's highest peak until the late 19th century, it has played a prominent role in Catskill history. Renowned naturalist John Burroughs wrote memorably of his climbs up Slide, and it helped get the Catskills added to New York's Forest Preserve. Bicknell's thrush was first identified on its summit.

Geography

Like most other Catskill peaks, Slide's summit is gentle and rounded, taking the form of a narrow ridge that rises to a wider bump on its eastern end. From there the mountain slopes down steeply to the col with neighboring Cornell Mountain.

Slide Mountain

Slide Mountain may refer to:

See also

Slide Mountain (Nevada)

Slide Mountain is a 9,702-foot (2,957 m) peak in the Carson Range near Reno, in Washoe County, Nevada. The Mount Rose Ski Tahoe resort is located on this mountain, leading some to believe that the mountain is named Mount Rose, when Mount Rose itself is approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) higher and several miles to the northwest. From the summit of Slide Mountain, Lake Tahoe, Washoe Lake, Carson Valley, and the city of Reno can be viewed.

Slide Mountain dominates the Reno skyline, standing 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above the city just to the south of its larger neighbor Mount Rose. Several ski trails and a maintenance road lead to the summit, making the hike to the top an easy one, especially from the Mount Rose Summit Campground located on State Route 431 at the Northwest base.

Many communications towers adorn the summit, providing television, radio, emergency responder and amateur communications service to the Reno, Carson City and Lake Tahoe areas.

References

External links