The Shavertown trail offers families and novice hikers a unique opportunity in the Catskills.
A spectacular view after only one moderately strenuous mile, followed by a fairly level mile and a half through beautiful rock ledges and wonderful forest to explore.
You’ll break a sweat as you climb 520 feet in that first mile, but it is so worth it. Wander past a lovely pond, complete with pink and white water lilies in season, and enjoy the spectacular view of the Pepacton Reservoir. Visitors can walk around the pond and head back or continue on. The next mile and a half of trail winds around craggy boulders adorned with a variety of lichens. Much of the trail before and after the pond is on an old access road which passes through some overgrown pastures filled with wildflowers. Parts of the steeper first section have stone steps to ease the climb. The second mile and a half of trail only gains 240 feet of elevation over that distance, making it a pleasant stroll for most hikers, young and old. The trail is 5.3 miles round trip.
The Shavertown Trail was created by the Catskill Mountain Club on land owned by the NYC DEP, with the assistance of the Town of Andes and support from the NYC DEP and the NY-NJ Trail Conference.
The trailhead is on County Rt 1, about a tenth of a mile north of the intersection of Route 30 and County Rt 1 in Andes. Park at the parking lot by the bridge.
Click here for a full size map. Free GPS enabled maps for the iPhone and Android devices are available at the Avenza Map store (the Avenza PDF map app is also free). Learn more, or view, download or print the map here.
Driving directions to the Shavertown Trail as well as the Rail Trail and Palmer Hill can be found here.
