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Combine a loop and a spur to make this long out-and-back route. Trailhead info at bottom of this post.

Hiking Trail Description

Graham Mountian is currently closed to public hiking.

The most popular route to Balsam Lake begins at the Dry Brook Ridge Trailhead on Mill Brook Road in Hardenburgh. This route is also the only “trailed” route to Graham’s summit — hiking Graham is technically a bushwhack but the herd path is so clear it almost counts as a trail.

My advice is to do Graham first and get it out of the way. It’s weird and not too scenic. And then you’ll have the big pay-off of climbing to Balsam Lake’s absolutely fantastic 360° fire tower view.

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The long parking lot is on the north side Mill Brook Road and the trail you want is the southern section of the Dry Brook Ridge trail. Leave the lot, cross the road, and look for the trailhead sign on the opposite side.

Table of Contents

Graham Mountain Herd Path

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Hike Graham & Balsam Lake

Begin following the blue blazes …

The trail register is a good distance from the road. No, you didn’t miss it. Just keep going. You’ll get to it eventually.

The trail is easy to moderate the whole way to the first junction. It follows an old jeep road so it’s mostly pretty wide and relatively even.

Graham Mountain Herd Path

After about 2 miles, keep an eye on the left side of the trail. There’s no sign for the herd path whichdoubles back sharply into dense woods — it’s easy to miss.

Closed! Graham & Doubletop mountains are no longer accessible to the public. Both mountains are on private land. Trespassers will be prosecuted. The information presented here is for historical puproses only.

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Hiking Balsam Lake is a popular single-peak hike because it’s short , easy , kid-friendly , and super scenic .

If you’d like something in the same area that’s less strenuous — but still extremely beautiful — check out the Kelly Hollow Trail which is just 4 miles further west along Mill Brook Road.

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Graham Mountain & Balsam Lake Trailhead

Large lot on a bend. It sneaks up on ya.

Google Maps Location: 42.070045, -74.574090

The map below shows the exact topographic location of the trailhead

2 responses to “ Graham Mountain & Balsam Lake ”

Ralph Bressler says:

August 14, 2020 at 10:30 pm

It might have been a good idea to withhold this hike description until Graham is open to all hikers. Currently Graham and Doubletop are only open to hikers who live in neighboring counties. The links you gave for procedures seem to link back to your website or to the 3500 Foot Club FB page. A better link would be to the 3500 Foot Club website at https://catskill-3500-club.org/currentnews.html .

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Sean says:

August 14, 2020 at 10:31 pm

Good point. I will update the descriptions and info and links. Thanks Ralph.

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The parent mountain for this hike is Graham .