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Catskills Bikepacking 200 Mile Loop

Catskills Bikepacking 200 Mile Loop

May 01

Thursday May 1st - Sunday May 4th

Starting/Ending in Catskill, NY  

At the start of May, Spring is just arriving on the Catskill Plateau. Join Lichen Bike Tours on this early season cycling and wilderness camping adventure. This trip is 4 days and 3 nights, 200 miles, and 15,000+ft of climbing with 2 sections of hike-a-bike through high passes in the Catskill Mountains. Each night of camping is in wild forest without any toilet or water facilities, so we are really bikepacking on this trip. 

This is a self-supported bikepacking trip, which means that riders are responsible for carrying their shelter, sleep, and cook systems. We will ride as a group with a sweep so that nobody will be dropped, and the route has designated re-group spots so that we don't get too spread out. 

We are gathering a group of high fitness, experienced bikepackers to ride early in the 2025 season in order to take photos and videos as well as gather rider feedback.

This route is strenuous, but also carefully designed to be ridable. There are zero days of 5000ft+ climbing, and just two days of 4000ft+ climbing. Each day has at least one stop in a town for food and groceries. The Hike-a-Bike section in Sundown Wild Forest is not steep and could be ridden on a mountain bike. The Hike-a-Bike section in Halcott Mountain Wild Forest is steep, but on wide former-doubletrack and therefore persistence is enough to make it up and down. 

Recommended packing lists, specific routes, mile-by-mile details, weather updates, and pre-trip video information session are provided to everyone who registers.

Details

Catskill, NY
200 miles
15,000ft
Wild Forest Camping
Level 5 fitness
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Day by Day Breakout

Day 1 - South towards Sundown Wild Forest Hike-a-Bike

  1. Depart from Catskill Bicycle Supply Co in Catskill, NY. 
  2. 49 Miles, 3900ft Climbing, -2100ft Descending, +1800ft for the day.
  3. Final food and grocery stop of the day at Tetta's Market in Samsonville, NY.
  4. Hike-a-Bike .5 miles and 100ft climb to campsite in Sundown Wild Forest. Map 143 of the NYNJTC Catskill Trails maps.

Day 2 - West towards Delaware Wild Forest and Highest Single Climb of the trip

  1. 46 Miles, 4600ft Climbing, -4100ft Descending, +500ft for the day.
  2. Highest Climb is from Rondout Reservoir up to the Willowemoc Wild Forest. This route has it broken into an 800ft climb with a downhill followed by an 850ft climb (instead of doing 1500ft all at once up Denman Mountain). This climb also takes you from the Hudson River watershed across the Catskill Divide and up to the Delaware River watershed.
  3. Lunch and grocery stop in Livingston Manor.
  4. Camping in Delaware Wild Forest at a site .1 miles from the road. Map 144 of the NYNJTC Catskill Trails maps.

Day 3 - North towards South Vly Mountain Hike-a-Bike

  1. 38 Miles, 3600ft Climbing, -3100ft Descending, +500ft for the day. 
  2. 2 big climbs before a lunch and grocery stop in Fleischmanns.
  3. 1 big climb up to the Hike-a-Bike section. 
  4. Camping in the Halcott Mountain Wild Forest. Map 145 of the NYNJTC Catskill Trails maps. 

Day 4 - From the Heart of the Northern Catskills down to Catskill, NY

  1. 59 Miles, 4100ft Climbing, 6600ft Descending, -2500ft for the day
  2. At the high pass on South Vly Mountain, you cross the Catskill Divide and into the Mohawk River watershed (and therefore Hudson River watershed).
  3. 1 big climb before a breakfast stop in Prattsville.
  4. One final climb up to the trip’s last high point before a long, stretched out descent over 10 miles and -1800ft. 
  5. Lunch stop in Cairo before even more descents and a return to Catskill Bicycle Supply Co. 
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