page_title: Devil's Path (hiking trail)
section_title: Plateau
hierarchical_section_title: Devil's Path (hiking trail) / Description / Eastern section / Plateau
caption_attribution_description: Photographed by Daniel Case on Plateau Mountain in the Catskills 2006-01-08.
context_page_description: The Devil's Path is a hiking trail in the Greene County section of the Catskill Mountains of New York, sometimes described as one of the more challenging trails in the New York Tri-state area. It goes across the eponymous mountain range and then three other peaks to the west, offering hikers and peakbaggers a chance to reach the summits of five of the 35 Catskill High Peaks. It draws hikers from not just the region but far outside, due to the challenging climbs straight up and down the steep gaps between the four peaks of the range, which often require hikers to use hands as well as feet to pull themselves almost straight up cliffs and through rocky chutes. These climbs, however, lead to views across the Catskill range.
  Most hikers use the trail for day trips to one or two summits along the range, via the trails that go up into the cols. But backpackers have done weekend trips due to the easy availability of a state-owned campground at Devil's Tombstone, near the single road crossing at Stony Clove Notch. It is also possible for determined hikers to complete the entire trail in a single, long day.
context_section_description: It is yet another steep and rocky climb up the eastern slope of Plateau Mountain. A good spring can be found about a quarter-mile from the hollow (headed up the mountain), and the 3,855-foot (1,175 m) summit itself is just off-trail 0.75-mile (1.21 km) later. The newly rerouted Long Path also comes in from the South on Plateau.  
  The ensuing walk across the aptly named Plateau is seen as another attraction of the trail. While there are no views, the 2.25 miles (3.62 km) are the longest high-elevation level walk in the Catskills, surrounded entirely by boreal forest, with only 200 feet (62 m) of elevation loss (or gain) along the way. It comes to an end shortly after Danny's Lookout to the northeast, at Orchard (sometimes Orchid) Point. Here Hunter, Southwest Hunter Mountain and West Kill Mountain loom ahead, across the depth of Stony Clove Notch.
  Again the trail descends steeply and drastically, 1,400 feet (427 m) into the notch. Here, the trail crosses Route 214 and there is a parking lot and picnic area overlooking a small green lake. There is a water spout in the picnic area, but it seems water does not always flow from it. In season, the state charges a fee for use of the parking lot at the trail crossing. The neighboring campground is a short walk south along Route 214.
caption: Trail across Plateau, in winter.
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK C340 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "230", "Image YResolution": "230", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2006:01:16 10:00:45", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "252", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "930", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4035", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/30", "EXIF FNumber": "27/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "160", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:01:08 15:11:32", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:01:08 15:11:32", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "5", "EXIF ApertureValue": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "28/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1272", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2052", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "804", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "160", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "34", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}