page_title: Slide Mountain (Ulster County, New York)
section_title: Towers
hierarchical_section_title: Slide Mountain (Ulster County, New York) / Summit / Towers
caption_attribution_description: Slide Mountain tower Image is of a postcard from my collection.
context_page_description: Slide Mountain is the highest peak in the Catskill Mountains of the U.S. state of New York. It is located in the town of Shandaken in Ulster County. While the 4,180-foot 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 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.
context_section_description: The lack of an unobstructed 360-degree view from Slide has led, over the years, to several observation towers being built at the summit.
  Dutcher probably built a crude one out of balsam logs, since Burroughs refers to its presence in his writings. It was still there in 1900 when another visitor recorded it.
  The state wanted to take advantage of the mountain's height for fire control purposes, and in 1911 built a more permanent fire lookout and observer's cabin on the summit. But it would only be occupied and used for the next year, then abandoned again.
  Steel for a more permanent tower was brought up to the summit in the early 1930s, but the tower itself was not built until wartime. It would be dismantled around 1965, and no replacement has been erected.
  In the late 1990s, when DEC updated the Slide Mountain Wilderness Area's Unit Management Plan, it considered rebuilding an observation tower at the summit to provide the long-absent views. However, despite the historical precedent, wilderness area values governing DEC policy that were in place at the time led to the idea being rejected during the planning process.
caption: Observation tower on Slide Mountain, from a postcard postmarked in 1913 (the image is probably much older)
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