National Geographic has recently released a new map for the Catskill Park in their Trails Illustrated map set.  This map covers most of the Catskill Region with information on hiking, fishing and other outdoor recreational activities.  The scale is pretty small so some details are lost in order to provide coverage of the entire park.  The map itself is made from waterproof, tear-resistant material and seems to hold up to regular use without much problem.

Based on my prior experience with the Trails Illustrated maps, I expected a map of the Catskills that provided a good overview of the park, but that might be lacking some details.  That is what I have found with this map.  It is a great map for trip planning and road travel, but for trail travel, the scale is just too small and the map too big to make it much of a map that you would take hiking with you.

Catskill Park Map Details

The Trails Illustrated Catskill Park map breaks the area into eastern and western sections, with each section covering one side of the map.  This is not a small map, completely unfolded, it can fill up a small table.  The scale for both sides of the map is one inch to about 1.2 miles.

The map itself shows the Catskill Park, differentiates the types of public lands in the park and provides information on trails, campgrounds, fishing access and boat access along with several other recreational categories.  In addition to recreational resources, the map clearly shows roads and villages within the region.  The trails are labeled and named on the map and the labels refer to a ‘trail chart’ that is provided on the map.  In addition, the trails show mileage between major points.

Because of the regional nature of this map and its small scale, this map does show plenty of areas that are within the Catskill Region, but outside of the Catskill State Park.  This includes public lands such as State Forests that may have trails or other recreational resources.

In addition to the map itself, there are several text boxes.  The most important is the Trail Chart which takes the labeling information from the map and uses it to provide basic information about the trail.  The Trail marker color, its location, its mileage and the appropriate type of use are all described.

There are also panels on outdoor recreation in the area, safety information, and groups and organizations that work on the trails in the area.

Experiences

As someone who is experienced with the Catskills I have noticed some errors in this map.  I am sure as new editions come out this will be fixed, but for now, it is something worth keeping an eye on. 

I did not get this map for hiking, instead I got it to use when trying to show people larger areas of the Catskills for work or for recreational activities.  As I have found with other parks with Trails Illustrated Maps, this map is great for big picture discussions and planning.  I can spread the map out and can really give people a context to the location that they want to visit or that we are talking about.  However consider the bulkiness of the map and the lack of small details along the trails, this is not a map I would send someone out into the woods with.

I tell people all the time this is a map for planning.  If you have never been the Catskills before, get this map and come up with your ideas for hiking.  Then go out and get a more detailed map like the Catskill Trails Map Set for your actual hiking.  The Trails Illustrated map will give you an idea of where you want to go and how to plan your trip.  The more detailed maps will give you direction once you are out on the trail.

Final Thoughts

As an introduction to the Catskill Park, I think that National Geographic has done a good job with its Catskill Park Trails Illustrated Map.  This map covers the majority of the Catskill region, not just the Catskill Park and has relatively good information on the region’s trails, fishing sites, and other recreational resources.  It gives the user a good big picture look at what they could do in the Catskills.

However based on its small scale and large size, this is not a map I would want to take hiking.  You would do much better with the larger scale, detailed hiking map sets that are available from others.  In all actuality for most visitors, getting both maps might actually make the most sense.  The large, small scaled Trails Illustrated Map for planning and the large scale, smaller maps that you can take on the trail with you.

Overall if you are looking for a large overview map of the Catskill Park with information on its recreational resources, the Trails Illustrated Map is a decent choice.  Just be aware there are some inaccuracies on the map and that for on the trail (or off-trail) hiking, you are really going to need a much more detailed and larger scaled map for the area you are hiking in.


More Catskill Resources
The Catskills – An Overview and Guide
Catskill Trails Map Set from the Trail Conference
Hiker's Guide to the Catskills – a hiking guidebook
Village of Woodstock
Villages of Hunter, Tannersville and Haines Falls
Village of Phoenicia
Village of Windham
Hunter Mountain Wild Forest
Westkill Mountain Wilderness Area
Tremper Mountain Fire Tower
Hunter Mountain Fire Tower
Overlook Mountain Fire Tower
Woodland Valley Campground
Devil's Tombstone Campground and Day-Use Area
North-South Lake State Campground and Day-Use Area
Hunter Mountain Ski Resort
Ski Windham Ski Resort
Belleayre Mountain Ski Resort
Emerson Place

Recommended: Yes