Emily the Intern Takes a Hike: Mount Utsayantha

Tuesday after work, my Mac-A-Doodles coworker and my friend Meghan and I decided to hike the mountain that overlooks our hometown of Stamford. I'd been on the mountain dozens of times but it had been quite sometime since I last hiked all the way to the top.

Mount Utsayantha has a lot of history and some legend surrounding it. So before I get into the hike let me tell you about this landmark's past.

Mount Utsayantha or Mt. U, is located in the village of Stamford of Delaware County, just off of Route 23 in the heart of the Catskill Mountains. The elevation of the mountain is 3,214 feet above sea level.

The mount earned the name Utsayantha from the legend of an Indian princess. There are many conflicting stories that exist about the demise of Princess Utsayantha. But I will tell you the one that is posted on the top of the mountain itself.

Native Americans from the Delaware and Mohawk tribes inhabited the Stamford area before Europeans arrived here. Most settlements formed along the Delaware River but the focal point of many legends became Mount Utsayantha.

At some point during the 19th century, a fictional story about an Indian princess became attached to the mountain. One of the earliest written versions of the story was a poem written by a Stamford resident Eugene Bouton in the 1873 Yale Literary magazine. The legend was used to create a tourist attraction of the mountain.

See legend below:

This legend continued into the 20th century. Native-made souvenirs were sold in the mountain's gift shop and for some time and Native family lived on the mountain in the summers posing for tourists.

Stamford earned the nickname "Queen of the Catskills" for its many resort hotels and summer social life. People came from New York City to enjoy the pleasures of rural air. In 1882, Colonel Ruliff W. Rullifson was the first to recognize Catskill tourists would enjoy the views Mount Utsayantha had to offer. He built a a road to the top, erected the first observation tower and published a guidebook.

Dr. Stephen E. Churchill, a Stamford native, was responsible for much of the town's development. He understood the benefits of the railroad once it reached here in 1872. Churchill purchased the mountain in 1889 with several partners and in his will he left it to the village of Stamford upon his death in 1917.

Observation and fire towers have been a part of Mount Utsayantha's peak for more than a century. High winds blew the first tower constructed by Colonel Rullifson down in 1892 and again in 1895. In 1901, the tower was rebuilt and stood in place until it burned down in 1926 after being struck by lightning.

Civilian Conservation Corps workers built the existing fire tower in 1934. Alton Henderson was the first fire observer in 1935 and in his time he noted 13 fires. Observers manned the tower until 1989, when the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shut it down.

In the 1960s, the mountain top began to deteriorate. Despite several efforts at repair, the observatory building was falling apart, vandals burned fireplaces and graffitied the grounds and the trails leading to the top became overgrown and unmanageable.

In 2003, Mayor Waylen Bray and a community committee set out to make repairs to the historic site. The group was aided by the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development to create a plan to restore the area. SInce then the group has restored the observation building, cleared the trails and repaired the fire tower.

Meghan and I began our hike from the base of Tower Road what is commonly called the saddle. The hike is on a rocky dirt road and is about 2 miles from the saddle to the top. It's quite a strenuous hike so be prepared to lose your breath and take some water breaks. In total it took us an hour to climb to the top and hike back down.

At the top you can view the village of Stamford below and all the other surrounding mountains. It's a breath taking view. There are also ramps for hang glider's to run off of and soar over the valley. But please only do that if you are experienced. The two of us also climbed to the top of the fire tower where we could get a full 360 degree view of the surroundings. It was quite amazing.

We then ventured down a short trail to an area that used to be for camping. It is now pretty overgrown but picnic tables and charcoal grills still exist for those motivated enough to picnic or camp.

This was a great hike and brought back a lot of great memories I had as a kid. When I was a senior in high school my class took our yearbook picture overlooking the town. I distinctly remember our bus driver driving our bus all the way up the narrow and rocky road thinking we wouldn't make it to the top and all fall to our deaths (that of course didn't happen). I also remember going up there in the dead of night with my friends and putting blankets and pillows in the bed of her truck and watching for shooting stars on a summer night.

This hike is a must if you are a Stamford resident or are just a visitor to the area. The views are amazing and the history that exists at this site is incredibly interesting. Be sure to bring some water and a camera to capture what you'll see. Happy Hiking!