On a visit to the Catskills this September to visit my sister and family, we were able to check off a hike that has been on my list for a long time … The Lemon Squeeze Scramble.
The full hike is Duck Pond to the Labrinth to Sky Top Road Loop, which is a 6.8 mile loop through many different types of terrain, offering amazing views!
The parking is a short walk from the start of the trail, and if you arrive before 9am you do not have to pay the $35 fee per hiker. The trail starts on a gravel road as you make your way to Duck Pond. The pond was filled with turtles basking in the sun. Once you make your way around the pond you start making the incline hike to the top of the mountain. There are many different paths to take, we chose to stay on the Duck Pond trail to make it to the Sky Top view.
The trail was filled with boulders and crevices and the path marked by red arrows spray painted on rocks. A fun part of the challenge was looking for the next red arrow, a few times we made our own path, but got back on track pretty quickly. As the boulders get bigger the spaces got smaller. We passed through a few holes until we got to our first summit, which offered an amazing view before heading through the Lemon Squeeze rock scramble.
The Lemon Squeeze is made up of ladders and tight spaces as you make your way to the final summit. After going up a few ladders you get to the tightest spot, this required me to take off my backpack in order to squeeze through. After you climb up the sideways ladder you have to pull yourself up out of the crevice.
The hard work is worth it! The view from the top was spectacular, it was a beautiful sunny day and we were able to take in the full view, including six different states, and the Mohonk Resort and Lake.
After taking in the view we made our way up to the Sky Top Tower. Made out of rocks, this tower was constructed in 1923 as a memorial to Albert K. Smiley. At the top of the stairs is a platform you can walk around at 1542 feet above sea level.
We made our way down heading towards the Mohonk Resort. There were numerous paths, the one we took led us past the outside venue located at the resort and they were setting up for an Oktoberfest.
We then took a quick walk following the shore line of the Mohonk Lake, up through the trails surrounding the resort to head back towards the trail to our car.
The trail offered an array of overlooks with benches, and many were filled with couples taking in the views.
The trail looks us around the loop and we cut 2 miles out of our return by making a few of our own paths. We even spotted a snake sunbathing, thankfully it did not have a rattle tail.
This was hands down one of the most challenging hikes we have done so far, highly recommend if you are in the Catskill area!
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