We decided to try a short little hike in the Catskills that we found using our AllTrails app that promised a waterfall along Kiskatom Brook, and stumbled onto a large network of trails created and maintained by the Round Top Mountain Bike Association (R.T.M.B.A.). The R.T.M.B.A. is working on providing riders with more mountain trails, and connecting local businesses in the process.
We found this little walk along the Lower Waterfall Trail and Ale Trail to be a lot of fun. With so many interconnecting trails, you really have a lot of flexibility when choosing your path. For such a short walk, the waterfall was totally worth it. However, now knowing that the trails were created for mountain bikes, next time I return it will be with a bike.
Lower Waterfall Trail
We accessed the Lower Waterfall Trail along Winter Clove Road. From the road, we walked along the Ale Trail that runs on the west side of Kiskatom Brook. We crossed the Brook over a beautiful wooden bridge labeled as the Chuck Francis Memorial Bridge, complete with bear sculptures. This bridge is along the Hematoma Trail.
Once on the east side of Kiskatom Brook, we picked up the Lower Waterfall Trail and walked south along it until we reached the waterfall.
We didn’t realize that this trail didn’t take you to the top of the waterfall. I didn’t know about the Lower Waterfall Trail versus the Upper Waterfall Trail until researching our hike after the fact. We wanted to get as close to the falls as possible, so we forded the Brook to the western side. In this case, “forded” means that we just walked on rocks over the unusually low water level to the other side.
Ale Trail
Once we got to the western side of Kiskatom Brook, we found ourselves on the fun named Ale Trail.
This trail takes you right up close to the waterfalls. You can see the falls from below or above via the Ale Trail.
It was along this trail that several sets of bikers passed us, that tipped us off as to the true purpose of the trail. In retrospect, I wish I had known that these were bike trails. We would have stayed on the very edge of the trail, or even better, brought our bikes along with us. Luckily, no one was harmed during our hike.
Where is it located?
Access to the Ale Trail and Waterfall Trail is located off of Winter Clove Road near Riedlbauer’s Resort in Roundtop, New York.
Maps
There is a great and detailed set of maps at the R.T.M.B.A. website.
