All Resorts

Hunter Mountain

The Catskills' biggest ski area -- 320 acres, 100 miles from Manhattan, and more vertical than you expect.

Our Take

Hunter Mountain is the primary ski destination for New York City, which means it operates under different physics than most mountains: the lifts run at full capacity on weekends, the après-ski starts at 2pm, and the 1,600-foot vertical feels like the Rocky Mountains to someone who drove three hours from the Upper West Side. And you know what? Fair enough. Hunter is the biggest ski area in the Catskills by a comfortable margin, with 320 acres, 67 trails, and snowmaking that can blanket the entire mountain in 72 hours -- crucial when natural snowfall in the Catskills is unreliable. The terrain runs from long, wide beginner runs to genuine black diamonds including the Cliffhanger and Hellgate trails that have actual pitch on them. Hunter Mountain (4,050 feet) and Hunter One (adjacent peak) combine to give the resort its footprint, and the snowmaking system is among the best in the East -- necessary when the mountain needs to open for Thanksgiving weekend regardless of what the sky is doing. If you're from the Northeast and you haven't skied Hunter, you've driven past it on the way to Vermont and that's a reasonable choice too.

Weekend NYC skiersIntermediates building confidenceNight skiingSnowmaking system admirersCatskills day-trippers

Nerd Stats

Skiable Acres

320

Vertical Drop

1,600'

No. of Trails

67

Summit Elevation

3,200'

Fun Facts

  • Hunter is 100 miles from Manhattan -- closer than any Vermont resort, which is why the NYC concentration is extreme on weekends.
  • The resort invested $2M+ in LED lighting for night skiing, with runs open until 10pm on selected nights.
  • Hunter Mountain hosts the Empire State Games and several collegiate ski racing events -- the training terrain is legitimate.
  • The snowmaking system covers 100% of the trails and runs 24/7 when temps drop below 28°F.