The Catskill Escarpment, often referred to locally as just the Escarpment or the Great Wall of Manitou, and known as the Catskill Front to geologists, is the range forming the northeastern corner of the Catskill Mountains in Greene and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York. It rises very abruptly from the Hudson Valley to summits above 3,000 feet (910 m) in elevation, including three of the Catskill High Peaks, with almost no foothills. The plateau to the south and west averages 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level.
The Escarpment as seen from Olana State Historic Site, across the Hudson River
View from Overlook, showing (from right) Plattekill Mountain, Kaaterskill High Peak, and Blackhead Range
Northern Escarpment
Platte Clove, carved out of the Escarpment by glaciers
The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas close to or within the borders of the Catskill Park, a 700,000-acre (2,800 km2) forest preserve protected from many forms of development under New York state law.
Slide Mountain and nearby peaks as seen from Twin Mountain in the northern Catskills
Views of the Catskills from the Hudson like this led to the name "Blue Mountains" for a time.
Free-floating tubers on Esopus Creek
Kaaterskill Falls on Spruce Creek near Palenville, New York. One of the higher falls in New York. Two separate falls total 260 ft (79 m).
