Unveiling the Bone-Chilling Origins of Devil’s Path Trail in Greene County

We have some phenomenal hiking spots here in the Hudson Valley which is fantastic. However, some of these hikes are extremely dangerous, especially for the hiking newbies.

Dangerous Hikes Across the Hudson Valley

It seems like every few weeks we'll get a notification from the Department of Environmental Conservation about ECOs and forest rangers being called out to one of the many trails in the area to do some saving.

Read More: Are These 5 of The Most Dangerous Hikes in the Hudson Valley?

Kaaterskill Falls near Hunter Mountain has seen a handful of deaths after hikers get too close to the edge and slip and fall. Breakneck Mountain in Beacon has also been known to be one of the more dangerous hikes in the area.

With that being said, Devil's Path in Elka Park New York in Greene County not only has a terrifying name, but a scary origin story.

How Did Devil's Path Get its Name?

I've always wondered how some of these local trails get their name, but this one seems to fit perfectly albeit a little spooky.

Mountain-Hiking.com shares the haunting history of the Devil's Path origin story. The site explains the path that scared early settlers in the area explaining:

"Early European settlers found the terrain so forbidding and inhospitable they surmised it had been hewn by the devil as a place to retreat, and into which no man would dare follow. The Devil's Path was first cut over Indian Head and Twin Mountain in 1929, from Overlook Road to Mink Hollow.

In 2017 Insider.com named Devil's Path one of the 15 most dangerous hikes in the world and local reports explain that there is at least 1 death annually on the Catskill trail.

I don't know about you but with an origin story involving the devil and statistics like we just mentioned...I would do my best to avoid that trail at all costs. Would you or have you hiked Devil's Path?