Platte Clove
Wilder and More Remote than Kaaterskill Clove,
Platte Clove, on the border of Greene and Ulster Counties is nearly inaccessible.
The trek is very dangerous and should not be attempted alone or without
someone who knows the way.
R. Lionel DeLisser traveled through it in 1893 his description in Picturesque
Catskills gives a feeling for this spectacular clove with its 18 or more
waterfalls.
"A trip through the clove, following the bed of the stream, to West Saugerties,
in Ulster County, is fully worth the excursion necessary to make it, and
is in the full interest of the lover of nature in her barbaric state. There
is nothing in the Catskills to equal it -- of the kind. My trip was
made with an assistant and a guide, with an ax to clear the way of
fallen trees and other obstructions. Although not much more than a
mile, it took us from early morning till late in the evening to make the
passage. In the descent of over 2000 feet, no less than eighteen large
waterfalls are encountered and passed, which vary in height--from twenty-five
up to many which are higher--some of them hundreds of feet. There are
no paths or roads through; in fact there is little chance for any, the creek
occupying about all the space between the mountains on either side."
Delisser's 1894 book has been available from Hope Farm Press and is excerpted by permission.
It is currently out of print