Biscuit Brook's valley in the Catskills

This is an area right in the heart of the Catskills, running up against a high ridge along the range's main divide. A few miles to the west of Slide Mountain and the range's steepest terrain, it is a spot surrounded by many layers of big long, lumpy Catskill ridges and miles of nearly unbroken forest on all sides.

Biscuit Brook is a tributary of the West Branch of the Neversink River at the top of the Delaware river's watershed.  It drains the southwestern side of a 3000 foot ridge along the "Catskill Divide" dividing the Delaware's and Hudson's basins. The stream runs for about 3 1/2 miles down a narrow, gradual valley, emptying into the Neversink just below 2000 feet. Long ridges flank the valley, remaining flat-topped and above 3000 feet for almost two miles from the main divide

Though the gradient of the river is not steep, the valley is moderately rugged. Biscuit Brook flows directly across red Catskill sandstone bedrock in many places. The ground is rocky and undulating, and some of the trees seem kind of stunted even right in the valley floor.

A small clearing in a wider spot more than halfway up.
Old growth?

The lower half of the valley is in mature second growth forest, with black cherry, yellow birch and white ash the most common species. There are some tall beautiful black cherries down here. Hemlocks are also pretty common by the water. Beeches form a kind of shrub layer. The upper mile or two of the valley I believe is still in old growth. Ash and cherry drop out almost completely and sugar maple becomes very common, along with yellow birch. There are only a small number of very large trees but there are a lot of gnarled and weather-beaten old-looking maples and birches that are straight and tall but seem perhaps to have grown slowly. Also unlike the lower valley,  there appears to be a wide range of ages in the stand. Hemlocks persist pretty high up along Biscuit Brook, forming some beautiful groves at locally steep ravines. Along the ridge, which is likely all all old growth, there are some spots of Balsam Fir, and a pervasive hobblebush understory.

The slopes leading up to the ridges are steep and some rocky outcrops provide views at least in winter.

The Pine Hill - West Branch trail travels up the valley on its way to the ridge of Big Indian, Eagle, Balsam and Bellayre Mountains to the north. The trail's ascent is long and gradual, and it feels wonderfully remote when you are deep in the valley, miles from the road and blocked off by high ridges on all sides.

We did this hike in the snow. There were a few inches of icy snow at the trailhead but by the upper reaches of the valley there was almost a foot of powder. Bushwhacking a bit on top of the ridge was difficult and a bit exposed but quite beautiful. We tried to make it to Doubletop Mountain but ran out of daylight. This was today, November 18.