Balsam Mountain, a Catskill High Peak in western Ulster County, rises on the divide between the Hudson and Delaware watersheds, with most of it protected in the Catskill Park’s Big Indian-Beaverkill Range Wilderness Area. Rather than a sharply uplifted peak, it is part of an eroded plateau of shale and sandstone later shaped by glaciation. Its forests change with elevation, and much of the upper forest is rare first growth that escaped the region’s heavy logging era. After Forest Preserve protections and state purchases, especially in 1918, Balsam became widely known as a hiking destination, prized among Catskill 3500 climbers for its trails, steep ascent, and limited summit views.