The summit can be accessed via the Kanape Brook Trail, which ascends from Ulster County Road 42 to the saddle between High Point and Mombaccus.

This trail, named for 19th-century farmer John Canape, was formerly a wagon track connected to the present-day Freeman Avery Road on the south side of the mountain, providing a route between Watson Hollow and Samsonville in the days of the Catskills tanneries.

[6] It was also known as "Samson," after the Catskill tannery owner for whom Samsonville was named, and is so identified on a 1942 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey benchmark at the summit.

[7] Nowadays, Samson Mountain is the name given to a nearby peak above the upper reaches of Rondout Creek.

A lesser summit below the main peak affords an expansive view of the area.