Hello all, I am considering attending bard in Annendale. Any beta on mountain biking, hiking, climbing in the Catskills/ surrounding area?

Any insider thoughts on the school or what it's like living in the area? Any comments are appreciated.

Matt

The only climbing to speak of in the Catskills itself is ice climbing. The rock is decomposing chossy shale and worthless in the summer. Luckily, you're smack dab in the middle between the Gunks and the Dacks.

Tons of hiking and backcountry adventures to be had.

No idea about the mountain biking, but I suspect it's pretty damn good and there's tons of it.

PS - It's "Annandale"

Thanks Jon! Ill remember that from now on. The location of the place definitely looks pretty prime.

Less than an hour from the Gunks is a pretty good deal. The catskills have some great ice climbing although the season can be a little short as of recently. There is good hiking in the Catskill park for those days you need to get some fresh air and put some mileage under your feet. The Adirondacks have both incredible ice climbing, rock climbing, and hiking but its a little less than 3 hours into Keene. There is some recently developed Adirondack rock climbing closer than that too. All in all, eastern NY is a great place to climb if you have a car and gas money.

I grew up in the Catskills and they are still one of my favorite areas anywhere. They are unlike any mountain area in the east and the differences might be subtle but since they are not the Appalachians they are geologically unique. The hiking is excellent and the towns are more like hamlets. I bet more than 20 "towns" all go to the same high school! I like the small town feel. Phonecia's sweet sues is a great place to get breakfast and I just noticed that there is a small sport crag there. Never been so who knows the quality but generally, yes, the rock sucks. I find the area to be magical but maybe spending to much time in Woodstock as a teenager has made me a little biased ;) Lots of cool swimming holes.

Awesome! Getting excited to go visit :D

Adam's pretty proud of the Catskills, but Bard isn't in the Catskills. It's across the river, and the vibe is distinctly different there. Here's my 2 cents. First of all, you need to understand that Bard is one of the most liberal colleges in NY. Think "Walden" from the Doonesbury comic strip. Liberal means tolerance, of course, but if you lean toward the right on any major issue, you'll probably need to keep that in the closet.

Bard is just a few minutes north of Rhinebeck NY, an artsy, antiquey village with bad traffic every summer weekend. It is also home to the county fairgrounds, and there are a few major events each season when you'll want to stay away from town. The county fair itself draws something like 200,000 attendees. 20 minutes south puts you in Poughkeepsie, home to all the malls and big box stores you'll need. Not sure, but the county bus system probably runs that way. On that note, public transportation is not well developed in the area. If you have off-campus interests, you'll want access to a car.

As noted, the Gunks are a short drive away. Downhill skiing is less than an hour away.

Bard is near the center of some of the best road bicycling in
the world: northern Dutchess and Columbia counties.

For all those other activities, important to have a car.

Ken

Look for Fats in the Cats for mt. biking info.

+1 twk. Everything I've heard has been really good and it's good hearing the perspectives from local climbers. As it looks like ill be probably landing there next year anyone game for a new partner?

TWK, I was referring to the friends I make who share my interests, which are a low percentage of the overall population (climbers represent less than 1% of humans). The internet is a logical place to find climbers rather than having to shuffle through endless church/social gatherings or rely on random collisions of fate to meet climbers. It helps increase the odds of the less than 1% chance.

My life revolves around human powered activities, not humans. [no church, mall crawling on weekends, drunken fri/sat evenings at the sports bar, etc] I think a college age young adult with an interest in the outdoors can do fine in a room full of rednecks as long as he knows the room next door, with the climbing wall, is occupied with like minded rednecks.

No bagging on you either. Our views on society and life are likely very different.

Two further footnotes.

First, RG knows of which he speaks. His professional background makes his perspective on Bard quite meaningful.

Second, nobody here has mentioned options to the east, as there is some latent New York State bias here. To the east of Bard you will find the Taconic range, which may not compare to the Gunks or Adirondacks, but is a nice place worth noting. You'll find worthwhile mellow hiking, biking, and maybe even a bit of rock climbing and caving, across the border area around New York and Connecticut / Massachusetts (and even to Vermont, if you care).

There's no rock climbing in the Taconics. You have to hit central Mass or CT for rock to the east. No bias, just reality -- drive 90 minutes from Bard to Central Mass, or 60 minutes (probably 45 min) to the Gunks. I've heard some of the climbing in CT is good though, so depending on the drive time that might be an option for him. But I can't imagine it rivals the Gunks, and I don't think it's less than an hour away. I know one of my climbing friends lives in CT and chooses the extra drive to the Gunks.

Thanks for the clarification(s) rg! To show how ill-informed I am, I thought Doonesbury's Walden was fictitious. I apologize to Bard if my comments came off as implying a lack of academic rigor; I was only trying to give an outsider's view of the social/political climate up there.

Kevin, I'm pretty sure that 1.5 hr drive from Bard would leave one an hour or more away from ADK climbing. It's gotta be close to an hour just to get to Albany from there. I know, I'm splitting hairs; once you're on the road you just keep going til you get there.