My wife and I are moving back to the east coast from Colorado to be closer to family. I know, I know..."don't do it, Colorado is amazing, blah blah"...We're happy about the move and will miss Colorado, spare me the obvious MP rant about the superior climbing location.

I've climbed a lot in the Gunks during trips home and brief stints of living back east. I've eaten dinner and drank some beers in New Paltz, but know nothing about other surrounding towns. We'll rent for a few months until we get the lay of the land, but would be interested in people's opinions on where a good spot to buy a home would be. We'd prefer a place in the woods that wasn't completely by itself in the boonies. The right mix of woodsy living and close enough to town to feel a part of the community (the climbing community that is). Kids may be a reality in a few years, so that's part of the equation too. Thanks and hope to meet some of you Gunks folk soon.

Justin

I can't add anything about where you would want to raise kids (maybe some of the old timers can weigh in) but both Gardiner and Rosendale are charming and quaint small towns. If you're willing to be more than 10 minutes from the cliffs then there are way more options but I don't know much about those towns.

Rosendale gets my vote. Worth a look. Close by and woodsy feeling.

High Falls is quite nice from what I've seen (I live in the city), but it's about 20 minutes from cliffs.

If kids are part of the equation, then you ought to pay attention to the quality of the local school system. I think New Paltz is pretty good; some of the surrounding areas, not so much.

There's a property under the Near Trapps that extends to part of the cliff. The owner has closed his 200 foot wide section of the cliff to climbing. So if its all the same to you, would you mind buying that house and lifting the ban? Thanks in advance.

Thanks guys, I'll check out those towns. Yeah, would be great to be a Gunks hero and liberate access to the crag. I imagine out of my price range though. Wish someone with serious cashflow would buy the Mohonk House and liberate Skytop

Occupy Skytop!

Anyway, Poughkeepsie is another place worth checking out. It would probably be about as far away as you would want from the cliffs to still feel like you live locally within the climbing community (roughly 30 min), but its not a bad town at all with a great school district if you're in the borders of the Arlington School District.

Actually, the Town of Poughkeepsie (not the city) is where I live, in the Arlington School district, a really excellent school (my daughter went there for elementary and secondary schooling), but the high school is quite large (I think about 3,000 students) if that matters.

News Paltz is 20-30 minutes from my house, depending on traffic, and the cliffs another ten. I commute to NYC, and living in the boonies nearer the crag, although very attractive, would be less functional for me.