Are the Gunks climbable in June

Headed east for the summer - two teachers on summer break coming from Colorado.  We'd love to climb at the Gunks in June.  Are the bugs manageable? What about the heat and humidity?  Is camping miserable or should we rent a place?  Thanks for any info about climbing in the Gunks in June you can provide.  

Totally climbable in June!  Bugs aren’t too bad- spray a little deet on before climbing for the chiggers and you are good to go. The campground is very nice, but  there are also many Airbnb choices.  You can search rentals in Gardiner, New Paltz, and Kerhonkson for close proximity to the cliffs. 

It's for sure doable and less crowded than in the fall, but it does depend a bit on how heat sensitive you are. It gets hot and very humid but generally both break enough that it's comfortable camping at night. The base of all the climbs is shaded but the cliff itself does get full sun most of the day; late afternoons can be pretty nice once the sun goes behind the cliff. I'm someone who gets eaten alive by mosquitos and I find them manageable with bug spray. Have fun! :)

It's very climable. Of course, anything we say is subject to variation. I'd say bugs are rarely much of an issue in the Gunks in the Spring.  We've had a somewhat unusual amount of late snow this year, so that prediction may be off.  The bad bugs you may have heard about are black flies, the scourge of areas further North.  Some years we don't see any black flies, other years there may be a few, but it would be unusual for them to be a real problem.  Same with mosquitoes; not usually an issue.  

Two kinds of bugs that can be annoying (or worse) are chiggers and ticks.  Chiggers are just about invisible.  They aren't dangerous, but their bites are super itchy and last for days.  They usually lurk in grassy spots and crawl up your legs until they encounter an obstacle, which is often a waistband or underpant line. Sitting in a grassy patch on a belay ledge or at the top is the most likely way to get bitten. You won't know about chigger bites until the itching starts. DEET on your legs seems to be a pretty good preventive measure. 

Biting horseflies can sometimes be a pain.  They are more prevalent further North in the Adirondacks, not usually much trouble in the Gunks.

Ticks are another story, since they can transmit some very nasty diseases.  They don't seem to be particularly prevalent at the main climbing areas, but if you do some hiking at, say, Minnewaska (and you should!) or if you head up to the Catskills, you are much more likely to run into ticks.  They tend to hang out on grasses and bushes, waiting to attach, so they are most likely to end up on your legs, but they can also show up just about everywhere else.  DEET is good, but I also highly recommend treating your clothes with Permethrin, which kills ticks on contact. (Warning: liquid Permethrin is toxic to cats. Usually not when dried on clothing, but still perhaps a worry...)

Spring weather can be a crap shoot in terms of rain, but in a normal year, you should have lots of good days, getting hotter as July approaches. Here are the averages.

As you can see, the highs can hit the 90's, and with our humidity, that's pretty uncomfortable.  But the lows can be in the 70's too.  If it is hot, many locals will wait until the main cliffs go into the shade around 2 pm and then climb until dark.  Civil twilight in June is around 9 pm, so you can get in 7 hours out of the direct sun.

As a local, I don't know much about camping. The AAC campground is nice and very convenient, but you have to reserve, so spur-of-the-moment trips might be problematic. If your idea is to spend a month at a tent site, it would probably work out to join the AAC to get the member discount. Check https://americanalpineclub.org/gunks-campground. If you want a place to stay, consider joining the Gunks Climber Rental group on Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1685688306139309.

The Gunks is on private land managed by the Mohonk Preserve.  If you anticipate six or more climbing days, you should purchase a year's membership ($115) rather than paying the $20 day fee. See https://www.mohonkpreserve.org/plan-your-visit/ for more details. Note that a MP membership gets you a discount at the AAC campground.

Starting Sunday, February 1, 2026, the Preserve will be implementing a temporary closure of climbing and bouldering at the Trapps Cliff as follows:

• Climbing – The sections between and including Laughing Man (5.11) and Clunies Jollies (5.12)
• Bouldering – The Buddha, Nameless, Murray and Boxcar areas. This includes all problems from Atlas (V10) to Little Death (V10).

Check https://www.mohonkpreserve.org/what-we-do/conservation-programs/conservation-science/peregrine-watch-updates/ for updates. If you get the Gunks Apps (highly recommended), gunksapps.com/trapps_routes… and gunksapps.com/nears_routes.…, the closed regions will be greyed out.

Finally, you can keep up with local climbing news by joining the Gunks Climbing Partners group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/145997465580277. And there's a great store, Rock and Snow, in New Paltz for all kinds of gear and also good local information.

No

These responses were incredibly helpful. Thank you so much jms, Nico, and rgold for taking the time to share your thoughts.  I was ready to cancel the trip  because I was so worried about the bugs and now we are again psyched!  Appreciate your help and thoughtful responses. 

I was there last June, late June. No issues with bugs, but it did rain 3 out of 5 days we were there. The rock was eventually dry enough to climb, albeit a little weepy.

Copperheads were out due to the rain. We were able to do a bunch of fun hikes that we probably wouldn’t have if it didn’t rain so I saw a lot more of the area.

Wow Rich! I’m super impressed by your comprehensive, helpful, and friendly post.

Just goes to show ya that the gunks is a great place to climb for both the rocks and the locals. 

When summer Gunks climbing the sun can be brutal.... however .... time your climbs as the sun moves. Climbs like Madame G's can be nasty in full sun, but reasonable  after the sun passes.

Yup not gonna get much better of a summary than rgold's, but will echo ive climbed the past 2 years in June and it's still great. If you guys get especially unlucky with temps, there are still cliffs that will get more shade (nears/Lost city). Definitely connect with locals when you're here. Almost everyone I meet is extremely helpful. If you're worried about bugs I'd recommend wearing a sunshirt, light pants, and longer socks. I've tried all sorts of bug sprays and nothing works better than just covering up as best as you can. I climbed all last summer and definitely remember it being buggy, but maybe June is still mostly in the clear.