Why I Like Climbing at the Gunks
The top 4 reasons why I've come to love climbing in the Gunks
After only a year of climbing in upstate New York, The Gunks (shortened from the original indigenous name, Shawangunk) has quickly become one of my favorite places to rock climb.
The Position is Inspiring
The setting is spectacular. The Shawangunk Ridge sits high above the Hudson River Valley, running north to south and facing in the easterly direction.
Almost directly to the East is the eclectic college town of New Paltz. Beyond New Paltz, you can see where the Hudson River drains out towards the Atlantic Ocean, sandwiched between Breakneck Ridge and Storm King Mountain. And to the west are smaller, sleepier towns like Kerhonkson (the hometown of my favorite local brewery, Rough Cut) and Stone Ridge.
Along the Shwangunk ridgeline, you don’t only find rock climbing. The Gunks are also fantastically positioned for gravel and mountain biking, hiking, and backpacking.
The Access is Almost Perfect
I‘ve climbed in a lot of places. That means I’ve spent a lot of time navigating millions of miles of approach trail to reach the actual climbing. From my experience, I can assuredly say that the approach to the Gunks is by far one of the easiest.
So long as you are up early, parking in one of the two parking lots is breezy. From there, you have two options– a longer, flatter walk from the West Trapps lot or a shorter, steeper walk from the East Trapps lot (my preference). Both get you to the cliff in no time. From there, a bomber carriage road circumnavigates the entire cliff line, depositing you directly at the base of any possible rock climb you could want to climb.
And remember when I mentioned the access was “almost” perfect? I think the only way could be if they installed a zipline back down to the parking lot so you didn’t have to stumble down the Stairmaster after climbing. Better yet, a zipline straight to a barstool at the Mountain Brauhuas.
The Rock Climbing is One of a Kind
The Gunks is one of those places where it’s tough to find a “bad” rock climb. The vast majority of the routes are high quality. High quality to me means that…
the rock is solid
the movement is intriguing and fun
the exposure is wild
and the view from the top is beautiful
You hit those four criteria on almost every rock climb at the Gunks– especially the classic multi-pitch routes.
It’s a Wonderful Place to Learn
I’ve never climbed anywhere that had such a dense accumulation of beginner-friendly rock climbs. The Gunks has hundreds of routes ranging from a route called Minty, the most exciting 5.4 you’ve ever climbed, to classics in the 5.8 and 5.9 range, like Modern Times and Bonnie’s Roof.
Then, of course, there are more challenging climbs, enough to keep you entertained for a lifetime.
So, for someone brand new, wanting to learn to rock climb– the Gunks is ideal. You’ll have an immense amount of fun on the cliff. Plus, the experience you gain at the Gunks will set you up for success at other crags.
And for climbers wanting to expand the skills they already possess from years of climbing (especially in terms of traditional climbing), the Gunks is the perfect classroom.
What about you…?
Why do you love climbing in the Gunks?
I’ve not yet had the opportunity to climb outside of Australia but this sounds great! We have a small, mostly sport crag close to where we live & the access makes it very convenient to still get a quick few climbs in on busy weekends.
I love climbing in the Gunks for all of those reasons too. Plus there's a nearby AAC campground.
The one thing that gave me the heebie-jeebies last time I was there was all the centipedes hanging out on the edges that I couldn't see until I started to smush them under my crimp.