Shawangunk Ridge
Encyclopedia
Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county located in the state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 182,493. Recent population estimates completed by the United States Census Bureau for the 12-month period ending July 1 are at...
, Sullivan County
Sullivan County, New York
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 77,547. The county seat is Monticello. The name is in honor of Major General John Sullivan, who was a hero in the American Revolutionary War...
and Orange County
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley...
in the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, extending from the northernmost point of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
to the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
.
The ridgetop, which widens considerably at its northern end, has many public and private protected area
Protected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
s and is not heavily populated, boasting only one settlement of consequence (unincorporated Cragsmoor
Cragsmoor, New York
Cragsmoor is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 449 at the 2000 census.Cragsmoor is located atop the Shawangunk Ridge, in the south part of the Town of Wawarsing...
). While in the past, it was chiefly noted for mining and logging and a boom-era of huckleberry
Huckleberry
Huckleberry is a common name used in North America for several species of plants in two closely related genera in the family Ericaceae:* Vaccinium* GaylussaciaHuckleberry may also refer to:-Plants:...
picking, as well as the fires set to create favorable conditions for further growth. Today it has become known for its outdoor recreation, most notably as one of the major rock climbing
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...
areas of North America. Also known for its biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
and scenic character, the ridge has been designated by The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
as a significant area for its conservation programs.
Name
The English name, Shawangunk, derives from the Dutch Scha-wan-gunk, the closest European transcription from the colonial deed record of the Munsee Lenape, Schawankunk (German orthography).Lenape linguist Raymond Whritenour reports that schawan is an inanimate intransitive verb
Intransitive verb
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb that has no object. This differs from a transitive verb, which takes one or more objects. Both classes of verb are related to the concept of the transitivity of a verb....
meaning "it is smoky air" or "there is smoky air". Its noun-like participle is schawank, meaning "that which is smoky air". Adding the locative suffix gives us schawangunk "in the smoky air".
Whritenour has suggested that the name derives from the burning of a Munsee fort by the Dutch at the eastern base of the ridge in 1663 (a massacre ending the Second Esopus War
Esopus Wars
The Esopus Wars were two localized conflicts between Dutch settlers and the Esopus tribe of Lenape Indians during the latter half of the 17th century in what is now Ulster County, New York. Like many other wars during the colonial period, at bottom they were the result of competition between...
), where it spread quickly across the basin on land deeds and patents after the war. Historian Marc B. Fried writes: "It is conceivable that this was...the Indians' own proper name for their village [and fort] and that the name was appropriated for use in subsequent land dealings because of the proximity of the...tracts to the former Indian village....The second possibility is that the name simply came into existence in connection with the Bruyn [purchase of Jan., 1682, the first appearance of the name in documentary record], as a phrase invented by the Indians to describe some feature of the landscape." However, Fried also notes that the name's swift spread in the deed record suggest it was in use as a proper name before the Bruyn purchase. Shawangunk appears nowhere in reference to the fort itself in the extensive, translated Dutch record of the Second Esopus War. Shawangunk became associated with the ridge in the 18th century.
European colonists began to truncate Shawangunk into "Shongum" (icon ). Shongum was mistakenly identified as the Munsee pronunciation by the Reverend Charles Scott writing on Shawangunk's etymology for the Ulster County Historical Society in 1861. The error has been reinforced in ethnographic sources and ridge literature, and by historians, librarians, and ridge educators for more than 140 years.
Both "Shawangunk" and "Shongum" are popular usages among locals native to the region. The "Gunks" is also a widely used endearment and which may have originated among rock climbers .
Geography
The Shawangunk Ridge is the northern end of a long ridge within the Appalachian MountainsAppalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
that begins in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where it is called North Mountain
North Mountain (Virginia-West Virginia)
North Mountain is a mountain ridge within the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia.-Geography:North Mountain spans from the Potomac River in the north to the community of Green Spring in Frederick County, Virginia in the south. The ridge is divided into...
, continues through Pennsylvania as Blue Mountain
Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania)
Blue Mountain is a ridge that forms the eastern edge of the Appalachian mountain range in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It cuts across the eastern half of the state from New Jersey to Maryland, providing a distinct boundary between a number of Pennsylvania's geographical and cultural regions...
, becomes known as the Kittatinny Mountains
Kittatinny Mountains
The Kittatinny Mountains are a long ridge traversing across northwestern New Jersey running in a northeast-southwest axis. It is the first major ridge in the far northeastern extension of the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian Mountains...
after it crosses the Delaware Water Gap
Delaware Water Gap
The Delaware Water Gap is on the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains...
into New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and becomes the Shawangunks at the New York state line. These mountains mark the western and northern edge of the Great Appalachian Valley
Great Appalachian Valley
The Great Valley, also called the Great Appalachian Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough — a chain of valley lowlands — and the central feature of the Appalachian Mountain system...
.
The ridge is widest (7.5 miles/12 kilometers) near the northern end, narrow in the middle (1.25 miles/under 2 kilometers) with a maximum elevation of 2,289 feet (698 m) near Lake Maratanza
Lake Maratanza
Lake Maratanza is the highest lake in New York's Shawangunk Ridge at 2,245 feet above sea level. It is within Sam's Point Preserve.The lake is dammed, and supplies drinking water to Ellenville, New York....
on the Shawangunk Ridge. The Ridge rises above a broad, high plain which stretches to the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
to the east. On the west the low foot-hills of the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
mingle with a low flat made by the Rondout Creek
Rondout Creek
Rondout Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River in Ulster and Sullivan counties, New York, USA. It rises on Rocky Mountain in the eastern Catskills, flows south into Rondout Reservoir, part of New York City's water supply network, then into the valley between the Catskills and the Shawangunk...
and Sandburgh Creek, the Basher Kill and various small kills as well as the Neversink River
Neversink River
The Neversink River is a tributary of the Delaware River in southeastern New York in the United States...
and Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
at the southern end. These adjacent valleys are underlain by relatively weak sedimentary rock (e.g., sandstone, shale, limestone).
Natural environment
There is an unusual diversity of vegetation on the ridge, containing species typically found north of this region alongside species typically found to the south or restricted to the Coastal Plain. This results in an unusual area where many regionally rare plants are found at or near the limits of their ranges. Other rare species found in the area are those adapted to the harsh conditions on the ridge. Upland communities include chestnut oakChestnut oak
Quercus prinus , the chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak group, Quercus sect. Quercus. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is one of the most important ridgetop trees from southern Maine southwest to central Mississippi, with an outlying northwestern population in...
and mixed-oak forest, pine barrens including dwarf pine ridges, hemlock
Tsuga
Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....
-northern hardwood forest, and cliff and talus slope and cave communities. Wetlands include small lakes and streams, bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
s, pitch pine
Pitch Pine
The Pitch Pine, Pinus rigida, is a small-to-medium sized pine, native to eastern North America. This species occasionally hybridizes with other pine species such as Loblolly Pine , Shortleaf Pine , and Pond Pine The Pitch Pine, Pinus rigida, is a small-to-medium sized (6-30 meters or 20-100 feet)...
-blueberry
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
swamps, an inland Atlantic white cypress
Chamaecyparis thyoides
Chamaecyparis thyoides , is a species of Chamaecyparis, native to the Atlantic coast of North America from Maine south to Georgia, with a disjunct population on the Mexican Gulf coast from Florida to Mississippi...
swamp, red maple
Red Maple
Acer rubrum , is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. It ranges from the Lake of the Woods on the border between Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas...
swamps, acidic seeps, calcareous seeps, and a few emergent marshes.
Geology
Shawangunk Formation
The Silurian Shawangunk Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. It is named for the Shawangunk Ridge for which it is the dominant rock type. The division of the Shawangunk between the Tuscarora Formation and Clinton Group has not been conclusively...
, a hard, silica
Silicon dioxide
The chemical compound silicon dioxide, also known as silica , is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula '. It has been known for its hardness since antiquity...
-cemented
Cementation
Cementation may refer to:*Cementation , the process of deposition of dissolved mineral components in the interstices of sediments*Cementation , a small deposit of calcium, similar to a cyst...
conglomerate
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
of white quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
pebble
Pebble
A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of 4 to 64 millimetres based on the Krumbein phi scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered to be larger than granules and smaller than cobbles . A rock made predominantly of pebbles is termed a conglomerate...
s and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
that directly overlies the Martinsburg Shale, a thick turbidite
Turbidite
Turbidite geological formations have their origins in turbidity current deposits, which are deposits from a form of underwater avalanche that are responsible for distributing vast amounts of clastic sediment into the deep ocean.-The ideal turbidite sequence:...
sequence of dark gray shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
and greywacke
Greywacke
Greywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
sandstone. The Martinsburg Shale was deposited in a deep ocean during the Ordovician (470 million years ago). The Shawangunk Conglomerate was deposited over the Martinsburg Shale in thick braided river
Braided river
A braided river is one of a number of channel types and has a channel that consists of a network of small channels separated by small and often temporary islands called braid bars or, in British usage, aits or eyots. Braided streams occur in rivers with high slope and/or large sediment load...
s during the Silurian (about 420 million years ago); both sequences of sedimentary rock were subsequently deformed and uplifted during the Permian (about 270 million years ago). As a result of this deformation, strata within the ridge are involved in a northward plunging series of asymmetric folds (e.g., anticline
Anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. The term is not to be confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that is convex up. Therefore if age relationships In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is...
s and syncline
Syncline
In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger layers closer to the center of the structure. A synclinorium is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold, termed a synformal syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger...
s) that dip gently towards the west. These same folds, involving strata that overlie the Shawangunk Conglomerate, are exposed north of Shawangunk Ridge in the Rosendale
Rosendale, New York
Rosendale is a town in the center of Ulster County, New York, United States. It once contained a village of the same name, which was dissolved through a vote. The population was 6,075 at the 2010 census.- History :...
natural cement region, where they can be directly examined in abandoned cement mines. Strata along the eastern margin of Shawangunk Ridge are truncated by erosion, resulting in the prominent cliffs characteristic of Shawangunk Ridge. The Shawangunk Conglomerate is very hard and resistant to weathering; whereas the underlying shale erodes relatively easily. Thus, the quartz conglomerate forms cliffs and talus
Scree
Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...
slopes, particularly along the eastern margin of the ridge.
The entire ridge was glaciated during the last (Wisconsin) glaciation, which scoured the ridges, left pockets of till
Till
thumb|right|Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material , and this characteristic, known as matrix support, is diagnostic of till....
, and dumped talus (blocks of rock) off the east side of the ridge. On top of the ridge, the soils are generally thin, highly acidic, low in nutrients, and droughty, but in depressions and other areas where water is trapped by the bedrock or till, there are interspersed lakes and wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
areas. Soils on top of shale are thicker, less acidic, and more fertile. Topography on the top of the northern Shawangunks is irregular due to a series of faults that form secondary plateaus and escarpments.
Ice caves
Ice caves are deep fissures in the conglomerate bedrock that retain ice through much of the summer, resulting in a cool microenvironment that supports several northern species such as black spruceBlack Spruce
Picea mariana is a species of spruce native to northern North America, from Newfoundland west to Alaska, and south to northern New York, Minnesota and central British Columbia...
, hemlock, rowan
Rowan
The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies...
, and creeping snowberry
Creeping snowberry
Creeping snowberry may refer to:* Gaultheria hispidula* Symphoricarpos mollis-References:* at Integrated Taxonomic Information System...
(Gaultheria hispidula), and bryophytes such as Isopterygium distichaceum. These ice caves are concentrated near Sam's Point in the northern Shawangunks. Larger limestone caverns occur along the lower slopes of the Rondout and Delaware River valleys.
Lakes and wetlands occur mostly on the flat-topped ridges at the northern and southern ends of the area and, to a lesser extent, along the western side of the middle part of the ridge. Lakes and ponds occurring on conglomerate tend to be clear, nutrient-poor, and very acidic, due to limited buffering capacity of the bedrock. The northern Shawangunks have five lakes, the "sky lakes," which are, from north to south: Mohonk Lake, Lake Minnewaska, Lake Awosting, Mud Pond, and Lake Maratanza. The pH in four of the lakes averages about 4 (very acidic); Lake Mohonk, which partially overlays shale bedrock and is therefore partially buffered, is closer to neutral pH (7.0).
Public lands and preserves
The Shawangunks contain mainly public lands as well as several small residential areas. Most of the northern Ridge is protected and held as the Mohonk PreserveMohonk Preserve
The Mohonk Preserve is located in the Shawangunk Ridge, a section of the Appalachian Mountains, north of New York City in Ulster County, New York, USA. The Preserve is west of the Village of New Paltz...
, Minnewaska State Park Preserve
Minnewaska State Park Preserve
The Minnewaska State Park Preserve is a 21,106 acre preserve located on the Shawangunk Ridge in New York on US 44/NY 55, five miles east of New York State Route 299. The park is managed by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. It is primarily used for picnicking, hiking, mountain biking,...
, Sam's Point Preserve
Sam's Point Preserve
Sam's Point Preserve, or Sam's Point Dwarf Pine Ridge Preserve, is a 4,600-acre preserve in Ulster County on the highest point of the Shawangunk Ridge in New York. It is owned by the Open Space Institute and managed by The Nature Conservancy. Its unique environment features dwarf pine trees...
with more than 100 miles (160.9 km) of hiking trails and several climbing areas. In 2007 Shawangunk Ridge State Forest and Witches Hole State Forest were added. The Long Path
Long Path
The Long Path is a long-distance hiking trail beginning at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey and currently ending at Altamont, New York, in the Albany area...
long-distance hiking trail follows the ridge from Sullivan County to the vicinity of Kerhonkson
Kerhonkson, New York
Kerhonkson is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 1,684 at the 2010 census.Kerhonkson is a small hamlet which, along with Accord, makes up the Town of Rochester on US 209, just south of the town's boundary with the Town of Wawarsing and just north of where US 44...
; south of it the Shawangunk Ridge Trail connects to the Appalachian Trail
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
near High Point
High Point
High Point, in the northwestern part of New Jersey in Montague, Sussex County in the Skylands Region of New Jersey, is the highest elevation in the state at 1,803 feet . It is southeast of Port Jervis, New York. High Point is the highest peak of the Kittatinny Mountains.At the peak is the High...
. There are several old carriage trails on the Ridge including; Smiley Road from Ellenville into Minnewaska State Park Preserve; and Old Plank Road and Old Mountain Road in Shawangunk State Forest.
There are also many waterfalls in the Shawangunk region, such as: VerKeerderkill Falls
VerKeerderkill Falls
VerKeerderkill Falls is the highest waterfall in Sam's Point Preserve in the Shawangunk Mountains in the town of Shawangunk, Ulster County, New York. It is 180 feet tall and has a 3-mile long trail going to it branching off from the main trail, which is in Sam's Point Preserve. The waterfall is...
, Awosting Falls, Buttermilk Falls and VerNooykill Falls. The Shawangunk Ridge is also known for having some of the best views and rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
in the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
.
In 2004, a luxury development plan for buildings has threatened the ridge line, and as a result a grassroots "Save the Ridge" campaign has become extremely popular in the area. In 2006 a court ordered the sale of property by the private owner to settle a case brought on by the developer. The Open Space Institute of NY purchased the land and has signed it over to Minnewaska State Park Preserve.
The Trust for Public Land and Open Space Institute actually agreed to purchase the land for $17 million dollars. At closing, however, the contract was assigned and title was taken in the name of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission
Palisades Interstate Park Commission
Palisades Interstate Park and its creator, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, was formed in 1900 by governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster M. Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the destruction of the Palisades by quarry operators in the late 19th century...
, a federally chartered commission, although the funds for the purchase apparently came from the New York state Environmental Protection Fund.
Unit Management Plan
In May 2007 the state Department of Environmental Protection initiated the development of its Shawangunk Ridge Unit Management Plan to include Shawangunk Multiple Use Area, Witch's Hole State Forest, Shawangunk Ridge State Forest, Roosa Gap State Forest, Wurtsboro Ridge State Forest, Huckleberry Ridge State Forest, and three detached Forest Preserve parcels.The goal of the project was to develop "management objectives" for the properties, including those concerning permissible forms of public recreation and access.
Following an announcement of the project's launch, no further statements had been issued by the DEC regarding its work as of June 2009.
Climbing in the Gunks
Climbing route
A climbing route is a path by which a climber reaches the top of a mountain, rock, or ice wall. Routes can vary dramatically in difficulty and, once committed to that ascent, can be difficult to stop or return. Choice of route can be critically important...
s. The Near Trapps is located immediately across Route 44/55 from The Trapps, and is second in popularity. Millbrook mountain, the most southerly cliff, is the most remote, and sees the least climbing activity. Rock climbing is currently banned at Skytop, which is owned by the Mohonk Mountain House
Mohonk Mountain House
The Mohonk Mountain House also known as Lake Mohonk Mountain House, is a historic American resort hotel located on the Shawangunk Ridge in Ulster County, New York. Its prominent location in the town of New Paltz is just beyond the southern border of the Catskill Mountains on the western side of the...
. In the beginning of 2007 it was announced that guided climbing would be possible at Skytop for Mohonk Mountain House guests. Rock climbing is allowed by permit at the Peter’s Kill area, a minor crag with good bouldering
Bouldering
Bouldering is a style of rock climbing undertaken without a rope and normally limited to very short climbs over a crash pad so that a fall will not result in serious injury. It is typically practiced on large natural boulders or artificial boulders in gyms and outdoor urban areas...
and top roping
Top roping
Top-rope climbing is a style in climbing in which a rope, used for the climber's safety, runs from a belayer at the foot of a route through one or more carabiners connected to an anchor system at the top of the route and back down to the climber, usually attaching to the climber by means of a...
opportunities. There are numerous other minor crags in the area, but local consensus is to keep them undocumented except by oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
.
The height of the cliff varies along the ridgeline, to a maximum of some 300 feet (91.4 m). The average height is around 150 feet (45.7 m). Descent is achieved either by walking along a footpath at the top of the cliff, or by rappelling from mostly fixed anchors
Anchor (climbing)
In rock climbing, an anchor can be any way of attaching the climber, the rope, or a load to rock, ice, steep dirt, or a building by either permanent or temporary means...
. Climbing activity goes on year round, but is most popular (and comfortable) from April through November.
Technical rock climbing has been going on in the Gunks since 1935, when the area was “discovered” by Fritz Wiessner
Fritz Wiessner
Fritz Wiessner was a pioneer of free climbing. Born in Dresden, Germany, he emigrated to New York City in 1929. He became a U.S. citizen in 1935.-Early days:...
. Hans Kraus
Hans Kraus
Hans Kraus was a pioneer of modern rock climbing, as well as being one of the fathers of sports medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation. Kraus was elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1974.-Career:...
, along with Wiessner, dominated the local climbing scene until the 1950s. There is a rich history of climbing in the Shawangunks, which includes the conservative Appalachian Mountain Club
Appalachian Mountain Club
The Appalachian Mountain Club is one of the United States' oldest outdoor groups. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Maine to Washington, D.C...
, the drug- and alcohol-fueled antics of the Vulgarians (a group that included guidebook author Richard Williams that opposed the licensing of climbers and engaged in provocative behavior, including climbing nude), and many colorful personalities. The area has historically often been at the leading edge of elite rock climbing; today it is better known for its large number of high quality moderate climbing routes.
There are roughly 1200 documented climbing routes in the Gunks, ranging in difficulty from 5.0
Grade (climbing)
In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...
to 5.13
Grade (climbing)
In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...
. The area is considered a traditional climbing
Traditional climbing
Traditional climbing, or trad climbing, is a style of rock climbing in which a climber or group of climbers places all gear required to protect against falls , and removes it when a passage is complete...
area; since 1988 the Mohonk Preserve
Mohonk Preserve
The Mohonk Preserve is located in the Shawangunk Ridge, a section of the Appalachian Mountains, north of New York City in Ulster County, New York, USA. The Preserve is west of the Village of New Paltz...
has banned the placement of bolts
Bolt (climbing)
In rock climbing, a bolt is a permanent anchor fixed into a hole drilled in the rock as a form of protection. Most bolts are either self-anchoring expansion bolts or fixed in place with liquid resin....
, and piton
Piton
In climbing, a piton is a metal spike that is driven into a crack or seam in the rock with a hammer, and which acts as an anchor to protect the climber against the consequences of a fall, or to assist progress in aid climbing...
s (although bolts and pitons that were placed before the ban are still used and are allowed to be replaced) as well as formally forbidding the chipping or glueing of holds or cutting trees. The Gunks are the single busiest climbing destination in North America, with some 50,000 technical climbers visiting the area each year.
External links
- http://www.savethegunks.com/
- Friends of the Shawangunks/The Shawangunk Conservancy
- Gunks.com
- The Uberfall.com
- Climb the Gunks
Preserves within the Shawangunks: