New Paltz holds up two very different histories on its main street. On one side is Huguenot Street, a short lane of stone houses built by French-speaking Protestant refugees who settled here in 1678, among the oldest streets in the country with original buildings still standing; on the other is a lively college town, where students from the State University crowd the cafes and bike shops. Between them, the place feels like a small, relaxed hub of the Hudson Valley.
Above town rises the Shawangunk Ridge, locally called the Gunks, a long, white-cliffed escarpment of hard quartz conglomerate that forms one of the finest rock-climbing areas in the eastern United States. Climbers in bright shirts and chalky hands crowd the cliffs along the Trapps on every fine weekend, and the nearby preserves, Minnewaska and Mohonk, offer trails around spring-fed lakes. The Mohonk Mountain House, a Victorian hotel of towers and porches set beside a glacial lake, has been in the same family since the 1870s and looks like a medieval castle.
For riders, the ridge is the prize. Route 44/55 climbs from the valley in a series of tight, rising bends to a notch in the cliffs, offering views across the valley toward the Catskills, and is one of the finest short mountain roads in the Northeast. Route 299 runs east through town toward the Hudson, and the back roads over the Wallkill valley are quiet and rolling, passing orchards, farm stands and vineyards. Weekend traffic, with climbers and sightseers, can be heavy, and the cliffs have patches of damp that stay long after rain.
New Paltz has fuel, supermarkets and a dozen restaurants and cafes, with an emphasis on local produce. Poughkeepsie and Kingston, a short ride either way, are larger. The best times are May and October, with clear air and the leaves in color, though the climbing crowds are densest in autumn. Summer is warm and busy, and in winter ice on the ridge road can close it altogether. Take extra care on the cliff bends, where gravel washes onto the road.