Rock Climbing at Minnewaska State Park, Peterskill Falls (NY)

Since moving to New York in mid-October, we’ve been doing our best to research new outdoor opportunities realizing we now have to work and plan around a winter season and cold weather. We’ve talked to many of our new neighbors and friends about their favorite hikes, camping spots, beaches, etc. And now that spring in trending into summer, we are starting to get outside more often.

After the girls had a blast during April’s spring break camp at The Rock Club in our town and a few birthday parties at climbing centers, they got really excited about rock climbing. We decided to look into a guided outdoor lesson for the entire family to learn the basics and have a trained expert help us get comfortable outside as it could be a new way to engage with the outdoors.

We booked a lesson with Alpine Endeavors for the four of us with gear, permits, and a guide. It was really helpful to get kitted out with the right gear and guidance as we were all climbing outside for the first time. We were slated to climb on a Saturday, but the forecast called for rain and we were able to shift to Sunday morning with an early start to ensure we could get into the park before they hit their daily climbing quota of 100 climbers. It ended up working out great as we drove from our home to the Rock and Snow Outdoor Store in New Paltz, NY, to meet our guide Mike. Mike had us arrive early to try on our gear before we drove 10 minutes to the Peterskill Falls area of the Minnewaska State Park.

The park gates open at 9AM. We arrived around 8:50AM and queued up on the side of the road, about the 10th car in line. Once we parked, Mike loaded us up with gear and we walked over to The Breakfast Wall and spent the next 3+ hours climbing a handful of routes. We were top roping, which meant a rope was secured above the climbing area to a tree(s) or strong anchor like a rock. We were all harnessed in and Mike was serving as the belayer ensuring we were safe if we fell off the wall. But no one did.

The girls jockeyed for who would go first each time. It was incredible to see them climb 20-30 feet up the rock walls. We could see their brains churning as they were figuring everything out. Every time they hit the top, they were beaming with smiles with how proud they were of their accomplishments. Just fearless.

In between when one person was climbing, the girls had time to goof around and explore as seen in a video below. The only downside was that their playing in the woods and ferns got them each a small tick on their bodies. We got them off, but now are the owners of some new tick repellant.

Overall, it was a great experience capped off by lunch near the climbing walls and then some ice cream at Stewarts. The girls really enjoy themselves and took on the challenge.