I have been told by a local from Gardiner who is involved with their politics that the new campground is going to be discussed at the Gardiner Planning Board meeting tomorrow evening - Tuesday, October 16th, 2012.

The topic is Item Number 7 on the Agenda linked here:
http://www.townofgardiner.org/PBAgenda.cfm

As can be guessed, there is expected to be vocal opposition to the campground.

Locals: Please do your best to attend this meeting and voice your opinions.

Non-Locals who care about the Gunks: Please help in getting the word out to your network which includes local Gunkies. This is very short notice, so we need to work quickly.

Meeting Time:7:30PM

Gardiner Town Hall Location: 2340 Rt. 44/55, Mail: P.O. Box 1, Gardiner, NY 12525

Gardiner is a one horse town if the board dont want it it aint going to happen.

Without a proper camping area, they will just continue to encourage rogue camping. People ain't gonna stop going to the Gunks.

I went to the meeting last night, and there is not a lot to say, other than it does look like, barring unusual circumstances, the campground is actually go to go.

To me, this is bittersweet, since when it opens, the MUA and Slime will close(and thus ending free camping here). But - the vast majority of people who climb at the Gunks are not the dirtbag types who are living on scraps with minimal shelter. So, once people get beyond comparing the cost of a managed campground(with showers, convenient and safe parking, and person(s) to handle issues which arise) to their no-fee MUA experience, it will surely be a positive change for the area overall.

The C/Ground part in Planning Board meeting was a courtesy one, and not intended to be a formal time to go over/debate details.

Pretty much what I gathered was that the MP was hoping to begin asking for bids on the project in the next month or so, with the hopes of work to begin next spring. I saw a note which mentioned the hoped-for date of opening, but I can't recall what it was. I thought it was spring 2014, but someone mentioned fall 2013 to me this morning.


Though the meeting was supposed to be informational only, a person did ask to open discussion afterward, and two people spoke about issues they were concerned about. Being a big-mouth, I also spoke, addressing my feelings on one of the issues raised, which was drunken debauchery impinging on the life quality of nearby residents. (I felt that since a manager would be in residence, they would be effective at curbing disorderly conduct, and that the current experiences which sometimes arise at the MUA would be eliminated).

So....enjoy your MUA and Slime while you still have them. For those who do use them - please come prepared to take out your own trash, and consider picking up at least some left by others.

for me, a sad day. Slime was worth it in so many ways.

Slime was a hole 40 years ago and hasn't improved any. Good riddance.

Slime was a hole 40 years ago and hasn't improved any. Good riddance.

Are you kidding me? No way are they shutting camp slime down! I stayed there coming all the way from England in the summer. While in new York we stayed 4 star but while climbing I'm climbing. You have the swimming hole for showers. I am actually a bit shocked. We did the gunks via public transport, bus to newpaltz and a taxi up to the campsite with all our groceries. Was a 5 minute walk to the climbing and was PERFECT. Why get rid of it?

But - the vast majority of people who climb at the Gunks are not the dirtbag types who are living on scraps with minimal shelter. So, once people get beyond comparing the cost of a managed campground(with showers, convenient and safe parking, and person(s) to handle issues which arise) to their no-fee MUA experience, it will surely be a positive change for the area overall.

I'm afraid that I have to disagree. One of the things that kept the $17 (!!!) dollar day pass from being totally outrageous what that camping was included at Slime.

And the annual pass breaks even at 5.29 days - IOW, on your third weekend or during your week-long stay. The day fee is a red herring. It just isn't that big a deal as people make it out to be.

So you think that the only people who should enjoy the Gunks are those who go often enough to warrent a year's pass? A lot of people don't live close enough for that.

Paying to climb feels weird to me every time I go up there, but I've kind of been ablet o reason that I'm not paying to camp up there, so the costs evened out (compared to most climbing on the east coast where you pay to camp but not climb)

That's because most climbing on the east coast - certainly the major destination areas - like the rest of the country, is on public/park land. The Gunks is unique in that it's a privately owned land preserve held in public trust (meaning the public has a right to use it if they pay the current land use fee). Do you consider paying an entry fee to any of the national parks or monuments or the state parks (eg: Eldorado Canyon in CO or Snow Canyon in UT) as paying to climb?

No. I'm saying that in the overall scheme of travel, climbing gear, food, beer, etc., $17 is nothing, and you're only paying the $17/day if you're there less than 6 days a year.