$612,000
88 Orchard Crest Drive, New Paltz
4 bd · 2.5 ba · 2,200 sq ft · 1.1 ac
Ulster County · Town guide
New Paltz
A college town with a rail trail down the middle, the white cliffs of the Gunks on the skyline, and orchards in every direction. Lively in term, quieter in July, outdoors all year.
New Paltz at a glance
$565,000median sale price, Q3 2025
30median days on market
About 1 hr 30drive to the city, without traffic
28homes sold, July–September 2025
The town
New Paltz was founded in 1678 by a group of Huguenot families, French Protestant refugees who had come by way of the Rhineland and Kingston. Their stone houses, built in the early 1700s, still stand along a street by the Wallkill River that's now a historic site and museum, one of the oldest intact streets in the country.
Today the town is shaped by two things: the state university campus, which brings students, faculty, concerts and a certain energy, and the Shawangunk Ridge, the long line of white quartz cliffs a few miles west that draws climbers and hikers from all over. Main Street climbs from the river flats up to the campus, lined with cafés, bike and climbing shops, bookstores, bars and restaurants. It's busy, a little scruffy in places, and friendly.
The village is small; the town around it is mostly farms, orchards and houses on country roads, running west to the ridge and south toward Gardiner.
Housing stock and prices
- Village houses
- Small older houses and Victorians within walking distance of Main Street, some of them student rentals for decades. $400,000 to $650,000; a renovated one goes higher.
- Suburban roads
- Colonials, split-levels, raised ranches and contemporaries from the 1960s to the 1990s on half an acre to two acres outside the village. $475,000 to $750,000. This is the biggest share of what sells.
- Ridge and farm country
- Houses with views of the cliffs, older farmhouses, and newer houses on larger parcels toward the ridge and Gardiner. $650,000 to $1.3 million.
- Stone houses
- A few privately owned 18th-century stone houses survive in the town, and turn up every few years.
- Land
- Building lots with ridge views, often in Gardiner and the hamlets nearby. Perc tests and wells are the questions; see our land guide.
Investors buy near campus for rentals. If you're buying a house to live in on a street with several student houses, visit on a Friday night in October as well as a Sunday morning in July.
Gardiner, Rosendale and the hamlets
Many buyers who start in New Paltz end up just outside it. Gardiner, to the south, is farm country under the ridge: orchards, a few wineries and cideries, sod farms on the Wallkill flats and a small hamlet center with a general store. Houses there tend to sit on more land, and building lots with views of the cliffs come up more often than in New Paltz itself. Rosendale, to the north along the rail trail, is an old cement-mining village with a single main street, a long trestle over Rondout Creek and some of the most affordable houses in the area. Highland, to the east, is closer to the Mid-Hudson Bridge and the train at Poughkeepsie. Each has its own tax rate and, in some cases, a different school district from New Paltz, so compare the bills, not just the prices.
Getting around
There's no train in New Paltz. The Thruway has an exit at the edge of town, and the drive to Manhattan is about an hour and a half without traffic, more on a Friday. Commuter buses run from town to the Port Authority. Many people who go in occasionally drive 25 minutes east across the Mid-Hudson Bridge to Metro-North at Poughkeepsie, where trains reach Grand Central in about an hour and three quarters.
Locally, the village is walkable and bikeable, and the rail trail makes it easy to ride to Gardiner or Rosendale. Beyond that, you'll drive.
Outdoors and landmarks
The Gunks are the main event. The Mohonk Preserve protects thousands of acres of the ridge, with some of the most famous rock climbing in the East on the cliffs, and miles of old carriage roads for walking, running and cross-country skiing. The tower on Sky Top, visible from all over town, sits above a cliff-top lake. Farther along the ridge, Minnewaska State Park Preserve has two glacial lakes, waterfalls and long carriage-road loops. Both have day-use fees.
The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail runs straight through town on an old railroad bed, crossing the Wallkill River on a trestle and continuing north to Rosendale and south to Gardiner. East of town, the Walkway Over the Hudson, an old railroad bridge turned into a pedestrian park high above the river, connects Highland and Poughkeepsie. Historic Huguenot Street has tours of its stone houses and a burial ground.
Through the year
Fall is apple and pumpkin season, with U-pick orchards along every road, peak climbing weather and the busiest weekends. Spring brings the second climbing season and the first big wave of listings. Summer the town empties a bit when the semester ends, which locals enjoy; the lakes at Minnewaska fill up. Winter is snowier up on the ridge than in town, with skiing on the carriage roads when there's enough cover.
Practical notes for buyers
- Schools: the town has its own K–12 central district. Contact the district directly.
- Water and sewer: municipal in the village; wells and septic in most of the town.
- Rentals: the village and town have rental permit rules, especially relevant near campus.
- Flood plain: the Wallkill flats west of the village flood in spring; farms there are lovely and some roads close a few days a year.
- Taxes: moderate for the region. Ask for the actual bill.
Our New Paltz listings
$189,000
Lot 7, Shawangunk View Road, Gardiner
Land · 6.2 ac · perc tested
In October 2024 we represented the buyers of 3 Spruce Hollow in New Paltz, which sold for $540,000. All listings
Thinking about New Paltz?
Marcus Oyelaran sells a lot in New Paltz and runs the rail trail most weekends; Eli Brandt knows every piece of land between the village and the ridge. Call Kingston at (845) 555-0190 or Beacon at 845.555.0127.