Town of New Paltz, Ulster County, New York, USA

New Paltz is a town in central Ulster County that includes the incorporated village of the same name, set between the Wallkill River and the Shawangunk Ridge. Farms, wetlands, wooded foothills and dramatic escarpment views surround a compact village center and the State University of New York at New Paltz campus. French Huguenot families established the settlement in 1677 after acquiring land from Esopus leaders, and surviving stone houses along Historic Huguenot Street preserve part of that layered colonial history. The town had about 15,600 residents in 2025. Higher education, tourism, restaurants, arts, agriculture and outdoor recreation—including climbing, hiking and the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail—shape its present-day identity.