Like most people, March 2020 brought about a sudden shrinking of my world that took some serious getting used to. Initially, I buried myself in work and was lucky enough to achieve a lot, but by July it was definitely starting to take its toll and I realised that some changes were needed. Climbing has always been my go-to version of escapism, so I bought a car, tracked down an ancient MIT guidebook, and gathered together a small group of wonderful friends for some Boston-based adventures. This is the story of our climbing exploits in and around Massachusetts, just in case you ever find yourself as desperate as we were! I’d also like to say a massive thank you to all the special people who saved me from myself and turned the summer into my favourite time in the US. Good luck on all your future cragging exploits!
So Boston is not really famed for its climbing – most people in search of some decent walls either head north up to New Hampshire or west to the Shawnagunk Mountains in New York. But it turns out that there are some decent crags littered around if you know where to look, including a couple of gems. I’ll give a brief low-down on what to expect at each place, and also provide location information and links to online details in the photo captions.
Rattlesnake Rocks
Our first day-trip of the summer served as a nice introduction for our group of outdoors first-timers. Rattlesnake Rocks is a set of three short, south-facing granite crags in the Quincy area of south Boston. There’s a pleasant 15-minute hike in from the parking lot on Willard Street along the “Blue Hills Skyline Trail” and tree’s grow right up to the base of the crag which keeps it nice and cool. The routes are all either trad or top-rope. There are some trees above (and some old railing posts at Overlook buttress) that can be used for anchors if you have a static rope (or long slings), but mostly I built trad anchors for top-roping using a mixture of nuts and cams. There are plenty of options for beginners and intermediate climbers (lots of routes in the 5.5 to 5.9 range). The climbing style ranges from easy-going laybacks, steeper jug-hauls, through to some more heinous thin finger cracks. A 30 meter rope was sufficient for all of the routes we tried.
I get the feeling this place is pretty quiet – we didn’t meet a soul in two sunny weekend visits. It’s a much more peaceful and pleasant climbing experience compared to the nearby graffiti-spattered Quincy Quarries, even if the routes are less classic. I suspect it might be a little damp early in the year, but the south facing nature meant it was dry each time we visited. Overall rating for Boston area = 2 out of 3 stars. If it was taller and had a couple more classic-feeling lines, I would give it a 3 for sure. I had an unfortunate run-in with some wasps – the first of many over the summer. For some reason I seem to specialise in them… No matter whether I’m the first or last up the route, I’m guaranteed to be the one getting stung! Don’t forget to check out the nearby Houghton’s Pond for a delightful post-climb summer cool-off.
Quincy Quarries
This is the famous climbing spot in Boston metropolitan area. These old granite quarries used to be flooded, and people would either lower down from the top or start their climb from boats! When the city undertook the “Big Dig” to bury it’s tortuous highway network in tunnels beneath the city, the deep lakes at Quincy Quarries were filled in with the spoil to leave a series of walls that are up to 25 meters tall in places. There are a lot of climbs here (>100) and there is a big spread of grades from beginner right through to hard. The aesthetic is interesting – people generally either seem to love it or hate it! On weekends (and sunny weekdays) the place is overrun with hoards of locals who come for the nice views of the downtown skyline and to spray-paint graffiti on the walls. Some of the art is definitely cool, but the paint can be up to half a centimeter thick in places and makes the opening ~4 m of each route exceedingly slippy and difficult. The majority of people are either chill or curious, although I was always on the lookout in case anyone would tamper with anchors up above.
The parking is right at the quarry entrance and you can easily access the top of all the routes to set up anchors (often on bolts and other embedded metal hardware, but it also requires trad gear in quite a few places). A static rope or long slings are definitely helpful. There are rare bolts on a couple of routes, and you could lead many of the lines on trad, but overall the general approach is to top-rope the routes. The walls face all directions and include friction slabs, laybacks, crimp fests and steep hand-jams. It’s pretty well exposed and sunny – we climbed here a couple of times after rain and despite boggy ground underfoot, there are definitely quick drying options available. Overall, there are a smattering of classic climbs that make this place definitely worth a visit. I personally disliked the amount of trash, especially when desperately grabbing a finger crack only to find it contained a thin sliver of broken glass that cut me pretty badly. The saving grace for me, however, is the big prow that makes up J-Wall and K-Wall (on the left side of the above photo). This thing looks iconic! And it has some awesome lines including a super thin and balancey slab, an exposed arete, and several steep and pumpy cracks that kept me coming back for more… 2 out of 3 stars.
Hammond Pond
Hammond Pond is located near Boston College in Newton. There are a handful of small crags scattered through the woods here suitable for both bouldering and roped climbing. What makes these climbs unique is the rock type – Roxbury Puddingstone, a ~580 Ma conglomerate that is the official rock of Massachusetts. The face climbs often involve crimping and tiptoeing up the pebbles (or the holes that they have dropped out from), and there are also a series of nice cracks that provide a great introduction to jamming. The most popular crag is the Lower Wall, which is typically top-roped, although some of the cracks can be led on gear. This wall is about 10 meters tall, and there are some gear placements at the top to set up anchors. You’ll need some long slings and even a static rope to reach tree anchors for climbs on the left end. Access is easy and consists of a two-minute walk-in from the car park at the Chesnut Hill shopping center. It faces east and is relatively shady, so not bad on those hot summer days! I would not say that there are any classic lines here, but there are a solid set of routes for beginners through to intermediate climbers, and it is a comfortable place to introduce newcomers to the sport. 2 out of 3 stars – definitely worth a day visit, or even a few hours given the easy access.
Black and White Rocks
Within easy cycling distance of Cambridge and Somerville lies the Middlesex Fells – an oasis of pretty trees and large ponds covered in a network of trails that feels like a proper escape from the city. On the sunny pandemic days, I would often come out here after work for a calming walk and relaxing beer down by the water. In the eastern part of the reservation, there are a series of small crags that are collectively known as Black and White Rocks and have opportunities for both bouldering and roped climbing. The only crag we visited was Pinnacle Rock (aka Crag 1 in the Boston Rocks guidebook). Access is a ~15 minute hike in either from the east past a large phone mast or from the the trailhead on East Border Road to the south. There is plenty of street parking for the east approach. The crag itself is 8 to 12 meters tall. You could trad lead several of the routes here, but we set up top-ropes and made use of long slings and plentiful gear placements for anchors.
The climbing is fun – there are a couple of overhanging sections and the routes often start with a pumpy low roof to break past. The place is under-visited and consequently a little green, which is particularly troublesome on the slabbier sections – a good brushing would do wonders. Access to the top of the crag is via a 5.0 chimney at the righthand end. It’s not perfect, but works fine so long as you take care not to step on the patches of loose soil. The biggest issue with this crag is that it is under large trees and north facing, therefore damp. We went a couple of days after summer rain and still had some seepage. Do not forget to pack the mosquito repellent! 1 out of 3 stars.
Fort Ruckman
Nahant is a small island that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean just north of Boston and is connected to the mainland by road. Much more famous for its beaches, we set out one sunny afternoon to check out the rocky southern tip called Baileys Point, which is capped with an early 20th century fort and promised views of Boston harbour. It has the briefest of mentions in the MIT guidebook and a suspicious lack of an entry on Mountain Project… To be honest, I’ll save you the trouble of reading too much further – this place is sadly not worth visiting for the climbing!
The approach is a little tricky… Nahant has residents-only parking rules and you technically need a window sticker. I guess that they must have got fed up of getting overrun by beachgoers in the summer? But the problem is that there really is nowhere you are allowed to park. There’s not even a lot with two or three spaces. We got seen off from outside a couple of unfriendly people’s houses that were emblazoned with Trump/Pence 2020 paraphernalia… Eventually we just risked it in a quiet dead end and luckily got away with it. You can hike up and over the old fort, and then down through the small park and out onto the point itself.
The rock itself is an Ordovician gabbro, fairly fine grained except where a couple of dykes cut through it. The wall is 6-7 meters tall and there are only a handful of routes (rated 5.5 through 5.9), most feeling at least a grade harder than this! I don’t think trad leads are a good idea, and there is not an abundance of good gear placements at the top for setting up top-rope anchors. The two climbs furthest right have zero good options – you would need a second rope and run it way back until you reach the trees. Beware! The edges here can be razor sharp and we actually sliced into one of my ropes, which was a first for me… A couple of the routes have some good pumpy moves with a mixture of tiny crimps and nice edges. But two others that are listed in the guidebook seemed nigh-on impossible – I suspect big winter storms maybe occasionally remodel the crag? The generally poor climbing and unwelcoming vibe results in a 0 out of 3 stars for me. That said, the views south into Boston were great! And don’t forget to check out the tide pools.
Redrock
Redrock is my favourite of the crags within a 40 minute drive of Harvard Square. The main wall is a northeast facing granite slab that is probably ~20 meters high in places (we climbed on a 60 m rope). There are bolted anchors to set up top-ropes for the friction face climbs, and then a handful of sweet cracks that take trad gear. The highlight is undoubtedly Zipper (5.6) – a glorious slabby layback crack that climbs as satisfying as it looks! Between the easier cracks and the airy slabs, there is something for everyone here and it is deservedly popular without being overrun (on our visits at any rate). The crag base is a mixture of open to the sky and low density tree-cover, making it a pleasant place to hang out and allowing it to dry quickly. My only word of warning concerns access. There is a 15 minute hike in from the trail-head car park on the northwest side of Yankee Division Highway. There is also what looks to be an overflow carpark on the southeast side of the highway that locals told us they use all the time. At the end of the day, however, we came down to discover our car had been towed… Admittedly the very same locals were sat dejectedly on the grass looking sheepish! Probably best to make sure you arrive early and park in the intended parking. 3 out of 3 stars (for the Boston area remember!)
Stage Fort Park
Just 10 minutes drive further down the road from Redrock towards Gloucester, this crag is probably only worth a visit if you’ve finished up for the day at Redrock and are wanting to find an afternoon ice cream. Sat in a pretty park by the sea, these balancey friction routes climb an 8 meter tall granite dome using thin dimples and large crystals (and occasional holds on the carved plaque that commemorates the Massachusetts Bay Colony). These routes are pretty much for top-roping only (or brave boulderers), and you ideally need a second static rope to be able to reach the more bomber trad anchor placements at the backside of the dome. 1 out of 3 stars.
Crow Hill
Moving a little bit further out of Boston, Crow Hill is an hours drive west along the 2, just beyond Leominster (I never did get used to the names of towns being in the wrong geographical locations compared to their original UK counterparts! Leominster is near Boston here?!). There is a roadside parking lot for about 20 cars and a pleasant 15 minute walk through the woods up to the crag, which hosts about 70 routes.
And what a crag! Honestly, I didn’t realise Massachusetts had walls this tall… The cliff curves from south- to east-facing along it’s length, is composed of compact metamorphic gneiss, and has routes ranging from 6 to >30 meters tall at grades 5.5 up to 5.13. The majority are trad leads, although there is the odd bolt where gear placements are lacking. There is easy trail access to the top of the cliffs from either end to set up top-rope anchors (some routes have rings), but this is not possible for all of the routes. I should also say that I found these climbs to be quite hard! There are some pleasant beginner routes towards either end, but the walls in between are steep and very pumpy. I immediately got drawn to an awesome looking corner crack line called Tarzan and for some reason decided it was a good option for my first trad lead of the year. The 5.8+ grade sounded appropriate, but I think the clue here is in the “+”. The grades here have a touch of the Gunks about them… Getting the gear back after bailing involved a ~40 meter rapel on my half ropes from the overhanging top. By the time I’d swung wildly back and forth to get back in to the gear, I started to understand why the climb is called Tarzan!
Overall, I’d say Crow Hill is definitely worth a visit for any trad climber, with also a handful of good options for beginner top-roping. It’s in a pretty part of Massachusetts – the top of the crag affords views over the trees to rolling hills and nestled lakes and ponds. The tree cover means it can definitely stay damp after rain, and there was clear evidence in places of past waterfalls that had washed soil and dirt down from above. At the same time, the more slabby exposed areas at the right end of the crag were dry and warm (and therefore also ideal for wasps). After climbing, we visited the nearby Paradise Pond, although I was the only one foolish enough to brave the weeds and leaches! 3 out of 3 stars.
Rose Ledge
Now we’re really starting to push it for Boston-based crags! Also located out west along the 2, after about 1.5 hours you arrive in the Connecticut River valley at a little town called Millers Falls. Definitely now in western Massachusetts, there are several good crags in the area and the one we visited was called Rose Ledge. Similar to Crow Hill, the rock here is high quality and composed of solid, compacted gneiss. The wall is relatively short (a 30 meter rope was sufficient) and typically used for top-roping (although trad leads would mostly be no problem). The only bolts are bolted anchors at the top of some of the routes, so not having a trad rack is not the end of the world. The ~20 routes are generally steep and quite pumpy, although there is something for everyone (grades 5.4 to 5.12b).
The crag is shady and southwest facing. There is a pleasant ~25 minute hike in through woodland from a climbers parking lot, and I think the honesty box requested $5 per vehicle. We had a very enjoyable day here and I’m giving it 2 out of 3 stars, only let down by the longish drive and my wish that some of the great routes kept going a little higher! It’s also worth noting that there are a number of other crags in the vicinity, including Mormon Hollow and Farley Ledge. Farley in particular is rumoured to be awesome (just over the hill from Rose Ledge, climbing the same rock unit). There is, however, a moratorium on publishing any route information on that crag, which was stipulated by locals as part of negotiating climber-access rights. Unfortunately this meant I was always a little afraid to take our group of novices there… I don’t even know what kind of grades there might be! But if you do know someone who is local and in-the-know, I suspect it is well worth a visit.
And further afield…
Once you’re willing to travel 2+ hours from Boston, a whole host of amazing options become available. The White Mountains in New Hampshire offer some stellar granite slab and crack routes, and I was lucky enough to climb at both Whitehorse and Cathedral Ledges back in 2018. Without getting too bogged down, there are two places in the White Mountains that do hold some extra special memories for me and I’m including them for posterity (revisiting these days seems too good of an opportunity to pass up now that I am trapped in a quarantine hotel in Sydney for two weeks!).
Cannon Cliff
When I was saying my goodbyes to the Drum building crew back in 2017 in Cambridge, UK, they gave me two lovely parting gifts – a bottle of Arran 18 year old scotch whisky, and a climbing guide to New England. Ever since I first flicked through the pages and spotted the Whitney-Gilman Ridge at Cannon Cliff, I was captivated by this amazing line and had an ever-growing niggle in the back of my mind that I had to give it a go before moving on from Boston.
Franconia Notch is an awe-inspiring gap between two large granite bluffs in the northern White Mountains, through which Interstate-93 threads its way up towards the Canadian border. The glacially shattered Cannon Cliff is located on the west side of the valley, with ~200 meter tall routes perched above an enormous boulder field that requires a 1.5 hour walk-in scramble from the parking lot. The routes here are predominately trad multi-pitch, and the W-G is a six-pitch classic from the 1920s that ascends the knife-like edge formed by a heavily eroded dyke. The route is a 5.7 but has some tough sections and is not for the faint hearted. Cannon is notorious for people straying off route into loose rock (hence why the W-G appeals to me because it is such an obvious feature) and there is also a very real danger of storms taking parties by surprise as they suddenly blow over the summit from the west. Just to be clear, I do not recommend climbing here if you are new to trad, 5.7/5.8 is your limit, or the weather is unsettled.
Warnings out of the way, we honestly had one of the single most memorable days of my life on this climb! Ok so the climbing is not the most consistent… There are a few awesome sections including the initial layback crack on P1 and the infamous “Pipe Pitch” on P4, where you take a wild step out and right into space over the missing dyke and cruise up a short overhang. Away from those, it’s mostly about keeping on route and making sure you don’t knock anything off on the looser sections. But the setting is beautiful, with expansive views south into the central Whites all carpeted in those crazy fall colours! We took our time climbing as a three, and topped out probably about 8 hours after we had started, just as dusk was falling. There is a long descent trail that skirts south around the end of the cliff, and after two hours of that (including hunting in the dark for my dropped phone), we got back to the car about 12 hours after we had left it. The dream at last complete (I also polished off the last of the Arran 18 the night before I left Boston), it only remains for me to thank Mona and Evelyn for being so game and courageous on this most unforgettable day.
Rumney
A two-hour drive north from Boston on the southern flanks of the White Mountains, Rumney is home to the best sport climbing in New England, and it is also a budding geologist’s dream! The rock is composed of Devonian schist with occasional melt lenses – highly metamorphosed and deformed rocks that were once buried deep in the crust beneath a mountain belt formed during the Appalachian orogeny. The friction is amazing, with the more micaceous parts forming a surprisingly tough, grainy texture that I can only compare to tortured wood. Other area’s are more competent, and there are some hidden geological treasures including crystal-laden pegmatites and a lonely CAMP dike.
There are the best part of a thousand climbs here, spread across more than thirty crags that are dotted all over the hillside. The majority are bolted with good hardware and well-maintained clips. Walls range from ~10 meters tall right up to some longer, two-pitch sections, and a 60 meter rope is preferable. There are a mix of climbing styles. The most common is steep and juggy, with plenty of overhangs, but there are also more traditional cracks and slabs. The routes range from 5.0 up to 5.15 – and you will never run out of options! In 3 years, I visited Rumney crags on 22 different days and ticked off only 75 routes (with a few repeat ascents). So still a little way to go then…
Beyond the climbing, the whole Rumney experience is very pleasant. There are three parking lots that cost $5 per day (beware – on busy summer weekends they can fill up early) and access is through a mostly well-maintained set of trails with helpful signposts to stop you getting lost. The closest crags are right by the car park, while a trek up to the Crow’s Nest or Summit cliff can easily take 45 minutes. The woodland is pretty and has good fall colours (watch out for slippy leaves under foot), making the bases of most of the crags shady and cool. The upper sections are well exposed to sunshine and wind, so drying times are fast for the crags that don’t suffer from seepage. Group climbing here is also very easy as there are plenty of spots with several climbs of similar grades next to one another – perfect if you need to simultaneously keep an eye on everyone’s clipping and belaying technique!
The final thing to say about Rumney is that it’s got convenient facilities. There are at least three campgrounds to choose from. The AAC’s Rattlesnake Campground is the most rustic and within walking distance of the crags. If you don’t mind a 5 minute drive, Mountain Pines Campground is a delightful upgrade with proper toilets and showers, whilst the Barn Door Campground is my least favourite but may still have space when the other two are full or closed for the season. There is a small tavern for dinner in the middle of Rumney village that doubles as a bakery with filter coffee in the mornings, and the town of Plymouth is less than 15 minutes away and has garages and a Market Basket for supplies.
If you haven’t picked up on it yet, I absolutely love this place! The climbing is diverse, challenging, and has some truly classic lines. It’s also definitely the place where I felt most comfortable slowly upping my grades these last three years. There have been a whole host of very memorable days (e.g. leading Jolt, 5.10a), but I’ll never forget the cheers ringing around the hillside when Biden was finally confirmed as the next US president! If you only have one day spare on your trip to Boston, get up early and make it happen!
The Gunks
Moving on from New Hampshire to New York, The Gunks is a must-visit destination for any budding trad climber! Located near New Paltz and the Shawnagunk Mountains, this series of southeast-facing crags overlooks the Hudson River valley only 90 minutes north of Manhatten. Climbs range from one to three pitches and the highest sections are probably on the order of 80 meters tall. The rock type is fairly unique for anywhere I’ve climbed – Silurian sandstones through to conglomerates that have an extremely hard silica cement that is weather-resistant and tough. Unusually, the cracks tend to be horizontal breaks between beds (there is the occasional thin shale layer) rather than vertical seams, so expect plenty of long reaches, high feet, and mini-roofs! Generally, there is no shortage of gear placements, but occasionally a climb can be run-out in places…
The climbing is fabulous, deservedly famous, and popular. Luckily there is no shortage of routes (probably on the order of a thousand or so) and there are periodic sets of rap rings to get you down (my 60 m half ropes are very handy here). There is a helpful app with topos, route descriptions, and GPS locations for homing in on your next project. Entry cost is quite high ($20 for a day pass, ~$90 for a year) but there is a well-maintained carriage trail to access the Trapps and first-aid equipment for emergencies. My only word of caution is that some of the routes were initially climbed in the 1930s and 1940s and can have grades that are much too low! A 5.4 here can genuinely be a scary undertaking… As a rule, I’d recommend starting at least two grades below your level until you get a feel for it – the tell-tale “+” after a listed grade carries a lot of meaning here!
Several of my most memorable climbing experiences have been at the Gunks. From damp spring afternoons through to boiling hot summer days, with sweat showers and heat stroke, on into beautiful fall colours – this is a place where you can watch the seasons come and go as you perch on a belay ledge with the turkey vultures! My all-time favourite day came on 9th October 2020, when Matt and I ticked off two of the most classic lines under a stunning blue sky. We started with High Exposure – a 5.6+ that consistently makes it into the list of top 20 routes anywhere in the US and has a second pitch starting with a wild step out from underneath a roof followed by an overhanging ladder to the top. Not content with conquering this beauty, we spent the afternoon climbing Cascading Crystal Kaleidoscope (5.7+), which has one of the airiest traverses you’ll see and had me desperately lunging for the final belay ledge!
The drive from Boston takes just over four hours, so a Gunks trip is probably best done over a long weekend. There are several nearby camping options and plenty of amenities in New Paltz if you need a hot dinner or beer. I’d like to finish by saying a big thank you to Jacky, Matt, Jonny and Jen who generously let me crash at their beautiful home in nearby Wallkill – please come and visit Australia one day soon so that I can return the favour!
So that’s pretty much it for our exploits in the Boston area. I hope that something here is useful to you, and wish you all the best on your next cragging adventures! Do get in touch if you want any more information. I’m going to finish off this post with a couple of other places we climbed last year just to record the memories and include a few more photos. Get out there and climb safe! M
The Adirondacks
The Adirondacks are in upstate New York and a 5 to 6 hour drive from Boston. There is a whole heap of climbing, with a wide range of styles – we spent a week of summer holiday here in mid-August and had a great time! The majority of our time was taken up by Eagle Falls, which is located in a peaceful and secluded valley in the western Adirondacks accessed by gravel track. To reach the crag, you will need to ford a steep, white-water rapids descent that is famous amongst the local kayaking community. The cliffs face west, and we spent the cooler mornings climbing before retiring to swim and sunbathe in the hot afternoons. Complete bliss!
We camped nearby at Soft Maple Reservoir, which was rustic, quiet, and manned by a friendly warden who gave us lots of helpful tips and regular ice for the cool box. We also visited two other crags – Bald Mountain (slab climbing with pretty views) and The Lost Crags (shady crack climbing). Both were excellent for different reasons, and have a more adventurous walk-in.
