Warning - Climb at Your Own Risk. YOU ALONE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR SAFETY. ROCK AND ICE CLIMBING AND ASSOCIATED ACTIVITES ARE INHERENTLY DANGEROUS ACTIVITES, SUBSTANTIAL RISK OF INJURY AND DEATH EXIST! Access for climbing sites is often, more then not, conditioned upon your assumption of all risk of injury to person and property. Climbing risks include, but are not limited to: falling; collisions with both manmade and natural objects; falling rocks, ice and other debris; failure of equipment or anchors; adverse weather; human error; slippery surfaces; negligence of other users.
Situated near the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is best known for its paddling and backcountry hiking, but the areas is becoming more popular with climbers as well. Several area climbing schools offer classes at the Water Gap, and a number of routes have gone up on the New Jersey side in recent years. From the east, take NJ Interstate 80 to Exit 34 and go 25 miles west to the town of Layton, NJ.
Rock climbing is permitted the park. Climbers do not need to register, but climbers should let someone know where they are going and when they intend to return, and provide this person with the park's phone number: (570) 426-2435. Climbers should wear helmets ! Popular climbs are: Point of Gap along Route 611 in Pennsylvania, right in the Water Gap, and Ricks Rocks on Route 602 about 1 mile east of Millbrook Village in New Jersey. A climbing guide is sold at visitor centers and is available through Eastern National at (973) 948-0463.
Rock Climbing info is available at http://www.nps.gov/dewa/planyourvisit/rock-climbing.htm
Easily the most "developed" climbing area in the state, Allamuchy has been popular with local underground craggers for years. Now that it's legal to climb there, climbers can enjoy the park's bouldering sites and even some longer wall climbs on Allamuchy Mountain with a drive-up-and-climb kind of convenience that you won't find elsewhere in the state. Enter off of Stephen's Park Road in Warren County.
Some restrictions apply.
Limestone boulders scattered all over the park, likewise glacier erratics. Sites are 110% undeveloped. Great mountain biking. From the first parking lot suggest blue and or red dot trails. Boulders overgrown.
May 25, 2007 KVSP is not on an agenda for access at this time. Though there be some fine possible bouldering areas inside the Park.
Skylands Manor
The most remote park in the New Jersey state park system is also home to some surprisingly good climbing. Since the waiver policy was put in place, climbers have begun to explore Wawayanda's backcountry crags and hidden rock faces. The park is a good 3-1/2 hours from southern New Jersey, most of the climbs require difficult hike-ins, and set routes are currently non-existent, but the area's climbing potential is huge. Located in the northern part of the state in Sussex County, take the Warwick Turnpike from West Milford.
All climbing is illegal
We need to find some folks in Morris county who are willing to work on getting the Morris county park service and Morris county freeholders in possibly getting the climbing bans amended. see below statement. this will take some doing, don't make any calls to the freeholders or others in the parks. This is the formative stages of the issue. If you all know of someone from Morris county who climbs and is wanting to get more active in such areas let me know. We'll work the issue from down here in regards to other aspects of such areas.
"We recommend that you speak with Mr. David Helmer, the Secretary-Director of the Morris County Park Commission. Tel. 973-326-7xxx. Please note that changes in use policy for Morris County Parks would probably require a vote of the full Park Commission"
Local, convenient, and plentiful, the bouldering areas in central New Jersey’s Sourland Mountain Preserve were recently approved for climbing by the Somerset County Park Commission. The hills in this area are renowned for their boulder climbing, and now that it's legal to climb in Somerset County the local climbing scene is starting to venture out of the gyms. Remember though, several neighboring counties and landowners still prohibit access. Take 287 west to Hillsborough and enter via East Mountain Road.
The NJ Highlands Offers Sites for Climbing in conjunction with Respect for Nature. NJ HIGHLANDS ACCESS ISSUES: DO NOT EXPECT RESCUE AS YOU ARE IN REMOTE AREAS. KNOW SELF RESCUE. PEOPLE WILL NOT COME LOOKING. RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT. CLIMB BEYOND THE CLIMB. MAJORITY OF AREAS ARE UNCLIMBED. HAZARDS EXIST.
Overlooking the swampy, overgrown Green Pond outside of Butler, NJ is what Anderson calls "some of the best climbing in the state." Aside from a few scattered boulders, Green Pond offers a 150-plus foot vertical wall that stretches some 200 yards end to end. Access can be tough – it takes about 20 minutes to hike in from the road, plus the talus field – but the payoff is a virtually unclimbed wall and non-existent crowds. Not all of it is pretty, but it's a chance to get creative and create your own routes. Butler is in Morris County, and access is easiest via 287 to Route 23.
Hiking Permits are available via the Watershed Office Hazards: Loose Rock, Nesting Raptors, Talus, other.
Green Pond Cliffs (East) .6 miles on the Right or North Side of Rt. 513. Access cliffs by skirting pond and swamp on the East. (to the right facing the cliff)
Green Pond Cliffs (West) access via the parking pull-out at 1.4 miles. Follow terrain to cliff. We've been told that access is possible via the parking lot on top of the ridge. Found at 2.0 miles from Rt. 23 on 513. Bear right into entrance then bear left and then into the lower parking lot. Park head-on without blocking posted areas. Head North on fait foot-paths to talus field. 14 to 20 minute walk.
Access via rest area on Rt. 23.
Bouldering is found in the majority of Central and Northern NJ’s State Lands and Forests. This list is not inclusive.
Mt. Rose Natural Area (Princeton Boulder Field), 418 above sea level, sitting on 300 hectares astride the Princeton Ridge is listed by the 1991 NJ Governors Council on New Jersey Outdoors as a section of natural lands that provides "environmental and scenic preservation, open space, historical preservation and passive recreation provision". Found on this section of open space of Mercer County, NJ are places to hike, walk, bird-watch, mountain-bike, boulder and a place to step away from the maelstrom around us as a spot of contemplation.
"take nothing but pictures, leave nothing by footprints"