Joe's Rock
Submitted by: chris21
Description
This is a small cliff (about 60 feet high) off of Route 121 in Wrentham, MA at the Joe's Rock Conservation area.
The rock is rather crumbly (I've had a couple large holds break off in my hand), and the ground is covered with broken glass and other debris.
It is only open dawn till dusk, and it is monitored by police (most of whom are courteous to climbers) because of past incidents with partiers.
There used to be quite a few bolted routes here, but most of them were chopped. There are still 2 bolted lines, one at the right end and one more towards the middle of the cliff. You can set up toprope anchors above just about anywhere on the cliff though sometimes pretty far back (as much as 40 feet), and routes can be as hard as 5.12.
I've also done some bouldering on the shorter parts of the cliff.
Getting There
From I-495, take route 1A towards Wrentham Center (nearly all the way to Providence from Boston) turn left on to 121, Joe's Rock Conservation Area is a couple miles up on the right. If you enter Cumberland, RI, you went too far.
Once you park, then walk down the trail towards the pond turn right. Then when the trail splits, go left as this will bring you to the base of the cliff, about 500 feet from the parking lot.
Photos
The overhung section of the cliff.
Sister of Mercy on the left, Mother Superior on the right.
Standard Route, 5.9 Crack, and Smokey Joe's Cafe.
Comments
Brian Sep 24, 2009
See www.climbri.com for route descriptions for this crag.
patrick donahue Mar 8, 2011
Does anyone know if these routes have been rebolted?
Keyan P Apr 19, 2011
^Anyone know if anything has been rebolted?
john cronin Jul 2, 2011
Went to Joe's Rock to top rope. July 2011. As far as we saw, there were no bolts. We climbed about 4/5th down the left face. We climbed to the right of It's a Bargain on a no named route, I think, that is 5.7.
Joe's is tricky to set up top rope anchors. From the top, you can't see the base of the climb without someone down climbing. Even then, with the canopy of leaves being so thick, placement of anchors for the route you want is very tough and time consuming.
We used two 50 meter ropes. One for the man setting the anchors to tie into for safety. One 75 and one 50 foot static ropes for anchor building.
At the top of our route, the ground had a dense covering of pine needles, it looked like top ropes were not set up here since the dawn of time. So, I think it is many years since this route was top roped. There was zero chalk visible one left face. The right had some form bouldering.
It's a shame there are no bolts here any longer. Looks like the wall would not be great for trad. There are a ton of good looking climbs here with a lot of variety. The face has a crumbly look but it is actually pretty good. We did not encounter any loose rock.
Joe M. Jan 3, 2013
Stuff like this does not help climbing access:
wrentham.patch.com/articles/wfd-rescue-crews-responding-to-j>>>
© 2013 Mountain Project Inc.
