Looking for climbing remotely near Myrtle Beach, SC

Going to the beach for a week with the family and would love to get in at least one day of outdoor climbing. Anyone know of anywhere within a 3 hour drive? Not seeing much...

Good luck!!! Nothing within nearly 5 hours of the Redneck Riviera...just kick back and enjoy all the toothless white trash chicks in Budweiser bikinis (or at least try not to vomit).

Thanks! I feared as much but still find it hard to believe that there isn't even a small 50 foot crag somewhere within a few hours in any direction. Guess I may need to take up surfing...

PS: My in-laws are renting a beach house supposedly somewhat away from the center so hopefully there won't be too many toothless sightings.

Once the piedmont falls out of the Appalachians and surrounding mountains, the Carolina's are pretty flat...rolling but still flat. I'm in the upstate/upper east corner of South Carolina, about 5 hrs from Myrtle, and there are a few smaller cliffs and Table Rock (state park, not the more popular beginner's crag in the Linville Gorge) close by...basically some of the only route climbing in the state. Unless I'm mistaken, Moore's Wall might be the closest crag in NC (closer to the Raleigh area). There was a little talk of some old blasted quarry routes near Columbia SC, but not worth driving 2-3 hours to check out. Most folks in the "lowcountry" don't climb, although there is a new bouldering gym and developing pod of climbers popping up in the Charleston area, but that would be about a 3 hour drive to pull on plastic...and that's really not a good option.

On a brighter note, there's a lot of good moonshine coming out of SC lately and the peach shine makes a great cocktail when mixed with OJ or Ginger ale...it'll help you forget all about the lack of climbing and might even make the toothless bearable to be around;) Enjoy your beach vacation!

Some of the nicest people I ever met were missing teeth and wearing Budweiser bikinis.
Just saying.

Haha...true Ben. But some of the skankiest hoes I've ever met in SC loved their bud bikinis and crystal meth;) Nothing against country/southern folk, I'm a hillbilly myself, but some things just aren't attractive!

Crowders (near Charlotte) is the closest thing to Myrtle that I can think of. Not worth the drive from Myrtle though IMO.

True, Brad.....very true.

Jake Jones wrote:At least you're just visiting. This is my world. The east coast: sucks if you're a surfer. Sucks if you're a climber. If you're a redneck that enjoys getting sunburned and shore fishing on nice beaches, then it's heaven. Where I live in VA, it's a 3.5 hour drive to any real climbing, and 4.5 to 5.5 hours to anywhere that could be considered a climbing destination.

Ouch.

My 2c....I enjoy getting sunburned and shore fishing as much as the next guy, but there are some East/Southeast locales that do make climbing, surely surfing, and living a diverse life, in general, challenging....case in point Myrtle Beach. Not so much a few hundred miles inland where there is climbing of all styles up and down the Appalachians, with a few pockets of modern culture, other activities of all sorts, and access to other parts of the Atlantic, the big lakes in the North, or the Gulf down South.

Here in the redneckest of redneck states with high quality sandstone littered up and down I-59, lots of lakes and rivers to play in, being roughly 4.5 hours from Pensacola, with low population density, good backroads, and Sandrock between us and the Atlantians, the rest is easy to overlook.

Try living in Dothan, AL! Worse than Myrtle Beach. Good buddy of mine lives there. He drives 3 hours to me in Newnan, GA then I drive us to either sand rock, somewhere in Tenn or northern GA.

Did Ben just say something nice about Sandrock? I knew he secretly liked that place.

Hahaha....Jake...yeah, surely this is a small consolation if you are five hours from the hills.
Daniel....Dothan sucks worse than any place listed so far....sorry for your buddy. Good golf, though....if you are into that sort of thing.
BOB.....it was a highly qualified statement.

Climbers are weird... Cant you just enjoy a week at the beach for what is without having to try to drive hours to some shitty climbing? There is GREAT climbing inland but like everyone says its at least a 4 or 5 hour drive each way. Enjoy your time at the beach, its only a week it wont kill ya and you can go climb the other 51 weeks of the year. First world problems.... "I cant spend a week at a beach resort, I want to go climb on rocks!"

Derek Huff wrote:Cant you just enjoy a week at the beach for what is without having to try to drive hours to some shitty climbing?

No

Thanks all! I'm resigned to surfing and relaxing at this point. Will definitely try to check out the inland climbing next time I'm going through Charlotte to visit the in-laws.

PS: I will miss two weeks of climbing since I'm going Friday to the following Sunday. For me that is a hardship.

Brad Caldwell wrote: Most folks in the "lowcountry" don't climb, although there is a new bouldering gym and developing pod of climbers popping up in the Charleston area, but that would be about a 3 hour drive to pull on plastic...and that's really not a good option.

Don't forget to mention the climbing wall at James Island County park. Outdoors and alot of different climbs... 12 climbing faces, 50 feet tall..... plastic, yea but hey, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

I haven't climb at James Island in a really long time...but last time I was there, the route setting, heat, odd pricing system (back then you had to pay for each route you climbed if I remember correctly) and lack of competent employees was so bad that it turned me off of the place forever. It just seemed more like a novelty than an actual spot to climb and train for real outdoor climbing. I'm sure its gotten better since then but climbing on plastic in 100 degrees sounds more like torture than a vacation! Its good lemonade if you're close by, but I didn't mention it because the investment in driving it takes to get there from Myrtle would have produced a minimal return for the OP.

Myrtle Beach? I totally agree that there is a lot more to life than climbing but if you're going on a beach vacation at least pick a good one!

Of course I have been banned from entering the city limits since July of 2005 so it could have gotten cooler since then.

Ryan Williams wrote:Of course I have been banned from entering the city limits since July of 2005 so it could have gotten cooler since then.

Don't leave us hanging...

I just spent the weekend in charleston and climbed at James Island tower. Its a pretty ligit spot, for plastic climbing. Interesting to climb on wood, especially for the two chimney routes they have. There is a slab wall on the back, a few routes with 3 over hang-to-slanting shelf kind of thing, and then the flat walls. most routes are 5.10's or easier but they have an 11 and a 12 i tried. Price is $1 per person to get in the park and then 10$ to climb if you have your own gear, 15$ otherwise. The staff is pretty great and belay for everyone. I love getting a day of climbing in while at the beach for a few days. Oh, and there is a bouldering area with pullup bars, but the problems are terribly maintained and good for just about nothing other than a good pumping at end of workout

LOL! I was just in the same predicament. I just got back from a month working/family vacation in Greenville, NC. I had forgotten how flat, humid, and hot it is down there! Got to the beach a bunch and thanfully my sister had a pool.I managed to get pull ups in every so often; that was as close to climbing as I got.
Good luck with your quest and just have fun at the beach.