The Tennessee Wall Climbing

The Tennessee Wall is one of the premier trad climbing destinations in the southeast. Located just outside of Chattanooga, it features hundreds of great routes on beautiful hard sandstone. There’s something for leaders at all levels here, from trad novices to the hardest of the hardcore. (There’s even a few sport routes, but they’re not for the faint-hearted.) T-Wall truly has enough variety to keep you climbing for years.

Route development at T-Wall began in 1984, when climbers Rob Robinson, Arno Ilgner and Roger Fleming discovered the cliffline while exploring another crag across the river. Some of the earliest lines (the first was In Sight of Power, 5.8+) were put up in what is now referred to as T-Wall West. Classics like Art, Passages and Prerequisite for Excellence soon followed, and development continued through the early 90s. New routes are still being established today, especially in the west section.

T-Wall is predominantly a single-pitch crag, though there are some multi-pitch routes, mainly in the west section. Except where noted in the route descriptions, protection tends to be plentiful, and a rack of nuts, tricams and cams up to 4” is standard. Over the years, rapping from trees at the top of the crag was the norm, but pine beetle infestations have been killing many of the trees, so use of bolted anchors is steadily increasing. If you do rap from a slung tree, don’t blindly trust it! A look at some of the fallen trees along the trail slung with old tat will drive this point home.

As a south-facing crag, T-Wall is in full sun all day. This makes it a terrific winter destination (think t-shirts in January), and a miserable place in the summer. Prime time at T-Wall is September through June.

Camping is available at the parking turn-off; This area no longer has a pit toilet. There is also pay camping further down the road. One note of caution (whether or not you’re camping): there have been numerous car break-ins at the parking lot over the years. The best way to avoid being a victim is to not leave anything of value in your vehicle.

After climbing, there’s lots of good options for eating near T-Wall. As you come back down the road from the crag, don’t pass up Shuford’s Barbecue, where you can enjoy pulled pork, ribs and banana pudding as Bear Bryant looks down on you from framed photos on the wall. Back in Chattanooga, Lupi’s Pizza is another climber favorite.