Little Falls Access

What is the current access situation for The Dihedrals and other areas across the river from Moss Island in Little Falls? Also, it is my understanding that a permit is technically required to climb on Moss Island, but have never had one nor been able to figure out how to obtain one. Has anyone seen this 'requirement' actually enforced?

Last I checked (been a couple years since I was in Little Falls) most of the Dihedrals is still private/pay if he spots you. To be clear - the owner will allow access if you throw him $$, but he doesn't have a kiosk and I'm not sure if they want to be bothered with people knocking on their door(?). Maybe the locals can be more specific. I recall a phone number floating around to call the owner in advance...

The city gave up on the Moss Island permit system and it's a climb-at-your-own-risk situation now.

To confuse matters there's a 2014 post in the Little Falls section on here stating someone purchased a permit:

mountainproject.com/v/littl…

But I didn't see any info on the city hall site and the last I heard was this:

littlefallstimes.com/articl…

I wonder if the clerk just took their money and put it in their pocket. lol

there's no permit needed for moss island anymore. It's been a while since they issued permits.

There's a decent online guide available to moss island if you haven't seen it.... I can send you a liNk.

That guide isn't a secret:

thomannengineering.com/soft…

From the guide, regarding fees:

"Normally there has been a fee to climb at Moss Island; permits were available at the Little Falls Police Department. The City has not required permits since 2010 and, I think, also will not in 2012. The Canal Authority does not take an active role in managing the rock climbing. The cliffs are essentially managed by a committee of local climbers that look after the cliffs and do maintenance."

If you want to know for certain, I would just call ahead to City Hall and ask. If you do please report back. ;)

no one said it was a secret.... I was just too lazy to look up the link if he had it.

javd wrote:I was just too lazy to look up the link if he had it.

Regarding Moss Island, permits used to be required (and the cliffs were actively patrolled by police officers) and were available at the police department. A couple of years ago, the city commenced work on the bridge which made emergency vehicle access impossible in the event of an emergency, so they could not issue permits. To my knowledge even though the bridge work is done, no climbing permit is required.

The Dihedrals are in fact privately owned by a Little Falls local, Michael Loomis. I used to have his cell phone number and can try and track it down again. Mr. Loomis used to patrol his property with friends and baseball bats to ensure people weren't climbing there without paying his fee of $10/per person/per day. A couple of years ago, he lost his right left in a motorcycle accident and now is unable to actively patrol his land, but he does check for parked cars...so it would be best to try to reach out to him if you want to climb there.

The Access Fund tried to get involved but from what i've been told, he wanted a ridiculous amount of money for the land, so they backed out. I do know that the local climbers who did a lot of the route equipping over there have recently pulled all of their bolt hangers and top anchors because of the new ownership and access issues. Last time I was there, the only thing still equipped was the Black Arete (sick 5.12 arete) and a short 5.13a twin arete to the right of it.

Best of luck.

Justin Sanford wrote:I do know that the local climbers who did a lot of the route equipping over there have recently pulled all of their bolt hangers and top anchors because of the new ownership and access issues. Last time I was there, the only thing still equipped was the Black Arete (sick 5.12 arete) and a short 5.13a twin arete to the right of it. Best of luck.

Thanks for the info everyone. The situation as described is pretty much how I understood it, but I was just checking for any changes. Though a bit of a drive for me, I find it a pleasant place and with its mostly southwestern exposure and relatively quick-drying rock particularly good for early/late season visits.

No, Michael Loomis does still own the land and that is why a slew of hangers and top anchors were removed. They were installed years before he became the owner and the route developers removed their hardware so it could be installed elsewhere where climbing access is not a problem.

So are we no longer able to climb at Little Falls? Such a convenient highway break

According to recent posts over at rockclimbing.com, access is still possible (phone call obligatory!):
rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/fo…;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread
rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/fo…;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread

does Little Falls get black flies this time of the year?

TheIceManCometh wrote:does Little Falls get black flies this time of the year?