Colleges near Red River Gorge Kentucky

I'm looking to go back to school full time and finding a college near a big climbing area is important to me. I Currently Live in Wisconsin and want to look at the closest colleges to Red River Gorge in the following states

Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Nebraska
North Dakota
Wisconsin

I am aware there are probably closer colleges in Kentucky, but the states I listed are part of the Midwest Student Exchange so I can possibly get in-state tuition or at least discounted out of state tuition. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Lol, the only one of the those states that is even sort of close to the Red is Illinois. Do your self a favor and don't go to college.

Based upon the above question, it would be best for you to avoid college.

Or learn to use Google.

do you even map bro?

Although I laughed at the comments, they were rude and insulting. I support Zach's decision to go to college. Upon first reading it was kind of funny because yes those states are not as close to the RRG as say, Kentucky. BUT did you read the he has to go to schools that are part of the Midwest Student exchange?

msep.mhec.org/state-contacts

When I frequented the RRG, I most often encountered people from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, in that order. So I would say those would be the closest on the list, to the RRG, and it would be easier to find Rideshares and other climbers from those regions headed there too.

Thanks Ana for reading the post in its entirety and not just the shiny object that caught the attention of all the others. Yes you hit the nail on the head. Most of those states are not close I just listed the whole collaboration. I thought people were capable of understanding this without your help! (I appreciate your serious response).

With that cleared up yes I can look at the map and see the states out of that group closest to RRG. In fact I don't need a map believe it or not! I'm asking if anyone knows specific colleges not that far. There are plenty of small colleges that get dwarfed by the big names and go practically incognito.

You should be looking at Southern Illinois University. You will have a good selection of local sandstone (even after school bouldering caves) and still be driving distance to the Red and TN crags as well as central missouri limestone. If you can go to school at University of Missouri, there is quite a bit of good local rock on tall limestone crags very close to campus (like within 5 mins). Much of it under the radar. It is humid as hell in all of these places so take the summers off and travel. Wisconsin might be bearable if you could go to school in Madison and get to Devil's Lake area regularly for rock and ice climbing. But you are still looking at an hr commute there. SIU in Carbondale is 20 mins to boulder on good stuff and some decent sport crags within 30mins to 1 hr. Michigan has some ok rock but great ice up on the lake and I think there is a college within spitting distance. Buy the book Rock n Road by Tim Toula.

Why not just put them all in google maps and see which is closest from say the campus address to miguel's.

I'd say Indiana University is the best in terms of education and distance to the Red. There are lots of great schools in Illinois and Michigan but they're a bit further.

JohnWesely wrote:Lol, the only one of the those states that is even sort of close to the Red is Illinois. Do your self a favor and don't go to college.

^^^ Way to be completely wrong and then try to belittle the OP's intelligence. Nice

It's not the red but...

SUNY NEW PALTZ, you can literally ride your bicycle to the GUNKS from there. (Also Bard, Vassar, Marist are nearby)

Hey Zach,

Im a local to Southern Illinois and let me tell you, as a climber there was no better choice then Southern Illinois University. With great sandstone climbing "Giant City" 15 minutes from campus, it was an easy choice for me. Southern Illinois offers a dozen sandstone crags for one to enjoy, and its within range of making a trip to the red over the weekends. If you need any more advice feel free to pm me.

You don't have to stay bound to the midwest forever, and it usually only takes a year to establish residency. If climbing is comething that really matters to year, you should choose a place to live or work or go to college that allows you to go climbing. It'll make you happier, and you won't waste huge amounts of time and gas money driving 3-6 hours each way to the Red. That time/money can be better spent on studying (or beer). When in college, it is great to be able to go climbing, then get back at a reasonable hour and get your schoolwork done.

You could easily move to the Red, and then work minimally for a year (at Miguels or otherwise) and climb a lot. You'll have a ton of fun, get a lot better at climbing, and establish residency--a year well spent. Once you establish residency, you can go to University of Kentucky as an in-state student.

Don't limit yourself to consideration of the Red either. So many Midwestern climbers fall in love with the Red and forget that there is a whole continent (and world) of other climbing areas to choose from. Many of these places don't actually have as good/much/steep climbing as the Red, but they are much nicer places to live with better weather. You could move to Colorado, or Utah, or California, etc... In many cases, it would usually just require a year of hanging out, working a bit, and going climbing a lot to establish residency. Depending on the state/school/situation you may also be able to attend community college and amass some very inexpensive credits toward you degree while establishing residency.

Just do your research before trying this. Requirements vary by state. Some signficiant effort is usually required to create a residency paper trail. As soon as you move to the state, you need to establish an address/residency (usually a van is not adequte), get a state drivers license, register you car, register to vote, change over your contact information for bank/credit card/ etc, pay income taxes in-state, and generally cut out paper-trail ties to your home state. Don't screw it up. There are also some age requirements sometimes; if you are below a certain age (often around 23) some states will consider you a dependent on you parents, and thus assume residency in thier home state, unless you have significant evidence otherwise. This proces is much easier if you are 25 than if you are 19, for both legal and practical reasons. usnews.com/education/best-c…

Medic741 wrote:It's not the red but... SUNY NEW PALTZ, you can literally ride your bicycle to the GUNKS from there. (Also Bard, Vassar, Marist are nearby)

Yeah, and Northern Arizona University is great too! You can boulder, and sport, and trad, and it has a great bar scene! I know it's not really answering your question, but I just wanted to contribute to this thread because I enjoy hearing myself type. Oh, and University of Colorado is in Boulder! I climbed next to Daniel Woods once!

Seriously, though, to the original poster, I DID read your entire message. I would go to IU in Bloomington. Great academics, fun town, badass gym, cool local scene of climbers, and easy weekend distance to the RRG (3.5 hour drive). Any other state (like North Dakota, yikes!) would seriously compromise your climbing.

(Devils Lake toprope warriors will be posting in this thread in three, two one....)

Why aren't you looking at schools in Tennessee? There are some good schools and access to the Red plus Chattanooga

Edit: i don't read good

Pnelson wrote: Yeah, and Northern Arizona University is great too! You can boulder, and sport, and trad, and it has a great bar scene! I know it's not really answering your question, but I just wanted to contribute to this thread because I enjoy hearing myself type. Oh, and University of Colorado is in Boulder! I climbed next to Daniel Woods once! Seriously, though, to the original poster, I DID read your entire message. I would go to IU in Bloomington. Great academics, fun town, badass gym, cool local scene of climbers, and easy weekend distance to the RRG (3.5 hour drive). Any other state (like North Dakota, yikes!) would seriously compromise your climbing. (Devils Lake toprope warriors will be posting in this thread in three, two one....)

Paul, you have yet again produced the perfect combination of withering sarcasm and very helpful practical advice. You are truly a master of Mountainproject. Go put THAT on your C.V.

RIP Camhead.

JCM wrote:You don't have to stay bound to the midwest forever, and it usually only takes a year to establish residency. If climbing is comething that really matters to year, you should choose a place to live or work or go to college that allows you to go climbing. It'll make you happier, and you won't waste huge amounts of time and gas money driving 3-6 hours each way to the Red. That time/money can be better spent on studying (or beer). When in college, it is great to be able to go climbing, then get back at a reasonable hour and get your schoolwork done. You could easily move to the Red, and then work minimally for a year (at Miguels or otherwise) and climb a lot. You'll have a ton of fun, get a lot better at climbing, and establish residency--a year well spent. Once you establish residency, you can go to University of Kentucky as an in-state student. Don't limit yourself to consideration of the Red either. So many Midwestern climbers fall in love with the Red and forget that there is a whole continent (and world) of other climbing areas to choose from. Many of these places don't actually have as good/much/steep climbing as the Red, but they are much nicer places to live with better weather. You could move to Colorado, or Utah, or California, etc... In many cases, it would usually just require a year of hanging out, working a bit, and going climbing a lot to establish residency. Depending on the state/school/situation you may also be able to attend community college and amass some very inexpensive credits toward you degree while establishing residency. Just do your research before trying this. Requirements vary by state. Some signficiant effort is usually required to create a residency paper trail. As soon as you move to the state, you need to establish an address/residency (usually a van is not adequte), get a state drivers license, register you car, register to vote, change over your contact information for bank/credit card/ etc, pay income taxes in-state, and generally cut out paper-trail ties to your home state. Don't screw it up. There are also some age requirements sometimes; if you are below a certain age (often around 23) some states will consider you a dependent on you parents, and thus assume residency in thier home state, unless you have significant evidence otherwise. This proces is much easier if you are 25 than if you are 19, for both legal and practical reasons. usnews.com/education/best-c…

I have definitely considered this before and am keeping it open as an option. I just didn't want to delay schooling any longer than I have. Surprisingly enough I never really thought about going to a tech school meanwhile establishing residency. (Pretty solid plan) I will keep an open mind because you are absolutely correct, there is better climbing around than The Red for sure. And thanks everyone for more feedback!