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Description
This area is a west facing limestone cliff ranging from 20 to 35 feet tall in High Cliff State park. Routes are top roped from trees above. Cracks and ledges on face climbs are all over the cliff with some interesting overhanging areas. An ok place to climb on an afternoon as well as doing some drytooling. Rock can be wet and muddy in cracks in the early season.
Getting There
From Appleton take hwy 10 east to hwy 114 east. go south where the road sign tells you to go south and into the park (need a sticker). the climbs are located along the entire cliff line. best areas are just west of the campground
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for High Cliff State Park:
Walk down the steps to the east of the Redbird Statue and below the main pavilion area. The trail will take you to a huge detached block. Some good bouldering can be found on the downhill side of the block.A blank roof crosses the right side of the wall. "Calm" climbs up a very overhanging prow that juts out from the right side of the wall, just right of the roof. Heel hooks and slaps lead to easier moves. The climb was topped-out on the first ascent, but this is not necessary as the top is tall...[more]Browse More Classics in WI
A couple buddies and I climbed here in 1984 and '85--we climbed over 80 routes all from the ground up with no previous inspection or cleaning. We also did a handful of routes on top-rope. We did find a few old pitons here and there. It's a great little area and has nice camping and a nice beach frequented by babes from Appleton and Oshkosh.
I have made a guide for a lot of the climbing at High Cliff. It isn't anything major, but it will give you a lot of the popular areas and routes. E-mail me if you would like a copy and I will send one to you.
Has anyone ever contacted the DNR to see if it would be ok to bolt lines here. I think that alot of the routes could be climbed more safely with bolts and even open up options where a TR is hard or impossible to set. Just a question this is not something that I would think about doing if it was not allowed.
Bolting has been small talk with high cliff climbers for several years. No one has really stepped up to make the next move.
Generally, the rock is very chossy and shallow, this makes most people hesitant of the bolts. Two bolts were at high cliff a long time ago, but they have since been removed (also a long time ago) because of the above reason.
I personally think the reserve area would be a perfect place to bolt... but that's just me.
I have not been to the reserve before but I will be sure to check it out soon. It would be nice to set up some test bolts somewhere to find out what would work best. Could you pm with anymore information you might think usefull, and id like to get a copy of your guide.
I was recently in touch with the park manager at High Cliff and found out that the park is a designated state natural are which means that no alteration to the rock is allowed so no bolting is allowed anywhere in the park.
By Chris treggE Administrator From: Madison, WI Jul 10, 2011
Thanks to Paul Campbell who will be reordering the problems from left to right.
there are so many routes not posted on here that are totally rad climbs, come on people lets get to work, haha with that said its getting cold outside and i'm gonna climb before the end of season, so whos ever down for high cliff soon call me (920)250-1621 peace