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420th Bluff
Big Falls
Black River Falls
Buildering Sites
Castle Rock South (Fishin' Crag)
Central Sandstone
Devil's Lake
Gibraltar Rock
Governor Dodge State Park
Grandad's Bluff
Grant County Ice
High Cliff State Park
Hillbilly Hollow
Horicon
Ice Pit (CLOSED), The
Interstate State Park
Jake's Rock
Jim Falls
Lone Rock
Monico Boulders
Mountain, WI Bouldering Area
Necedah (Petenwell Bluff)
Oak Leaf Bike Trail
Razor Wall
Redgranite Quarry
Rib Mountain
Rock Behind the Rugby Field
Shiprock (a.k.a. Sh*trock)
Stevens Point Buildering
Westby Bouldering
Wiedman Memorial Park
Willow River State Park
Wolf Rock
Wyalusing ice
420th Bluff
Big Falls
Black River Falls
Buildering Sites
Castle Rock South (Fishin' Crag)
Central Sandstone
Devil's Lake
Gibraltar Rock
Governor Dodge State Park
Grandad's Bluff
Grant County Ice
High Cliff State Park
Hillbilly Hollow
Horicon
Ice Pit (CLOSED), The
Interstate State Park
Jake's Rock
Jim Falls
Lone Rock
Monico Boulders
Mountain, WI Bouldering Area
Necedah (Petenwell Bluff)
Oak Leaf Bike Trail
Razor Wall
Redgranite Quarry
Rib Mountain
Rock Behind the Rugby Field
Shiprock (a.k.a. Sh*trock)
Stevens Point Buildering
Westby Bouldering
Wiedman Memorial Park
Willow River State Park
Wolf Rock
Wyalusing ice
Wisconsin
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Devils Lake. Crux of Stool Pidgeon. Photo: Henning... 
Wisconsin Rocks
Welcome to Wisconsin, home to some of the Upper Midwest's finest rock climbing venues. Probably, the most popular and highest quantity of climbing can be found at Devil's Lake. Nonetheless, there are other scattered crags in the state for those who are willing to drive and explore. Don't expect to find towering cliffs here, but there is an amazing quality and history to the climbing in the state.
Steve Schultz on Good Morning Veruca, Devil's Lake
Ted Kryzer on Wild West Homo, Devil's Lake
Henning Boldt climbing Fire In The Sky, Necedah (Petenwell Bluff)
Steve Schultz on Good Morning Veruca, Devil's Lake
Steve running a lap.
Ted Kryzer on Wild West Homo, Devil's Lake
Ted Kryzer on WWH in the approaching storm. 07/25/09.
Henning Boldt climbing Fire In The Sky, Necedah (Petenwell Bluff)
Necedah, WI. Fire Spire. Henning Boldt on Fire in the Sky. May 02 '09.
Climbing Season
Weather station 5.3 miles from here
2,746 Total Routes
['4 Stars',170],['3 Stars',1088],['2 Stars',1071],['1 Star',341],['Bomb',12]
['<=5.6',312],['5.7',185],['5.8',180],['5.9',126],['5.10',175],['5.11',127],['5.12',123],['5.13',33],['>=5.14',1],['',0],['<=V1',192],['V2-3',718],['V4-5',288],['V6-7',125],['V8-9',109],['V10-11',0],['V12-13',39],['>=V14',0]
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Wisconsin:
Queen's Throne 5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c Trad, TR West Bluff - Cleo Amphithea... : The Cleo Amphitheater
East Comfort Route 5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c Trad, 1 pitch, 50' West Bluff - Cleo Amphithea... : Cleopatra's Needle
Peter's Project 5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 60' East Bluff - East Rampart : Many Pines Buttress
Birch Tree Crack 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 50' East Bluff - East Rampart : Pedestal Buttress
Sometime Crack 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 50' East Bluff - East Rampart : Pedestal Buttress
Cheatah 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 120' East Bluff - East Rampart : Bill's Buttress
D.L.F.A 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c Trad, 29 pitches, 290' East Bluff - East Rampart : Pedestal Buttress
Son Of Great Chimney 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c PG13 Trad, 1 pitch, 70' Prospect Point Rampart : Great Chimney Area
Whiskey a Go-Go 5.13a 7c+ 29 IX+ 29 E6 6c Sport, 1 pitch, 50' Necedah (Petenwell Bluff) : Y-Crack Wall
Featured Route For Wisconsin
AAA can be found near the north end of the Horse Rampart formation. The route follows the west-facing outside corner up through the overhang and to the top....[more] Browse More Classics in WI
Latest Regional Forum Messages
From Midwest Go to Forum | What's New | Post New Topic
| Topic Title | Author | Date |
| Crowd at Cox Hollow on 1/31/15 | Josh Vanselow | 8 hours ago |
| re: Russellville, AR craggin | Brent Butcher | 19 hours ago |
| re: Planning a Trip to Hueco Tanks: Looking For Advice | Dallas R | 2 days ago |
| re: Michigan Ice Fest Carpooling | Russ Woods | 3 days ago |
| re: Central Texas Climber needs adventure partner | Fiore | 3 days ago |
| re: Midwest Ice Conditions-14/15 season | jon jugenheimer | 4 days ago |
| re: New! Need climbing partners/friends | Juggler | 5 days ago |
| re: Weekend climbing partners needed | Nancy Saucedo | 6 days ago |
Slideshow
Somewhere in southern Wisconsin...
Perhaps Cleo's 1st Ascent? This was "borrowe...
View from Cactus Bluff near Sauk of the Lower Wisc...
Fall '07 colors at Devils Lake.
Poor photo/ light quality, but here is a shot of C...
Devil's Lake from the top of the Old Sandstone blu...
Devil's Lake. Looking down the East Bluff from the...
Oh DEER!!
View from Cactus Bluff.
Wisconsin climbing legend, Travy Melin.
East Bluff
West Bluff
Wisco sport bash 2013!!
View from Cactus Bluff looking downstream (west).
Ammo Cams
Sauk County
Sauk County Virgin Sandstone?
Narrows Creek, central WI
"Flying Fin" Sauk County, Wisconsin
Sauk County
Sauk County
A secret Wisconsin summit!
Kris Gorny's 9.7mm Beal after a fall where the rop...
Our awesome state
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| Comments on Wisconsin | Add Comment |
| Show which comments —
Comments displayed oldest to newest — Skip Ahead to the Most Recent Dated Sep 19, 2014 |
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By Leo Paik Administrator From: Westminster, Colorado Apr 23, 2008 |
Anyone climb at the cliffs near Greenleaf off WI Hwy 57? One hiker mentioned it had the same Niagara escarpment limestone as High Cliff State Park but taller cliffs. |
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By sweatpants From: Broomfield, CO May 14, 2008 |
I was curious if anyone knows of any bouldering that's been found in southern wisconsin or northern Illinois that might not be very well known? Just figured I'd ask. any info is appreciated. thanks! |
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By TravisMelin From: Roanoke, VA La Crosse, WI May 14, 2008 |
I scoped out a great deal of the central area just north of the border (my folks live there). The best I found was a stone watertower (project still), and a stone barn (V5 traverse)....any true rock was all choss or too short. |
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By Leveille From: Appleton, WI Jul 26, 2008 |
Anyone climb around Niagara, Wi? It seems like there is a decently long and high cliff band with no houses on top or anything so it might be a city/county park. Maybe the mill there owns the part behind the mill but most of it seems pretty accessible. It does look quite virgin (dirty) though. It also looks like high quality High Cliff stone under the dirt/moss/etc. I checked out the Niagara's website and they don't really mention the cliffs specifically though it sounds like there are various other gorges, etc. in the area. |
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By matt oberley Apr 14, 2011 |
The new Union South in Madison is advertising that they have a climbing and bouldering wall and is opening this week...anyone know anything about the size and/or quality of these supposed walls? |
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By Tradoholic Apr 14, 2011 |
I am consulting for the U South Wall. It's about 30ft tall and features 4 auto-belays, plus a small boudering cave. The wall is mostly geared to beginners (I did the setting) with a harder route or two mixed in (5.10 max). There is also an awesome crack to climb (Jason Skinner FA). One of the auto belays is on a "realistic" wall which looks good but severally limits what you can set on it. All the holds are Nicros and setting is mostly done by hold color and not by colored tape (less mess). Hours are roughly going to be 4pm-9pm I think. I believe you can go down and check it out starting next Monday. |
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By matt oberley Apr 14, 2011 |
Thanks for the info...any pictures of U South? |
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By Juggler May 31, 2011 |
To All Chicago Area Climbers: I am looking for partners to go to WI climbing and other locations(Jackson Falls, DL, The Red, Grand Dads, etc) with. I have an Airplane and can fly us there. Please send me a PM if you want more details and the cost of sharing the flight expenses. Hope to meet a few of you soon. I can fit up to 4 climbers with me in the Cherokee 6(with room for gear). I also have lodging available in a log cabin in the area :) |
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By Jeff VS Jan 10, 2012 |
Devil's Lake: The top of Sunken Pillar/der Glotz on Balanced Rock Wall is missing! Large rock fall in the last few days. Doesn't change the rating of anything but there is a different look. Perfect climbing day today. 50+ degrees in the middle of January! |
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By Greeley May 24, 2013 |
Is there any climbing in northwestern Wisconsin? I'm headed to some cabins this summer near Siren, WI and Hayward, WI and I'm trying to find something to climb on while I'm up there -- a mini-crag, a boulder, a retaining wall, anything! So far I haven't had much luck searching the interwebs. |
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By Remo From: Madison, WI May 25, 2013 |
Hey Greeley, Check out Interstate State Park near Saint Croix Falls. Lots of great Trad, TR, and bouldering opportunities. Good luck. |
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By Greeley Jun 9, 2013 |
Thanks, Remo. I know about Interstate Park, but I was hoping to find something farther north. Know of anything? |
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By Scott7777 Jun 28, 2013 |
Does anyone know the condition of the wall at willow? I heard there has been a lot of rain lately. Is it climbable? |
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By Oklobzija Sep 18, 2013 |
The Minnesota Bouldering Guide is finished! Get your copy here! midwestboulderingguide.blogspo... |
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By al grahn Oct 26, 2013 |
Greeley, you might be closer to Duluth. Check out stuff in Duluth and Ely's Peak and of course further up the Shore. |
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By C.J. DeYoung III Feb 13, 2014 |
Hi all! My wife and I will be out west this summer sport climbing and bouldering (CO & WY) and we would like to break up our trip back east and WI looks like a good place to stop for a couple of days. Which area(s) should we look to stop and climb at? We won't have any trad gear as that's what we do regularly... Thanks for the beta. |
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By James M Schroeder From: Sauk County, WI Feb 13, 2014 |
CJ, The bouldering at Governor Dodge and Devils Lake is excellent. As far as sport climbing you could check out Grandad's Bluff, Necedah, Hillbilly Hollow or Governor Dodge. Devils Lake is the mecca of toproping and a bunch of webbing with a set of nuts is all you'd need to see you through that. If you choose Devils Lake or Governor Dodge drop me a line on your way through. |
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By C.J. DeYoung III Feb 13, 2014 |
Thanks James! Governor looks great! We LOVE climbing on sandstone and there appears to be camping there as well? Hard to pass up a one stop area. We'll be coming in the later half of Aug and it would be great to meet up with a local!! Would you be willing to sent me your contact info at some point? Is there a guide book or topo available anywhere (in case we're not able to hookup)? |
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By James M Schroeder From: Sauk County, WI Feb 14, 2014 |
CJ - Just send me a message through MP when it gets closer to you getting out here and if I'm around I'll meet up with you guys. As far as guidebooks go, MP has the most up-to-date info available. Cheers, James |
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By Keenan From: Eau Claire, WI Jun 6, 2014 |
I am looking for a partner around the Eau Claire area with ropes that would like to clean and establish some new lines. |
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By John Kenb Jul 25, 2014 |
Out of the two areas (Devils Lake and Governor Dodge), which is more enjoyable to climb and find problems at? I'm looking to spend some time bouldering in these areas. |
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By Chris treggE Administrator From: Madison, WI Jul 25, 2014 |
John- how much time you got and what are your goals? High concentration of stuff with easy approaches at gov dodge, but rock can be suspect. DL stuff is more spread out with better rock but longer approaches. Either area you choose I'm sure you will have fun. There was a storm that knocked over some trees at the best area at the dodge recently (group camp B) and some problems are covered on deadfall right now. |
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By John Kenb Jul 26, 2014 |
Hey Chris thanks for the quick reply. I plan on staying for 3-4 days bouldering in the area. I'm coming from Michigan and there are rumors here that most of the boulders in DL are hard to find due to lack there of a proper guide book. Dodge seems most appealing thus far, simply because of the sandstone(despite the choss) and the size of the area seems much smaller then DL. Is there any word when some of these trees in the area might be taken care of? |
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By Chris treggE Administrator From: Madison, WI Jul 26, 2014 |
The downed trees are tricky because you are allowed to cut up fallen trees for campfires, but for that you need to rent a group site. You can't just show up and start cutting. So, the WCA is coordinating a time for that to happen but it won't be in the next few weeks probably. There is still plenty to climb. If you get bored there, the "north shore" area at DL is easy to find, and from there you can hike the east bluff trail and there is a lot that's easy to find along there, too. Likewise, there are a couple areas that are easy to find on the west bluff along the tumbled rocks trail. Don't let the rumors dissuade you from climbing at DL. The guidebook is coming... |
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By Chris treggE Administrator From: Madison, WI Sep 19, 2014 |
Boulder bash 2014 next weekend at governor dodge! Check out the promo video: |
