BETA PHOTO: This is the new revised route map for the area.
Description
Hillbilly Hollow is a sweet little sandstone bluff hidden behind a wayside along highway 39/51 in central Wisconsin. It also goes by the names Pasamead Hollow, Area 51 and Liberty Rocks. It is a quiet getaway sporting about a days worth of climbing.
At "The Hollow" one will find both traditional and sport routes ranging in difficulty from 5.6 to 5.13a. Two ultra-classic routes, Zig-zag Crack (5.10a Trad/TR) and Swiss Cheese (5.8 Sport/TR) make Hillbilly Hollow worth a stop if you are in the area.
Getting There
To find the Wayside start out southbound on Highway 39/51 from the Highway 21 interchange or further north. (Note: if approaching from the south one has to drive 5 min. past the wayside exit at Highway 21 and return southbound -- or poach the turnaround immediately north of the wayside "for emergency vehicles only") The wayside is located at about mile marker 120 (approx. 7 miles north of Westfield exit 113). Once in the wayside locate the shelter/bathrooms. Walk around the shelter on the left (east) side and locate a trail into the woods approx. 50 ft southeast of the shelter. Follow this trail through the woods, and slightly uphill. Upon reaching the shoulder of the ridgeline (this will all be apparent at the time), continue left to follow the trail into the canyon and the base of the climbs - or go right to access the top of the routes.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Hillbilly Hollow:
This is a great route that follows the Zig-zagging crack on the South facing wall of the canyon. There are lines of bolts on both sides of this route. It starts to left of what could be called a cave, but still surmounts an overhang in the beginning....[more]Browse More Classics in WI
This area was discovered by Dave Groth due to an off chance comment by a hillbilly at DL. "I seen rocks like this before..." or some such thing. Dave and Bechler lead all the gear lines and then added the hard lines on the left in the mid 80s. If you have not been here before, the rock quality is mostly excellent and on par with that of the New Sandstone area at DL. A very cool little canyon that could use some modernizing.
Regarding the name of the easy bolted route-- I don't know who set it, but the person that introduced me to climbing called it "Swiss Cheese"....Might not be commonly used though.....I Always had a certain affinity for it....Besides a couple trips to a gym, it was my first climb and then lead. Great site!
Wasn't or isn't this area also referred to as "Pasamead Hollow" by a lot of climbers Wisconsin? Just thought I would throw that little tidbit in there. Also, I love the ole bit of Sconny climber lore associated with this place--- permanent residence for Tommy Duechtler (sp?) for quite some time if I remember right???
I have been climbing at the Hollow for many years now and have even put together a climbing guide to the area and many other areas, but stopped because I did not want to see some of my favorite climbing areas overrun. Many of these climbing areas in Wisconsin have unique ecological niches and some are even off limits due to endangered plant species. Also, many of these climbing areas are not suited for large amounts or even a minor increase in visitors to the area. When providing information on climbing areas please keep in mind the overall impact of providing the information.
Climbed for the first time at HH today. A real treat. climbed "Curse of the Drill" and "End of the Innocence". Ron, you and your crew did an oustanding job on the bolt placement.
Hey I just wanted to say thanks to the guys who bolted both "Curse" and "End," both felt like solid lines for the beginning leader. I had a lot of fun out on them today, thanks.
AS far as the rock quality goes I had a question about the lower faces on waht i think would be the north west face of the ridge (opposite end that the trail comes in with a fence near the rocks) is any of this good for bouldering?? most of it looked rather brittle and never cleaned. Is any of it solid???
By Jay Knower Administrator From: Plymouth, NH Apr 13, 2009
The long discussion about bolting at Hillbilly Hollow has been moved to the forum. You can find it here: Hillbilly Forum
If you have anything to add on this issue, please post it to the forum, not to this page.
Has anyone climbed the thin crack to the right from what I think is Pine Tree Crack? No bolts, thin trad gear, directly across from Swiss Cheese. If anyone has, what would they rate it? Thanks.
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