Stone Hill Climbing

Summer (n): In Montana, the time of year when the temperature regularly breaks 25*. This is usually between July 5-9, but may extend out to Labor Day, if it's a good year. Since the Treasure State lies so close to the frozen tundra of Canadia, snow is always in the forecast.

Unfortunately, Stone Hill is about the only place with solid rock in Northwest Montana. You can thank Mother Nature for the freeze-thaw cycle; it's not too easy on MT rock. Fortunately, there are enough routes here to keep you busy and entertained for weeks. I believe ratings range from 5.6 to 5.12 (please correct me if I'm wrong) sport & trad. The setting here is picturesque, as the Highway of Love winds around lake Koocanusa (Kootenai + Canada + USA), which means the lakeview, along with plenty of tree-covered mountains, isn't anything to complain about. Approaches vary from bumper belays to longer walks above and below the road.

In 2023, a new PDF guide was created featuring 140+ routes that have been developed at Stone Hill since 2010: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_AauxD-FFZTvZ3Xf6pf6VzzTb7CPEGJ-/view

As of 2024, there are more than 650 routes and 100 established boulder problems at Stone Hill.