Interstate State Park Bouldering Climbing

Taylors Falls Bouldering enjoys a long history extending at least into the 1970s. It has been a stable training and play grounds for Twin Cities and St. Croix River local climbers, as well as a popular destination for day-tripping Minneapolis-Saint Paul tourists.

The park is centered around a bend in the Saint Croix River and the "Potholes Trail," a series of rounded and polished holes worn over centuries from the basalt found in the park, and extending from inches across to 60 feet in diameter.

The climbing is renowned for it's smooth, polished rock, and infamous slopers, crimps, and poor feet. Numerous short crack routes/problems are found amongst very hard powerful crimp problems.

There are numerous classic problems in the Potholes, and almost every problem qualifies as good. There is endless VB bouldering along the Tourist Rocks area. Several sought-after ticks include B2 Bomber (V4, in the Boonyards, or B2 Pit), Slicksides (V0 crack highball), Lunge or Plunge (V4 throw from underclings), Nanhole (V0), Twinkletoes (V3, technical), and Left of Lloyds stand (V9? recently broken foot). One of the hardest lines in Minnesota, and the midwest for that matter, This Sporting Life (aka Left of Lloyds Sit, V12) can be found in the Boneyards Pit.

Bouldering can be had all year round, depending on the severity of the winter and snow, and your tolerance of cold toes. The dead of summer brings soupy humidity, and swarms of mosquitoes; bees can cover the sun-facing walls in August and September.

Numerous guidebooks have been attempted over the years, none of them ever formally published. Rumors persist of a "guidebook in the works," but for now, problems are found in the hearts of the old-timers locals and the imagination of the younger generation.

Please feel free to add any knowledge you have of bouldering history or established problems to this website.

A separate section exists for Wisconsin Taylors Falls/Interstate Park bouldering under the Wisconsin heading. Perhaps some day the two will be merged, but for the time being, they remain separate.