Climbing Near Newark, Ohio

An outstanding collection of 20+ boulder problems, with some short and steep, some slabby and techy, and some legit puckerfest highballs. Many stay dry more or less year round, and others will be drenched from November to May. Several lines here would be classics in any area, let alone central OH. Some have large flat landings, but others will need all the pads you can muster to make 'em safe.Please do not hang out up top or go exploring above the main cliff line. It is private property and we need to keep a low profile. The owner has been hands off so far. Let's try to ensure things stay that way please. This area is the furthest down on the left, to the... you guessed it... west. Easiest access is by walking all the way along Marne Rd to the large oil tank, and take the trail just right of the tank ~100 feet up the hill from there. You will hit Contortionist as you reach the cliff line.  If carrying a quiver of pads, this is certainly the easiest access point. Pro tip: drop off the pads in the pullout, go park in the parking lot, and then leisurely stroll back unencumbered.You can also walk along the trail under the cliff line all the way back towards rest of the crag.

The area includes a handful of boulder problems and five short bolted routes (basically roped bouldering!).  The sport lines on the left are nearly always wet except in late summer or fall, but are high quality if you can catch them dry!  The two routes on the right are faster to dry out. The bouldering can be hit or miss, with lines like "Get Railed" usually soaking wet in the winter and spring, and others staying fairly dry that are more inside the cave. From the main trail access point, stay to your left as you approach the cliff line.  Walk about 30 ft up a slight incline, and you will be standing in front of the right-most route on the wall, Closeout. The boulder problems are in the cave to the left and immediately around the corner.

Just cause we call it the Warmup Wall doesn't mean they are all easy!  This has a range of moderate climbs and has a lot of highly featured rock, although it can be a bit crumbly in places too, so beware.  Oh, and then there are a few places where the rock is suddenly quite blank, always, it seems, just as you are trying to pull over a bulge!On the anchors of every route there are a pair of mussy hooks. Very important:  only use the hooks to lower the LAST climber in your party.  Please do NOT climb on top rope through the hooks. If more than one person is climbing the route, always clip your rope through your own quickdraws to the anchors.  Then, once everybody in your party has climbed the route, the last climber simply needs to clip the rope through the hooks, remove your draws, and be lowered.  (Anchor cleaning and rappelling is not best practice and is much more likely to lead to an accident.)These routes are of medium height, about 30 or so feet.  Nothing extraordinarily amazing, but good solid fun!Most of these routes dry out pretty quickly after rain. They might have a wet pocket or ledge after a rain, but are otherwise pretty consistently dry year round. As you enter by the main access trail, this is the area you will come to immediately as you enter.  You'll see an obvious huge and usually wet and mossy chimney in the middle, with a handful of sport routes on either side, plus one fun trad route (even if there are bolts within arms' reach on either side!).