Cape Cod climbing/bouldering

i know... ha ha ha funny.
i'm moving from tucson, az to the Cape in the fall and am a bit (hugely) concerned about the lack of climbing. i'll be in the Sandwich area. i hear there's a boulder on the "elbow" somewhere?

any leads on locations, partners, etc. are greatly appreciated.

this week, i will be buying holds for a wall in the basement.

thanks!

I aid climbed a big ropes course tree in the Sandwich area a bunch of years ago. That's about all I got for ya...

--Marc

mmm sandwich

Being from CT, I havn't heard of any rock on the Cape.. but who knows

I suspect you'll be making the trek to rumney quite often!

Cape Cod boulder:

eserc.stonybrook.edu:8080/F…

Not on the cape, but...

Map of near-ish areas

There's also stuff in CT I know nothing about.

Quincy Quarries is the closest crag worth spending a day at) if you like that urban setting) and you have a gym kinda close to you (carabiners.com).

the mass climbing thread over at rc.com has a great group of folks so finding a partner won't be too hard.

enjoy the cape - early fall is the best time to be down there, great weather and less people.
a.

Hi,
don't be depressed, climbing when living on the Cape is not easy but doable ... especially if you don't mind traveling a little bit.
As Adam said there is a very nice indoor gym in New Bedford (Carabiners). As far as outdoor is concerned, there are crags in western mass but the best is to travel to NH, Vt and NY. We have several major climbing sites just a few hours driving from the Cape: North Conway, Cannon, The Gunks, the Adirondacks, Rumney ...
Enjoy!

Is this beautiful boulder really boulderable?!

PRRose wrote:Cape Cod boulder: eserc.stonybrook.edu:8080/F…

At least you will be going opposite the heinous traffic every weekend of the summer...

Maybe check out Lincoln Woods just north of Providence, RI or College Rock in MA. I haven't gone to either one yet but I just moved back to MA and plan to investigate in the near future. You are also somewhat close to Quincy Quarries, some love it some hate it. I'm in agreement with the latter.

PM me if you're ever in the Cape Ann area as I would love to find some people to climb with.

-Doug.

desert-marie wrote:i know... ha ha ha funny. i'm moving from tucson, az to the Cape in the fall and am a bit (hugely) concerned about the lack of climbing. i'll be in the Sandwich area. i hear there's a boulder on the "elbow" somewhere? any leads on locations, partners, etc. are greatly appreciated. this week, i will be buying holds for a wall in the basement. thanks!

I think that the quality of climbing on the Cape proper is similar to that found in the greater New Orleans area. A good, useful answer to your question depends on what it is you're looking for. Are you asking about places to go for some bouldering after work during the week? Or roped climbing for weekends?

The suggestion to go to Lincoln Woods is a good one. From Sandwich you're only about an hour away, so some bouldering after work is a possibility, at least during these longer days. College Rock is also a possibility, but you're beginning to get further away from home. Everything else is too far away (or really trafficky) for this kind of quickie.

For weekend trips, the suggestions for Rumney, North Conway area, the Gunks are all good choices, though the Adirondacks are really too far. Unless of course a nearly 6 hour drive is OK with you.

Cheers!
Lizz

DFrench:
(or anybody else)

I Live in Vegas now but grew up in M'Head MA.
I don't anticipate being back there anytime soon so I can't make plans to get out for a climb with you...
But if you would like any info on Cape Anne and N.Shore Boston bouldering areas...
I have trudged the woods plenty and have a few old guide books. One is the old "Climbing in Eastern Mass" By Steve Hendrick and Sam Streibert.

As well I have a lot of notes that were for the content of a guide that never got published. I forget who's notes they are but I got them from Johnny Strand and it's a pretty good resource for locations and directions to some of the more obscure stuff.

Lemme know... I'd be happy to share ;)

Climbing on the Cape. Hmm. Wow. Not much--buildering, perhaps. Don't get me wrong--the Cape is beautiful--but the rocks on the Cape are so rare that they all have names. Your best option is Doane Rock in Orleans near Nauset and Coast Guard Beaches. Head for the beaches themselves and you will see a sign for it on the right after you enter the National Seashore and before the beaches. It's about 12-ft high, sloped on one side and nicely featured on the other. There actually is some pretty nice bouldering on this side, but it's somewhat licheny since almost no-one does it. Definitely invest in a wall. There's not much for climbing gyms there, either, though there are gyms around New Bedford and Providence, RI. Lincoln Woods in RI has fine bouldering. College Rock in Hopkinton is quite nice for TR-ing though small. The climbing in NH and NY are at least 4 hours away, but worth the drive. Remember it rains a lot here too. Hate to say it, but if I were moving to the Cape, I'd kayak more or take up surfing. Your car will be your friend. I go down to Lincoln Woods & College Rock a lot & would be happy to show you around.

I'm formally from the Cape and get back often. I'm usually down around Orleans. I've actually uncovered some nice gems in Orleans & Brewster. Orleans has a nice boulder next to the Nauset School Administration building near the police station and town tennis courts. A slabby front side but the back is about 10' tall with a few nice lines. Doanne Rock in Eastham is OK if your looking for blocky crap and polished slabs. Best find is a huge granite erratic on Cliff Pond in Nickerson State Park. The boulder is about 15' tall, right on the beach and good rock. It's located along the shore just above Area 6 ( mass.gov/dcr/parks/trails/n…). I've put up a bunch of problems over the last 5 years or so from V0-V8. There's another decent boulder Dennis worth checking out. Not great rock but considering it's the Cape......

Jeff

Scargo Tower, in Dennis.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarg…

Probably best not to use any chalk there.

"Think of it not as a tower, but as a wall 56 feet long and 28 feet high." - Sam Streibert

If you do go to Quincy Quarries, don't leave anything in your car. Nothing visible at all.

Hopefully, it's gotten better, but in the mid-90's, people were always getting their car windows smashed.

There used to be a guide book called Boston Rocks that mapped out everything in the Boston area. Sorry I don't know anything closer to the Cape.

Near Falmouth:

Power Line Boulder, some easy slab, V5, and somthing hard up the main face, V8+?
https://goo.gl/maps/rkUdtBqAoVYa5HGKA

Miracle Boulder,

This pin is not accurate, but it is in this area, just off the road.
https://goo.gl/maps/stu3QpyCoZG5wjxZ7

Really good V2 following the rail up the main face. Many other options.

thanks for sharing ben. any other boulders that you know of?

there are some glacial erratics spread through out the cape. there are a few fun boulders in west brewster/east dennis. one at drummer boy park in brewster, one out wing island in brewster, and a beautiful one right on the bay west of crows pasture beach in dennis (can also walk to it from cold storage beach, travel east) also hokum rock in dennis is a pretty well known one that has several fun problems. orleans has got a couple erratics, the one on the beach at the end of tonset road can be fun to play around on at low tide. 

benofromaus wrote: Miracle Boulder,

This pin is not accurate, but it is in this area, just off the road.
https://goo.gl/maps/ZqSuQfwmU2eJGu2r5

Really good V2 following the rail up the main face. Many other options.

hey ben

im on cape for a little while and i tried to find the miracle boulder in falmouth that you posted a picture of and wasnt able to. im wondering if you could help me find it. did you access it from the roads within the otis air force base or from the same access along to powerlines as for the other boulder?

lemme know, cheers

Hi,
I updated the pin by looking at the geo data from the picture. I accessed it from the power line boulder by heading NE along winding trails until running in to Cole Rd. Walking North on Cole Road it will be on your left hand side, about 10 feet from the road behind some small pitch pines.