Bouldering in Glacier National Park??

Spending a week there with my wife and kids this summer, and we're up for exploring on our own - but is there any established stuff in the V5 and under range that people know about? Any concentrated areas worth checking out? Just forget it and enjoy the hiking?

Drop in and chat with the staff at Rockfish Climbing Gym in Whitefish, MT. They should have some beta on the local climbing areas.

There is a facebook group for NW Montana you could hit up for beta:

facebook.com/groups/montana…

I've seen some pics on there of newer problems in Bad Rock Canyon.

Most of the established bouldering in Montana seems to be further south in the Bitterroot, Butte and Bozeman areas where the rock is more granitic. All of those spots a ways from glacier but maybe not that far out of your way if you're driving in.

Glacier NP has little to no established rock climbing on account of the terrible rock quality. This is unfortunate seeing as how GNP has some of the biggest walls in the country. As far as I know there are not any established problems INSIDE the park. There seem to be some further south in the Bob Marshall wilderness (see Blackleaf Canyon above), or in other canyons close by, but the terrain in the park does not lend itself to bouldering. Feel free to explore though.

There is some stuff I did while I lived there. Some of it awesome. None of it concentrated and none of it easy access. Bad rock has some ok stuff right off the road. I put most of that up six or seven years ago (it probably had been done before that) There is still a cool 9 or 10 there I should go back and do someday. If mcdonald creek is really low there is some decent stuff on the cliff bands but I usually didnt hit this until September or early october. The highline trail has some granite cliffband bouldering but it is a bit of a hike for what you get out of it. Blackleaf bouldering is decent but the routes are way better so I usually just did that. There is a pretty good limestone area up spotted bear but once again it is a twenty some mile drive on a grated dirt road. Lost wall by kalispell has some decent stuff and stryker has a few problems here and there. Probably best to make the smart choice and go hiking.

Thanks all! Yeah, I think we'll leave the pads at home for this trip and just bring gear for stuff elsewhere on the way there and back. Still excited to see the park!