Cedar Bluff
Climbing Sections:
- Bouldering Cave (1)
- P.E. Boulder (1)
- Playground Wall (20)
- The Little Big Wall (5)
- Trinity Problems (3)
- Unnamed Boulder (3)
About Cedar Bluff:
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Tradional, sport, top rope climbing, and bouldering.
It's only a few minutes to Draper's Bluff, and Ferne Clyffe State Park, and about 20 minutes to Jackson Falls. An excellent weekend's worth of climbing, with a good mix of trad and sport, at a mix of levels. Not a weanie cliff; there are a good number of hard climbs, including a nasty off-width trad (of course), a good number of 12s, and at least one un-repeated 13 among them. It is, however, probably the best place to go for new climbers. Easy access to top-rope practically every climb; everything has solid bolt-and-chain anchors. Some good climbs to start leading trad and sport. Some good bouldering, not a lot of it. The great folks who've shown up for the Adopt-a-Crag events have done a great job of helping to mitigate damage done by so many climbers visiting Cedar Bluff. The superintendent of Ferne Clyffe State Park, of which Cedar Bluff is a part, pointed out some trouble areas of erosion damage, and exposed tree roots (which could kill the trees), and the hard-working climbers have terraced and re-treaded the trail with gravel, and blocked up problematic short-cut trails that were forming. Please respect the requests of the Park superintendent, and the work of the Adopt-a-Crag volunteers who've worked hard to keep Cedar Bluff accessible to climbing; use only the obvious established trails, and leave the large terrace stones in place. TR: Africa (big flake really looks like S. America, though)5.8. Sport: Dizzy, 5.8 (variation); Dos Equis, 5.9+; School Yard Blues, 11a; Itty Bitty, 11d/12a; Lats Waltz, 12b; Oily Easter Beaver and Vogue, both 12a/b. Trad: Mike's Meander, 5.6; Cave City, 5.6; Unfinished Symphony, 10a (one bolt); Ghosts & Goblins, 10a (couple bolts). Scare the S--t Outta Ya: April Fool, 10a R, trad, runout high and long, to chain anchors, onsight by John Payne; Thomas Bear Memorial, 11a R, one old bolt (state park won't let him retro bolt) way high, sketchy gear, to chain anchors, John Payne again. Remember that you can top-rope just about everything, though. Bouldering: traverse at the east end of the bluff. Check local weather here See Recommended Routes |
| Nearest town or city: | Lick Creek/ big town: Marion |
| Directions: |
From the south, take Interstate 24 north or Interstate 57 north.
On Interstate 24, go to Tunnel Hill Road, west (left) to Rte. 37, left to Buncombe (a small town, easy to miss), turn right (west) at Main street, go about a block to Lick Creek Road; make a right onto Lick Creek Road and stay on it until you come to Cedar Grove Road on your right (a sharp right turn). From the south on Interstate 57, go north to Lick Creek Road. From the north, get to Interstate 57, go south to Lick Creek Road. From Interstate 57, on Lick Creek Road, go east to Cedar Grove Road on your left (almost immediately after passing Draper's Bluff on your left). Take Cedar Grove road to the church, park in the lot, to the right side (be nice, quiet, and polite) as far from the church as you can reasonably get; don't use the outhouse. Follow the trail to the cliff. You can easily get to the Draper's Bluff parking area by going back to Lick Creek Road, and going west (right) a short distance. To get to Ferne Clyffe State Park, go east (left), to Buncombe, then north (left) on Rte. 37 to the Park entrance. You can also get to Jackson Falls by going further north on Rte. 37, to Tunnel Hill Road, east (right) to Hwy. 45, east (left) to Ozark Road, etc. |
| Latitude, Longitude: | |
| Access Issues: | |
| Camping: | None |
| When to Climb: | |
| Quantity of Climbs: | Week |
Forum Discussions (3 posts)
| Subject | Author | Replies | Last Post | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Climbing at Cedars 10/27 | climbchick | 1 | Oct 27 2002, 11:00 PM |
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Info on Cedar Bluff, including routes newly added | jds100 | 3 | Jul 29 2004, 3:19 PM |
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So. IL climbing areas | jds100 | 1 | Apr 16 2002, 5:38 AM |
