New Durham Area (Longstack, Devil's Den, Rines Hill, etc.) Rock Climbing

The New Durham Area consists of multiple crags Mount Molly, Rand Mountain, Devils Den, Rines Hill, Longstack, and Pleasant Valley all located on the east side of Lake Winnipesaukee. The town lines of New Durham, Alton, and Wolfeboro run through the area of the crags. The town of Wolfeboro provides stores and many great places to eat right on the lake. Camping areas can be found nearby, but you can also camp out off the class 6 road past Longstack or out by Devils Den. Please do not camp out in the parking areas for the crags. Also respect the area and pick up your trash and trash others have left behind. The ATV club has trash cans at the shooting range near Longstack. Mountain Bikes are a great way to reach many of the areas if you don't want to drive down the class 6 dirt roads.

The area had been climbed for years, but there was a lack of leadable routes in the area. In 2008, a group of locals got tired of top roping these great climbs and started scrubbing and developing the area. This crew is known as the Chinos (Chinos Mountain Club). It was a massive effort to establish the trails and routes. Since then, many of the members have moved on to Colorado and North Conway.

All of the crags offer various styles of climbing. Most of these areas offer great views of the surrounding mountains, lake Winni, and Merrymeeting lake. Longstack is one of the fastest drying cliffs in NH and can be climbed within a couple hours after rain.

Ice routes can also be found on the slabs at Devils Den, The lower area at Mount Molly, and the main ice area, Pleasant Valley.

There is now a guidebook for the area "The Chinos Guide: Climbing in the New Durham Area", written by a local Jonathan Garlough. This guidebook can be found at International Mountain Equipment (IME) in North Conway, Stay Tuned in Wolfeboro, Chessler Books online, and hopefully more areas soon...