-Camden Hills Climbing

General:
The Camden Hills, on the west shore of the Penobscot bay, near Camden, Maine, have a variety of rock and ice climbing on a half-dozen small cliffs. While no Camden climbs are very long, some are of high quality. In particular, some of the ice climbs here are exceptional.

The Camden hills are composed mainly of metamorphosed rock that can vary wildly in appearance.

Gear: 
A standard Camden rack for the trad routes ranges from mirco-nuts, to a 3.5" Friend. Most areas take mainly small gear. It should be kept in mind that while the majority of the climbs in Camden are not extremely difficult, finding adequate protection can be. Many of the climbs have substantial run-outs, so it is best to be solid at the grade before leading the climb.

Guidebooks:
The defacto bible for the area is Camden Climbing, put out by locals Ben Townsend and Alan Rees. It's available at Maine Sport Outfitters in nearby Rockport.

Ben Townsend is very active on MP as well, and is a great friendly local guy, always up for giving some beta or sharing the secrets of Camden. Hit him up.

Guiding Services:

• Equinox Guiding Service - New kids on the block this guide service is primarily focused on climbing both rock and ice in and around Camden Hills.
• Atlantic Climbing School - With an office right in Bar Harbor these guys primarily serve Acadia and Camden, though they will guide any location in New England and also offer guiding internationally. Locally owned, these guys put out the last couple guidebooks for Acadia.
• Acadia Mountain Guides - Also based in Bar Harbor along with a location in Orono Maine, this school focuses primarily on Acadia but also guides throughout New England, along with occasionally offering AMGA classes. Owned by John Tierney, who wrote the original Clifton Guidebook.