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Cape Ann
Massachusetts
> N Shore
Description
Cape Ann is the bulge of land north of Boston on which Gloucester is the largest city and one of the oldest functioning seaports in the New World. This area is studded throughout with a wealth of granite, mainly boulders and short cliffs. Tucked away in the woods of Gloucester,Rockport, Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Marblehead as well as other towns are few-and-far-between bouldering destinations and cliff bands with high quality routes on exquisite, bulletproof New England granite.
The local ethos of Cape Ann has traditionally been to develop pure lines which are not contrived eliminates and do not detract from established problems or routes. Please respect that spirit and refrain from posting contrived eliminate boulder problems or routes from this area on Mountain Project.
Getting There
Drive north from Boston on I-93 to the junction of I-95 and Route 128. Peabody bouldering exists right at this junction of highways. All destinations in Gloucester and other neighboring towns straddle Route 128 after its divergence from I-95 as it heads toward Gloucester.
Special Note
To avoid difficulty in finding perhaps the best known of the Cape Ann crags, Redrock, this particular crag has been left out separately under the general Massachusetts page, since some climbers, even locals, do not necessarily think first to look under Cape Ann when looking for Redrock.
[Hide Photo] Redrocks Conservation Area... much more than just Main Wall and Pink Floyd Wall.
[Hide Photo] "Tinman." 5.8. The most prominent crack at Oz. To the left of the weird chimney ("Flying Monkey"). The base of the crack likes to seep, but you can easily get to the crack proper without gettin…
[Hide Photo] Cape Ann Granite in the Harvard Natural History Museum.
[Hide Photo] Down Under: Main wall on the left of the gully. To the right is the leftmost section containing the lines Down over/under, Blocks, Doug's Nose, and the classic Doug's Roof.
[Hide Photo] Cape Ann Granite in the Harvard Natural History Museum.
[Hide Photo] Unknown "sea cave" found along the "Essex County coastline" (from internet).
[Hide Photo] "Flying Monkey." 5.6. Weird, wet, and mossy chimney (with bolts!) left of the prominent crack ("Tinman"). Haven't climbed this. I'm guessing you can stem up it (it's pretty low angle). Doesn't…
[Hide Photo] "Ruby Slippers." 5.10. Bolted arete between the prominent crack ("Tinman") and the left side face. The climb goes up the arete and ignores the easy features to the left. TR anchors on the top.
[Hide Comment] Cape Ann in general has a rich history of climbing. Hard locals who you have never heard of have done the majority of these problems back in the '80s. It is out of respect to these individuals that I (nor should anyone else) claim first ascents or name (aside from just a form of description from one to another) these problems. They are there, they have been there, and they have all been climbed. Enjoy, clean up after yourself and respect. Granite.
May 25, 2011
Anyone ever climbed this little slabby wall? It's located in the Cavalry Boulder Field area (across from Red Rock). It's visible on the topo as the large rocky outcrop near the Orange path after the Orange and Green Paths separate. It's not huge but has potential for a route or two.
[Hide Comment] Chris had me belay him on this slab onsight/clean and scrub/trad... and the start is the crux with 3m of steep slab and no pro till that crack. T.o unknown bugs were killer that day, didn't care to stick around... when will the winter come!?
Aug 11, 2012
[Hide Comment] My parents moved to Rockport a few years ago, and I've been in town a couple times. After a bit of exploration, I discovered a few top rope anchors above a slab at the one of the Lanesville Pits. Anybody know anything about these climbs? I'm planning on checking it out when I return this November. The routes are probably 20-30 feet on what looks like pretty low angle slab, as I remember, so nothing to get too excited about.
It also occurs to me that there could be top rope potential for some longer routes on the walls at a few of the quarries. Not to mention soloing on the quarry walls! One of the Lanesville Pits (northeast?) has a wall which is more than 40 feet. I was also told of a third pit with a 75 foot wall, but I wasn't able to find it. It may also be possible to access the walls by traversing above the water from near the bottom, but I didn't look closely.
Also, presumably people have bouldered on some of the numerous boulders in Dogtown Commons, but there isn't any information here.
From previous posts, I'm led to believe that everything climbable on Cape Ann has been climbed. It would be nice to preserve some of the history, which is only possible if it's documented!
I'm not sure where else to look for information; any help is appreciated.
Oct 9, 2012
[Hide Comment] The top anchors in question were put in by me and get mostly used by project adventure, but there are a number of short, fun lines there for folks climbing 5.5 - 5.8. The best access is parking by the Plum Cove beachball field (resident sticker required) and hiking up the trail. The bouldering in Dogtown is amazing but involves quite a bit of walking, and unless you are very familiar with the trails, it is hard to say where the best blocks are. A Dogtown map is availible (The Gloucester Book Store, on-line? and at the kiosk heading into dogtown off Cherry St.) and a great start for bouldering is Whales Jaw, Peter's Pulpit, and Spiritual Power at the Babson Boulders. PM me if you want a bit more goods.
Oct 12, 2012
[Hide Comment] How are the climbing conditions this time of year? Sunshine wall seems like an obvious choice, but wondering if there are other good cold weather options....
Dec 28, 2012
[Hide Comment] Mop Grip Quarry might be good. Most of the quarries in Gloucester should be warm(isher), but right now I think your gonna be fighting the ice that's starting to come in. Bouldering this time of year is generally a safe bet though.
Jan 3, 2013
Among the many pages of random rock related pictures, there are several interesting ones of large erratics and good-looking outcrops on and around Cape Ann and Essex County in general. Most are historic shots. Many of these are probably known about by some boulderer, but if anyone is bored or motivated (the two are often same thing) and wants to find some new stone to climb dig through these images. You might find something cool.
[Hide Comment] Hey Jim - Great Link! He mentions the House and Barn boulders in this link, and I found another link about them that says there are even more in the Westford Woods. Anyone know more?
[Hide Comment] A little heads up to all who venture into the Cape Ann woods in search of some bouldering. A lot of the grades are very hard (sandbaggy) if you have not climbed here, but there is a lot of good climbing, so go give it some love!
Apr 12, 2018
[Hide Comment] To admin: in rewriting the area description, it seems you deleted the only link within the 'Cape Ann' area to Red Rocks Main Wall--arguably the most popular crag in the area. Maybe it is time to migrate Main Wall into the list of sub-areas of Cape Ann?
Apr 3, 2020
[Hide Comment] Looking for info on the best aid routes (or continuous cracks, etc) around cape Ann to practice on. Zipper being the obvious choice would be nice to try something else.
Jun 9, 2021
[Hide Comment] Jamison, sadly not a ton of long continuous cracks to choose from. Have you seen those Wheeler St. cracks in Gloucester proper?
Jun 14, 2021
[Hide Comment] Jim, I have! I’ve been wanting to try those for a while now. Access seems a bit iffy, but I believe the ones by the road are public property.
Jun 22, 2021
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Lynn, MA
Lynn, MA
In this video is Aggasiz and Dyke's Pond and one from Calvary. A couple other "secret" areas. Jun 4, 2011
Anyone ever climbed this little slabby wall? It's located in the Cavalry Boulder Field area (across from Red Rock). It's visible on the topo as the large rocky outcrop near the Orange path after the Orange and Green Paths separate. It's not huge but has potential for a route or two.
Jim Mar 27, 2012
Somerville, MA
It also occurs to me that there could be top rope potential for some longer routes on the walls at a few of the quarries. Not to mention soloing on the quarry walls! One of the Lanesville Pits (northeast?) has a wall which is more than 40 feet. I was also told of a third pit with a 75 foot wall, but I wasn't able to find it. It may also be possible to access the walls by traversing above the water from near the bottom, but I didn't look closely.
Also, presumably people have bouldered on some of the numerous boulders in Dogtown Commons, but there isn't any information here.
From previous posts, I'm led to believe that everything climbable on Cape Ann has been climbed. It would be nice to preserve some of the history, which is only possible if it's documented!
I'm not sure where else to look for information; any help is appreciated. Oct 9, 2012
Hendersonville, NC
Anchorage, AK
the-conglomerate-journals.b…
Among the many pages of random rock related pictures, there are several interesting ones of large erratics and good-looking outcrops on and around Cape Ann and Essex County in general. Most are historic shots. Many of these are probably known about by some boulderer, but if anyone is bored or motivated (the two are often same thing) and wants to find some new stone to climb dig through these images. You might find something cool.
Jim May 9, 2013
Medford, ma
the-conglomerate-journals.b…
frankwinters.wordpress.com/… Aug 18, 2014
NH
Anchorage, AK
Gloucester, MA
Gloucester, MA