Hidden Roofs Rock Climbing

West facing; often quite windy for the area. 

Hidden Roofs is home to the tallest routes in Rockingham County.  (There are some taller cliffs on private land which are not open to climbing. Ugh.)   

Between the early 1980s and 2014 only three routes had been established at this crag.  In 2015 Mike Farnsworth freed the big roof which Mike Artz had aided back in 1983.  The aid line was named Frontal Lobotomy and Mike Farnsworth re-named the route Flower Sermon when he succeeded in freeing it at 5.13d!.  Hats off to both Mike and Mike for their visionary efforts on the seriously huge roof!!  BUT, the area still only boasted 3 lines which had been climbed.

A new era of development started in late 2020 and continues to the present.  While the routes are as good as anything in Rockingham County, the proximity to the New River Gorge, Reeds Creek/Smoke Hole, Seneca, and Old Rag will keep this crag from attracting much attention.  I would guess that the volume of work needed to clean and establish lines was the primary reason that the area received little attention for so many decades.  A helmet isn't a bad idea at this crag as literally tons of rock have been cleaned over the past couple years.  Multiple crowbars, a car jack, hammers...you get the idea.  I want all my fellow climbers to have fun and not get hurt, so I have tried very hard to be thorough in the cleaning efforts.  As with all climbing, be thoughtful and use caution.   

Hidden Roofs is home to the only sport climbs in Rockingham Country.  They were established by an old fart trad climber, so don't freak out if you have to trust a piton or fixed nuts in leu of a bolt.  They are good, so whip away!  The primary motivation for developing this crag was proximity to Harrisonburg.  Many bike trips (with drill in tow) were made back and forth from the 'Burg to establish the area.  Can't so easily ride to NRG, Old Rag or Seneca for a day of climbing!!  Sometimes local is good.

Also, given that some routes have seen very few ascents you should be cautious about grades.  I suck at giving routes grades.