Union Pacific Traverse Bouldering

The Union Pacific Traverse – the first major urban crag in Chicago – is a continuous 1.1 mile stretch of stone wall that runs west-east on Kinzie Ave, from Western Ave (Near West Side neighborhood) to North Armour St (West Loop neighborhood). The wall was built to support the Union Pacific train line, formerly known as the Chicago-Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, which was established in the 1850s. It’s unclear when the wall was constructed. Similarly, the composition of rock is unknown (research is underway).

The wall is composed of several traverse “routes”. Streets heading north-south provide natural break points for each route along the Union Pacific Crag. Generally speaking, the rock quality is questionable, however with a bit of pulling loose rock away by hand, toothbrush maintenance, and cleaning summer weeds with a machete, stellar bouldering problems and quite stable rock can be revealed. In most sections the top of the wall is lined with metal posts; the approximate distance between each post is 10 ft. This makes it easy to estimate the length of each traverse as well as break each route down into 10-20’ sectors so that it is easier to keep track of progress and mark cruxes along your journey.

The first known ascent of a route at this crag was on Wednesday, July 29 2020 by Brian T. Murphy. The route was a 255 ft long segment named Tell ‘em you’re with Mac.