Abelman's Gorge Climbing

Your opportunity for some adventure climbing.  The main focus here is traditional free climbing.  There have also been brief forays into aid (in the main quarry) and dry tooling.  See if you can find evidence of any previous passage!

Climbers have been visiting this collection of crags going back at least to the 1960s, and yet this remains a remarkably undocumented area.  To the extent that formations, routes, and problems have names, many probably have more than one name, and FA information is likely very hazy.

There have been two privately distributed guidebooks that include this area:

• Rock Springs, William Dietrich, undated [1980s?]
• The Dirty 30, Aaron Gustafson, 2014

Access has changed considerably over the years.  At one time there was climbing on both sides of the Baraboo River - today the rock east of the river is either owned by the quarry or owned by the University of Wisconsin and you should stay out.

In the 1990s for a few years the quarry was closed to the general public, after several hikers had accidents, falling into the quarry.  The quarry was opened again to accommodate interest in the unique geology revealed by the quarry.

Today (2024) roped climbing is limited by the blanket State Natural Area ban on roped climbing, but bouldering, scrambling, hiking, and hunting area all welcomed.