Gray’s Wall is a small, obscure area in the eye-catching cliffs on your left as you’re cruising down from Nada Tunnel. It hosts four documented trad lines of varying quality which have likely seen very few ascents; “On The Road” being the main attraction. Actually finding it proved to be a bit of a wild goose chase, made even more difficult due to the already sparse details in guidebooks being misleading and, in some cases, simply incorrect. The GPS coordinates for it provided in the latest edition of the Red River Gorge North put it much closer to Nada Tunnel at the first right hairpin turn after driving through. In actuality, it is much farther down the road, closer to the Martins Fork parking lot.

Fun fact: guidebooks include the solitary sport route “Coexistence” in Gray’s Wall. This route is actually located a ways farther up the road towards the tunnel. A sharp hairpin turn will have a pull-off in its middle. An obvious trail from the pull-off will lead you directly to the attractive pocketed wall that hosts this long forgotten route. It is not safe to climb in its current state, however, with only one bolt for a top anchor. Following the trail left of here will take you to the Cove bouldering area.

While driving down from Nada Tunnel, park at the last designated turn-off on the right before reaching the Martins Fork parking. Look to your left up the hill and spot an obvious buttress. When the leaves are down, you should be able to make out a dihedral above a wide crack in the cliff face capped by an impressive roof crack. This is actually the 5.11d trad route “Keys in the Back of a Cadillac.” Nothing you could call a trail exists here, so hop the ditch, brave through briar hell, and hike the path of least resistance uphill, aiming toward this route. Arrive at its base, then walk climber’s left along the cliff line for a short distance to find the attractive dihedral “On the Road” to your right. This climb can also be seen from the road absent leaf coverage, hence the name.