Climbing Near Dixiana, Alabama

This crag is a blank slate! A group of five boulders in the city of Trussville's sports complex. This area - owned by Trussville - was completed in late 2017 and was worked on by the Access Fund and the Southeastern Climbers Coalition. Difficulty of routes and possible problems vary from beginner to advanced. All boulders, which are relatively close together and in a forested part of the sports complex, have easy access. The boulders do fall along a disc golf course, so be advised of frisbees and other groups. Brushes are good to have to brush off dirt and moss since the crag is not super well established. The boulder field is located just northeast of Birmingham off of I-59 in the Trussville Sports Complex (easily found on Google/Apple maps). Boulders are specifically found on the western side of Riverbend Road when driving into the sports complex, between the baseball fields and the tennis courts and fairly close to the road. Parking is available throughout the facility, but easy approaches can be made from the parking lot just north of the group of five baseball fields (this is also where the Carter Memorial Disc Golf Course starts). When facing north, there is a small trail that leads from the north-eastern most corner of the lot and opens to a disc golf hole. Boulders should be visible shortly after stepping into the woods. If you are unable to find this trail (it is small and not well marked) you can enter at the first hole of the disc golf course and follow the paved trail along the Cahaba River. After about 2-3 minutes, the boulders will be about 1/10 of a mile up on the hill to your right.

It may not be the first place you think of as a climbing destination, but Alabama has some excellent crags to choose from, most within a two-hour drive of Atlanta or Birmingham. Climbing in Alabama is mostly sandstone. The Cumberland Plateau, which hosts the great sandstone cliffs of Tennessee, extends into northern Alabama. Areas like Jamestown are similar to T-Wall and Sunset in Chattanooga, though the cliffs are not as tall. Other areas like Cherokee Rock Village (Sand Rock), by contrast, tend toward sandstone with a fair amount of conglomerate mixed in. For trad climbers, Jamestown is the top destination, with numerous excellent lines. Areas like Cherokee Rock Village (Sand Rock) and Griffin Falls have a mix of sport and trad, while Palisades Park is a great place for setting up easy to moderate topropes. Boulderers can enjoy the great problems of Horse Pens 40 and Moss Rock Preserve. Because many of Alabama's destinations are on private land, access has been a perennial problem. While there are some areas that have been closed with little hope of ever reopening, Jamestown is a special success story. In 2005, the Southeastern Climbers Coalition purchased the land that includes the Jamestown cliffline, reopening the area to legal climbing for the first time in 12 years. With luck, other off-limits areas can be reopened with similar tactics. See individual climbing areas for specific directions.

Shorter routes on the cool West facing cliffline near the bend. This area features the easiest access and the best rock quality all less than 100 yards away from the bend campsites. There are several routes that could be climbed ground up, on gear, however the rock is dirty so time must be taken to clean placements. From the TC bend: Take the fork that crosses the creek. Once you cross the stream, immediately trend East towards the clifline, you will connect with the other path. Continue up the hill to the face, where you will be met by a bomber dihedral crack. The face there and further south is The Journey wall. There are several scrambles that will lead you to the top to set anchors. While there is plenty of anchors available, there are some exposed traverses to contend with.