Miller Fork?

Hey everyone,

Making a trip down to the Gorge next week and am thinking of crags to hit. I've heard some good things about Miller Fork but was wondering if anyone's been there and could share some beta.

1) How is the overall approach? Is it 4WD recommended like PMRP, or can you get there in an economy rental car? (I've seen people make it to Chica Bonita in a Prius, but I'm not that nuts).

2) How are the individual approaches to the crags? Still bushwhacked, or are they relatively clear? Avg hike time?

3) Grades/bolting/Rock quality? I'm assuming since it's new development the routes are closely bolted and soft, but it's good to know for planning ticklists. Are most of the routes still chossy, or is it cleaning up?

The approach is better and easier than the PMRP. I was there quite a bit in June, and am at the Red now, but the trails were easy to find and follow. The rock is great, and cleaning up nicely. You can get pretty much anywhere in about 15-25 minutes. You can't go wrong with Fruit Wall for sure!

Cool, good to know. June, though? Ugh...

4wd is not needed, but need to watch out if there is a stretch of long rains.
Helmet is very strongly recommended, at least for belayer - some routes are new and need a bit of cleaning.
Check out RedRiverClimbing for climbing guide and online forums. You can also spray comments about inappropriate bolting there.

Lol YES that's why I climb!

Hmm, pick your crag wisely, watch out for the moderates. Wear a helmet . The rock quality varies from poor to ok. The best walls there are fruit wall, and the morgue. Infirmary coopers cove are also good but still cleaning up. As far as soft grades I'd go back to muir, these routes are stiff and ever evolving as shit continues to break. Beware the star ratings system good rule of thumb is to subtract two stars from the rating given. Unless you have climbed everywhere else in the gorge I can't say I'd really recommend miller fork. It is great for helping to disperse people away from some of the more popular walls in the red. The approach is easy and straight forward with signs and maps. The routes are bolted similar to pmrp. Good luck have fun