Jackson, Ms

Hi everyone.. I am considering a job in Jackson, but I am afraid I could be doomed when it comes to
Climbing. I don't think they have any gyms. Any Jackson climbers out there managing to stay on their game while living in the delta?

I grew up in MS. Not a whole lot. Supposedly there are some boulders in Tishomingo State Park. There is some stuff in Northern Alabama (Horse Pens 40 etc). Chattanooga is 6hrs away, Horseshoe canyon is 7ish. I think there is a bouldering gym in North Jackson. Overall, not a lot.

Good luck!

I lived in Jackson up until summer of '12 and discovered climbing a few months before we left. I discovered it watching Netflix, not in an actual climbing sense. Thankfully we moved to South Africa at that point - Rocklands, Waterval-Boven, etc.!

My limited experience in trying to "get into" climbing in Jackson turned up almost nothing. Mississippi College used to run a climbing gym on their main campus in Clinton, but, as of '12, it wasn't running because the insurance had lapsed due to there being no one willing and able to manage the gym. However, things change in 4 years.

HP40 isn't too far and there is some stuff in Arkansas about the same distance the other way.

Jacktown huh?...I grew up there, and spent a year back there in 2010ish. I was given free range to modify routes on the one legit wall at the First Baptist church. It was tucked behind some plexiglass in the gym. It was a Nice Entre Prises wall with maybe 5 ropes worth of climbing. I did a lot of rope soling in there as it didn't see much action. Since then, I think a bouldering area has been added to a crossfit building in North Jackson. No real gym seen to speak of. There is a swath of good Sandstone that runs from Birmingham to Chattanooga with Horsepens 40, Steele, and Gadsden being the closest options. If you like to boulder you can get comfy with weekend trips to Horsepens which is truly a world class destination. The place is 100% unique and there is soo much good bouldering. It's about 5 hours from Jackson. Great town otherwise, with good people and some nuances only Faulkner could describe. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

I lived in MS for a little tiny bit, and my spirit for climbing was high, but climbing was unavailable.

DONT DO IT

Sauce wrote: the one legit wall at the First Baptist church. It was tucked behind some plexiglass in the gym.

I "worked" at that wall for a month or two, and was actually where I learned to climb. It's great as far as gym walls are concerned. I'm not sure if folks still climb there, but it's worth a shot to go up there and ask. If you're living in Jackson and want to climb outside, I recommend driving the 3-4hrs to HP40, Palisades, or Steele - those are your closest options. Good luck with the job, Jackson's a great town, just not a great climbing town.

I did some research for you, my wife and I travel to Birmingham from the Mississippi coast at least twice a month and there is great year round climbing all over the Birmingham area. The good news is from Jackson to Birmingham it is only a 3 hour drive for you. The bad news is the only climbing gyms we found in the entire region are Slidell Rocks in Slidell Louisiana, and there is a bouldering gym in New Orleans as well. We actually just finished our own home climbing wall which is another option for you depending on if you own or rent a home. Good luck!

Tishamingo is not a destination. You'd probably be driving like 2.5 - 3 hrs or something to get there. I would just drive a little further and head to the Birmingham Area. The climbers I used to know in Jackson would drive to Alabama or Arkansas on the weekends.

The climbing potential in Jackson and in Memphis is not that great and you have to drive a ways to play. That being said the climbing at HP40 and around Birmingham is good and in shot from Jackson. Arkansas and So-Ill would be a little further. The best thing I can recommend is to get a house with a garage you can build a home training wall in.

Coming from the north to the south one thing I have to say about the south is that as a single guy I have been able to show up at several cliffs all around the south and have almost always been able to find partners so long as it was a weekend. Weekdays is more tough to find partners typically at the smaller crowds.

Not sure if the little bouldering north of town is still open, but thats where I spent my time. No rock in town, I checked out a lot of places.

Climbing in the state park way north is limited and kinda blows. I would drive to Arkansas, Birmingham or Chat every weekend.

Build a woody

MSU has one of the few rock walls in Mississippi and I think there are a few near the coast but I'm unsure of any in that area. And there sure aren't any outdoor climbs in that area(per my knowledge).

I'm from Jackson and spend many years driving to Alabama, Tennessee, etc for climbing. From the delta you are looking at a four hour drive radius to worthy climbing. You can dust off some worthy climbing at Tishamingo for a little less driving. I believe there is climbing in NW Alabama that is not well publicized....and might be closer....but not by a lot. The drive is not as bad with a partner or partners......but difficult to maintain a zeal for year after year.

catahoula boulder field

I'm from Petal, MS and my buddies and I manage to make it to Tennessee/ north Alabama at least once a month if not more. Unfortunately Mississippi is flat so we don't have much except catahoula