Ontario/Northeast US beta request

My wife and I are planning a climbing road trip next week to somewhere cool and not too crowded, so I wanted to solicit recommendations from the MP community. Our actual climbing days would be next Thursday through Saturday, July 5-7, with the driving days being next Wednesday and Sunday. We're currently thinking about crags in Ontario and are open to recommendations for specific Ontario crags, as well as suggestions for other destinations in the Northeastern U.S..

When cragging, we get on sport routes up to 5.11 and trad up to 5.10. Normally, we prefer trad over sport and multi-pitch over single pitch. For example, we usually prefer Seneca and the Gunks over the New for shorter weekend trips. For this trip, however, our top priorities are (1) to avoid crowds at the crag, (2) to avoid July 4th traffic jams up the I-95/Northeast corridor, and (3) to climb somewhere relatively cool, i.e., at most 85F or 30C and preferrably plenty of shady. For this trip, we're willing to settle for 2-star routes so long as there's shade and no crowds instead of waiting in line to bake on 4-star routes. We're willing to drive up to 10-12 hours one way from home, which is Washington, DC. We're happy to car camp, but for this trip I have a slight preference for the comforts of an AirBnB rental.  

Where should we head to next week? Any specific crag recommendations for Ontario? How about Lions Head (enough quality moderates?) or Mount Nemo (shady?)? Would it be too sunny or too hot at Devils Glen, the Swamp, Metcalfe Rock, and Old Baldy? I'll do more research on ontarioclimbing.com/forum.

For Ontario area guidebooks, should we get Ontario Climbing Volume 1 (The Southern Escarpment) or Volume 2 (The Northern Escarpment) by Alexandropoulos and Dwyer? How does Volume 1 compare with Jesse Wong's Ontario Rock Climbing:The Best Of Southern Ontario? We'll only have three days of climbing.

In terms of other destinations, Rumney and Cathedral Ledge come to mind, but the July 4th holiday crowds and bad traffic weigh heavily against those destinations. We're ruling out Seneca and the Gunks because we've recently visited those places. The New and the Red seem like they would be too hot and humid. Frankly, any quality destination on the U.S. East Coast may be crowded next week. At the Daks, would we get eaten alive by black flies or miss out on good campsites with short approaches? Hence ... Ontario?

Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

Obligatory footnotes: Yes, we're gonna die. No, not a troll. Yes, we should just stay in the gym if we really can't handle the heat or bugs that bite :-)

Thunder Bay, Ontario. World class trad and crack climbing -- solitude guaranteed. No joke. https://outdoorskillsandthrills.com/tbay-climbing-guidebook 

c b wrote: Thunder Bay, Ontario. World class trad and crack climbing -- solitude guaranteed. No joke. https://outdoorskillsandthrills.com/tbay-climbing-guidebook 

Thanks, c b. Thunder Bay looks awesome, but it's way too far a drive for us for this trip.

LH is amazing but not for what your looking for. What about the 3000 crags in NH that aren't canon/ cathed/ white horse? Seems like that would work. You could always weasel your way up in land a bit once you pass phila. 

scott fuzz wrote: LH is amazing but not for what your looking for. What about the 3000 crags in NH that aren't canon/ cathed/ white horse? Seems like that would work. You could always weasel your way up in land a bit once you pass phila. 

Thanks, Scott. Mind elaborating on why Lions Head isn't what I'm looking for? Too hard for us? Too crowded? I'll do more research on the lesser known crags in NH.

Hey, no, you can definitely find some moderates so that's not really the issue. It's more that it's just mostly bolt clipping on softish limestone. Very unlike Seneca haha. That being said, the setting is absolutely spectacular. you rap into these beautiful white lake cliffs and then climb out in a lot of cases. there's  swimming in crystal clear water in between rts.    Great stealth camping available all over the place . Just an awesome setting and more crags to suss out when your there. 
I have found that the lesser known in NH is just as good as the popular, just a bit more adventuresome.  

Thanks, Scott!

Lions head is  great. Check out limestone cowboy.   also  intergalactic  cantalopes  invade the melon patch. Old baldy  and metcalf were  fun and worthwhile. Never could find devil's  den.

Lions head is  great. Check out limestone cowboy.   also  intergalactic  cantalopes  invade the melon patch. Old baldy  and metcalf were  fun and worthwhile. Never could find devil's  den.

Cool, thanks June!

adirondacks, go to any crag outside of the five star ones.

expanding on this a little. In the dacks you have a lifetime's worth of climbing within an hour of wherever you park. Since your climbing trip will also fall outside of weekends, you will be fine at chapel pond, cascade pass, etc, and be able to tick off some real classics. I have only been to ontario a few times and would like to climb there -- but i think from your location it would be weird to drive by vastly superior rock (except potentially lions head which is a very far drive) to go to smaller crags with at the very least fewer climbs, fewer pitches, and less diversity.

If you can open up a copy of adk rock 2, it will give you a sense of what you would be skipping.

And if you really want solitude, no one will be at places like Snowy (2.5 hour hike), Potter Mountain (hour hike), or many many other small crags that could all use more traffic, many of which are five minute approaches. 

Take a peak at Bolton in Vermont. The town of Waterbury is awesome, with tons a great eats and excellent breweries. Bolton is very similar to Rumney, with a few stellar gear lines (The Rose, The Thorn). It won’t be solitude, but it’ll be less than half of what Rumney is.

That said, you can’t go wrong with some of those quieter NH crags.

in MtnPrjct:  Mt Oscar, Sugarloaf, Mt Willard, Echo Crag (somewhat busy), Profile Cliff, Kinsman Notch (last 2 currently best covered in the new guidebook "The Notches"), Table Mountain, Rainbow Slabs (although both mostly moderates, 5.7-5.8), Sundown Ledges, Mt Forest (getting more popular, and can be hot with its dark rock facing SouthEast), for 4-5 pitch not-on-Cannon or Whitehorse, take a look at North Bald Cap.   If its REALLY hot go up to Huntington's Ravine on Mt Washington.

Avoid Rumney unless you want wall-to-wall people, although even there, there are crags that aren't crowded. Basically, if you have to hike more than 20-25 minutes there'll be few climbers there.  

Also, several replys indicated the Adirondacks, it's an equally good place.

Plenty of “off the beaten path” adventure in NH and western ME. But you’re gonna have to hike a bit. You should be able to find Airbnb even last moment somewhere.

Daks too!

Bugs - two weeks ago defcon 5, last week none up north so no predictions!

Traffic will be your challenge. Whatever you do avoid 95 thru NYC. Garden State Pway to Tappen Zee to 684 to 84 will be crowded but still better.

Bon Echo is the only multi pitch to speak of in Southern Ontario, but the logistics aren't suitable for your situation.  The "Devil's Den" June referred to is actually Devil's Glen and is covered in the Northern Escarpment book.  It has some classic trad routes and is a cool place to visit.  One thing you have to consider is that you will be trad climbing on limestone that is subjected to heavy freeze thaw cycle.  You need to test for portable holds.  You also need to be very skeptical of the reliability of cam placements in this rock.  Just because a cam placement looks bomber doesn't mean that it will hold a fall, as several highly experienced leaders have discovered to their sorrow.  A bit of "the leader must not fall" approach is in order (back off on your grades), and passive gear is better when you can get it (placing cams in constrictions is a good strategy too).  Escarpment country can get very steamy at this time of year, but you can find shade fairly easily - Mt. Nemo is nothing but shade!  Unfortunately the bugs love the shade too, and with this year's late spring there are still lots around. There is great climbing at the the Escarpment and Beaver Valley crags.  They are uncrowded through the week, slammed on the weekends, especially Mt. Nemo.  If you want more beta on individual crags, let me know.  As for the guide books, the only advantage of the Jesse Wong book is superior photo topos.  The Dwyer/Andropolous guides have more historical information and are more accurate, and have the advantage of being the product of original research by actual developers rather than the significant "borrowing" that Mr. Wong resorted to.

Thanks everyone for the great tips! Exactly what I was looking for. Now I just have to stop checking MP during the day and get enough work done so I can actually take some time off next week to make this trip happen!