South Dakota: Cave Hills, Reva Gap

After scouring Google Earth I came across some crag potential in the Northwest corner of South Dakota. Is anyone in SoDak familiar with the Cave Hills and Reva Gap, and has anyone tried to climb there in the past? I'd definitely be interested in checking these places out.

I’d be down to go explore and see if anything there is actually climbable. Have drove through there a hundred times and always assumed it was mostly that bentonite type clay formations.

Vertical dirt.

the museum

I've been out to Cave Hills. I'll try to post some pictures later.

Spoiler alert: not great

It looks promising, but the sandstone is quite soft, some choss. Most things there are 20 feet or less. Ok hike, but nothing I'd climb or boulder. 

The above pictures are of the butte here: 45.687267, -103.562408  http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=loc:45.687267,-103.562408&t=k&spn=0.5,0.5

I've not heard of Reva Gap though, so don't let me rain on that parade. Maybe it is cool.

Backwards Ericwrote:

The above pictures are of the butte here: 45.687267, -103.562408  http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=loc:45.687267,-103.562408&t=k&spn=0.5,0.5

I've not heard of Reva Gap though, so don't let me rain on that parade. Maybe it is cool.

Thanks for the photos, Eric. I'm looking back at some photos of Reva Gap and I'm guessing the cliffs that are there are mostly composed of sediment and not legitimate rock. But I want to know for sure.

Done quite a bit of wildlife work on USFS lands in that area and have yet to find any outcrops in the cave hills or slim buttes that are climbable. It’s soft sandstone choss. Only place that looked like it had even a little potential was at/near picnic springs campground in the North Cave Hills. If you do check this out watch for rattle snakes, poison ivy, and ticks in the spring and summer. Might be better to drive the extra few hours to the hills. Rock quality gets worse into Montana, but there are some large cliffs tucked in there that might take tent stakes as pro.