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Road Trip Recommendations
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Hello northeastern climbers, Thanks! |
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That’s a ton of driving for only 2 weeks. I’d consider dropping a stop or two so you can spend more than a day at some places. |
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The gunks are super out of the way from the rest of the list, the only way to justify it is probably if you've never been to NYC before or feel like you gotta check out some classics, but the other locations are prettier and more fun. If you're dead set on acadia I'd recommend Boston-> Acadia-> White Mountains -> Rumney -> Adirondacks -> Boston or something similar. Vermont is pretty, but the Whites and Adirondacks are more impressive and have denser climbing. |
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Thanks for the response. It seems like most of the drives are around half a day, 5 hours at the longest according to google maps (or is that not to be trusted?), which doesn't seem that crazy to me. But I hear you on being able to spend more time in fewer places. What would you recommend we drop? I've never climbed anywhere in the NE so don't know much beyond what I can findout here on MP. I also be traveling with people who have never been to that part of the country at all, so maximizing climbing isn't the sole objective, we also want to see some of the sites so to say. |
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I totally agree with Climb On. Coming from the west, places in the east seem close together, but in reality your proposed itinerary will involve a lot of time behind the wheel. It would be a lot even if you were just climbing, but adding in hiking and sightseeing, as you should, will cut even more into your allotted time. Then there is the weather. Even though fall is the best time of year for stable weather, having 2 straight weeks of good weather, even then, would be highly unlikely. I’d suggest starting with a day or 2 of Boston sightseeing, then a nice drive along the NH and Maine coast to Acadia and spending a few days there, before partially reversing yourself to drive to North Conway, NH. There are multiple options for all three activities in that area—probably several lifetimes worth!!!, but it would also be worth driving 1.5 hours east to sample the sport climbing around Rumney as well as the trad in the Franconia region. Depending how much time you have left, after passing through Boston again, you can make the 4 hour drive to the Gunks for the rest of your stay, for the uniqueness of the climbing experience there. As much as I like VT and the Adirondacks, I think that adding them in will just spread you too thin, especially as the road network in that region isn’t particularly great for east/west travel ( it is possible but time-consuming). Just my 2 cents. |
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Boston: Quincy Quarry (nasty, top rope), Crow Hill, ( pretty, not a lot to climb). There are better uses of your time then climbing. RI may have a sweet bouldering spot. Acadia: Amazing; top roping on sea cliffs; Trad. Not much sport as I recall. White Mountains: Rumney is awesome, bolts galore (2 hours from Cambridge); parking can fill up on weekends. If you are picky about scenery, Rumney is meh, bit of a mud pile with rock outcrops. No experience with Trad in the Whites. Vermont: skip it for climbing. Climbing there is close to the Daks. There may be a bouldering spot south of Burlington. There is a nice spot I Western Mass just south of the border (Not worth taking time from better destinations.) Daks: amazing Trad, can be run out. Cannot speak to sport climbing there. I have not been happy straying to no star, low star climbs; Long humid walks to forgettable climbs. Classics are very sweet. Gunks: amazing Trad, no sport. Multi pitch; Many first pitches can be climbed without continuing to the top. Classics and no star/low star routes are easy to access. Any climb that isn’t overgrown will have some good climbing. As suggested above, editing the trip might wise especially if you are less stoked on Trad. My Ranking: Gunks, Rumney, Acadia, Daks |
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Agreed on what Al proposed for climbing. I’d skip the Boston sightseeing but that’s just me. You won’t regret a trip to the gunks. |
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On the way to Acadia check out Portsmith NH, and Portland ME, which are pretty unique to the area. In New Hampshire the most popular towns are North Conway and Lincoln which are both worth checking out. The coolest part of Vermont is just driving along the rural roads, and stumbling into random little New England towns, Burlington is pretty nice too. In New York I would definitely go to lake placid, and if you go to the gunks you could swing by Lake George on the way. As far as hiking goes you can't really go wrong in Acadia, but theres not too much else in that part of Maine. In New Hampshire it'll really depend on the weather, but if it's early enough you might get a chance for an easy Mt. Washington hike, but anything above tree line is worthwhile. Vermont will bore you for hiking, most of the trails are green tunnels. In the Adirondacks theres a lot of "slide climbing", which are fun couple thousand foot long 3rd and 4th class slabs, I'd recommend Trap Dike and Bottle Slide. Most of the climbing, and everything worthwhile for a vacation, is on Mountain Project. If you look through the forums for the area there's a most people are talking about New Hampshire. It has the most interesting geography in the area by a landslide. In the Adirondacks and Vermont be ready to have no cellular, download the maps ahead of time. You don't really have to worry about it in NH or Southern ME. The earlier you go in the fall the better it'll be, week by week it gets rainier and colder. |
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If there's anything I love, it's writing out travel guides for people. I just finished writing a Southwest national park desert guide for my friend. SO HERE WE GO NORTHEAST WOO. I stuck to mostly easy-moderate trad routes for the trad recommendations based on what you wrote above. BOSTON: Not much climbing out there or in Massachusetts in general (well, nothing worth a visit from a different coast), you're best off sightseeing in the city. Check out Harvard Square, Fenway Park, Museum of Fine Arts, Faneuil Hall, walk the Freedom Trail. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is great as well. I do not suggest driving there. Park at a major T station and just take the train everywhere. If there's anything Boston is famous for, it's the infuriating roads. ACADIA: Spend at least one day climbing here. The two major places to climb here are Otter Cliffs and South Wall (Precipice). Otter Cliffs' climbing is alright, but the scenery and sea-side vibe is honestly unbeatable. It's all top-managed, top-roping, and a lot of the anchors are gear anchors. Bring a huge static line or a lot of webbing for some of the routes. Alpenglow Adventure Sports (the local gear shop in Bar Harbor) has a small pamphlet map of Otter Cliffs. Helps a lot! South Wall has better climbing, but it's in the forest, so you don't get the sea-side vibe. BUT, it's beautiful pink granite and there are some awesome multi-pitches in the area. It is predominately trad. Route Recommendations for South Wall:
WHITE MOUNTAINS: It's huge and there's a lot here, so let me break it down. RUMNEY: You stated you're predominately a sport climber in the 5.10 range. Well, welcome to the Northeast's premiere sport climbing destination! You're gunna want to spend some time here. Rumney is an absolute zoo on the weekends in the Fall, so I suggest coming here on a weekday to get the most of out your time. The bolt spacing is close together, so it feels comfortable. Route Recommendations for Rumney in the <5.11 range:
NORTH CONWAY: Home of Cathedral and Whitehorse -- these are New Hampshire's multi-pitch trad crags. It's beautiful gray granite. The grades here are very old school, so definitely try something much easier before you go on something at your limit. I wrote a very detailed six-page guide to climbing in this area; DM me if you want it. CATHEDRAL LEDGE: This is my home crag! The not-slab cliff. Route Recommendations:
WHITEHORSE LEDGE: The slab-cliff! Route Recommendations:
FRANCONIA AREA: Route Recommendations:
THE EAGLET: I admittedly have not climbed here, but if you want to climb "New England's tallest freestanding pillar", here you go. West Chimney, 5.7, 3 pitches: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105999228/the-west-chimney THE KANCAMAGUS HIGHWAY: There's climbing all over this area, but you're probably gunna want to focus on just leaf peeping. This is one of the most scenic highways in the White Mountains, especially during Fall. The highway connects North Conway and Franconia Notch. VERMONT: Vermont is known for phenomenal ice climbing, and pretty mediocre rock climbing (Don't tell my Vermont friends that). Most of the climbing is sport, and the rock is green schist. Rumney is also schist, but green schist is weird and hard to read. Go for something called the "Bolton Flash" aka: Your second attempt on a route is the flash, not the first hahaha. Check out Bolton Dome, there's great sport climbing there and some of it is multi-pitch. I haven't honestly touched much rock out there. For bouldering (if interested), check out Smuggler's Notch. ADIRONDACKS: If you had to ask me what the best climbing in the Northeast was, I have to say the Adirondacks. Holy shit, the rock here is incredible, the views are beautiful, and it feels very remote and adventure-y. ADK is almost entirely trad climbing, and it is sandbagged as FUCK. Start very slow here and beware of "the notorious ADK 5.9+" because it's probably going to feel 5.11. First up, ADK is about the size of Vermont, so there is a lot here but a lot of the "good" climbing is centered around the Lake Placid area, which is kind of cool because that's the most touristy area anyway. My favorite crag of all time is The Spider's Web: mountainproject.com/area/10…, but bring a rope gun because this crag is basically stacked only with hard-ass 5.9+ through 5.12 trad routes. A few recommendations for something easier:
THE GUNKS: OH YEAH, Let's talk about world-class? Well...I'm going to get stoned for saying this but, I actually think the Gunks are overrated lmao, but that's because I'm a vertical crack climber and I don't really like whatever the heck-o the Gunks is. I did learn to climb here, so it's a very meaningful place. That said, you want a billion easy trad routes? Multi-pitches? Super easy accessibility? This is the place. Like Rumney, it gets crazy on weekends, so go on a weekday. The "Trapps" is essentially a flat carriage road and you walk along it to find what you want. Recommended Routes, <5.10:
There's so much at the Gunks, those are just my personal favorites <5.10. I hope this helps! If you need local guides or friends, let me know. I know people across all of the Northeast who would be stoked to get out. Send me a DM if you have questions. |
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Hi Barret, If you're somewhat new to trad climbing, then I recommend you start your trip at the Gunks. The Gunks has to be the absolute best place to learn and practice trad climbing since you can get super high quality climbs at easy grades, so you can focus on placing gear and less on falling on said gear. Lots of G-rated climbing too, where you can plug in gear to your heart's content. Even at 5.3 you can get stellar climbs with overhangs! However, the grades are considered stout, many a decent climber can be seen dangling in space off of the sustained and super committing Modern Times wondering how the f*<% it can be only rated 5.8 - and trying to figure out how to get back onto it. Start easier than your usual grades and work your way up so you can adjust your expectations and stay out of trouble. Approaches are quick and easy and it will save you time for more climbing and less wandering around lost. Highly recommend avoiding weekends in the fall, it's crowded and hard to find accommodations, as you're also competing with leaf peeping hikers. But fall is definitely prime season in the NE to climb. I recommend September if you can - weather is great, but leaves haven't changed colors yet, so it precedes the hoards of leaf peepers. At the Gunks, the sun goes behind the cliffs around 3pm, and in late October it can get pretty chilly in the shade. Note that on Columbus Day/Indigenous People's day weekend, the Gunks Climbers' Coalition hosts a festival with films, clinics, camping, etc... if you want to work that into your schedule. While I haven't done that much climbing in the Daks, you're more likely to run into trickier route finding, longer approaches, and run out trad climbing at some of the Adirondack crags. That's why if you're newer to trad leading, I would recommend going to the Gunks first. If you like trad leading on slab (with a few cracks), Crane mountain in the Daks has a ton of routes. Rumney is lots of fun, but I recommend not spending too much time at the 5.8 wall or Parking Lot Wall - the climbs there are much of the same over and over. More interesting climbs are higher up on the mountain. Also highly recommend Junco and Lonesome Dove, plus Yoda and Obi-Won-Ryobi. My favorite climb at Rumney, Jolt, was off-limits for a while due to rockfall - must-do fun climbing on the edge of a fin! But wear a helmet - still as rockfall potential. Enjoy your trip! If you do make it to the Gunks, give me a shout, I live here and have been climbing at the Gunks for 42 years (which makes me OLD). Jannette |
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Lots of good advice here but the short answer is that you have too many options! If you decide you must go to the Gunks you should stay for 2-3 days to get more than a one-day taste. If you have gotten comfy with the trad leading you will find that 5.10 is the very best grade at the Gunks and any 5.10 with any stars in any guide book will be good and memorable. But of course there are also amazing climbs at easier grades. But given your timing/itinerary I might join others who say you can easily have the trip of a lifetime while skipping the Gunks. Devote a few days to Cathedral and Whitehorse in NH, go to the Beer Walls, Spider's Web, Poke-O, Upper Washbowl, Pitchoff Chimney Cliff, Barkeater, or many other crags in the Adirondacks, and you have a very full trip right there. |
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Thanks for all the responses, everyone. I've taken the advice many of you gave and decided to drop the gunks from this trip, the thinking be we can visit NYC and do the gunks on another trip at a different time. So we'll be doing Acadia -> North Conway -> Vermont (For sightseeing not climbing) -> Adirondacks (Lake Placid area) -> Rumney. With a few days in each location so we can do a mix of climbing/hiking/general sightseeing. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your part of the world after spending most of my life in Texas or out west. I've also added many of your recommendations to my to-do list here on MP and I'm sure will be adding more in the weeks and months to come, the hard part will be deciding which ones to do it sounds like. |
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If you are gonna be in VT for "sightseeing" (whatever that is) you might as well climb. It may not be a "destination" but Bolton area has a lot of quality bolted 10s which is what you seem to be looking for. Enjoy your trip! |
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A couple of further suggestions, now that you seem to have your itinerary more set. First, presuming that you are still flying in and out of Boston, since Rumney is pretty much on the way between North Conway and VT, I’d suggest stopping there after North Conway, instead of at the end of your trip. Given the way the roads work ( remember you have Lake Champlain between VT and the Adirondacks —which means either a ferry ride/—nice, or a long drive around) it would be more efficient after you finish in the Adirondacks to drive south on I-87 to the Mass Pike (I-90 East) back to Boston. One place I suggest that should climb at in the Adirondacks is Pitchoff (Pitchoff Chimney) Cliff. It is located between Keene and Lake Placid, is basically roadside, and has 2 wonderful short, well-protected, trad, multi-pitch 5.7s ( Pete’s Farewell and The El) on some of the best rock in the region. At the end of the day on the left side of the crag there are a collection of harder routes that are reasonable to top rope. I find the climbing there more enjoyable than the Beer Walls, and it is easier to navigate. Someone upthread mentioned Little Finger (Roger’s. Rock) and Diagonal (Wallface)—both are significantly more committing and, in my opinion, not the best choices for a brief ‘check it out’ visit to the area. Save them for you next—more lengthy—visit. |
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Thanks for the thoughts Alan. We looked at doing Rumney before Vermont but with the way all the other timings worked out it was going to have to put us there on a weekend. So we opted to do it at the back end of the trip where we could do our climbing on weekdays. It's a little out of the way for getting back to Boston, but worked out better timing wise and things. I spent some time looking at Adirondacks crags the other night and Pete's Farewell at Pitchoff made the top of the list, so good to hear you like it. I also looked at Barkeater cliff, which is a bit more of a hike to get to it sounds like but also seemed like it might have some fun moderate stuff. |
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That's an ambitious itinerary for two weeks. Assuming you can't make it longer, a few thoughts...
Edit to add - just saw the decision to drop the Gunks from the itinerary. i think that's a great idea.
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