Tallulah Gorge Access Issue *PLEASE READ*

Throwing this out the climbing world in hopes it falls upon sympathetic eyes. Forgive me for this being long, but it is all-important to our local climbing community to get the word out that there is a huge access issue to the premier climbing area in the state of Georgia. Some of these details will seem obscure if you are familiar with the intricacies of climbing at the inaccessible wonderland that is Tallulah Gorge. Tallulah Gorge MP Page

If you are a far away climber with experience climbing in state parks, we would LOVE your feedback and reactions to how this experience compares to yours.

TLDR: New climbing permit, no rappelling allowed, no top roping allowed, be familiar with the routes intending to climb, and point them out on an inaccurate and incomplete topo. Maybe refrain from mentioning routes that aren’t on this topo, even if they are on MP. Rangers are skeptical and hesitant to entertain issuing climbing permits. Some are simply unfamiliar with the process and I encourage insisting on speaking to the head ranger on duty to get answers regardless of what is said by staff. Wait on them if need be. Be prepared for tomfoolery.

This past weekend I went to Tallulah Gorge State Park to climb. I have been there many times and was prepared to be met with some funny business. I was not prepared for the stark and scary changes the park administration has made to the climbing permitting process.

Please do not harass park staff to an unprofessional extent. At this point, I feel it's important to insist on proper answers and explanations of things from them, but it is of utmost importance to remain cordial and respectful. I am intentionally trying to keep the identities of rangers anonymous.

To preface, there was a scheduled aesthetic water release, but GA power cancelled due to low water level. I called on Friday to confirm this and was told that they would issue permits if weather permitted per their judgment call. 

Last time I was successfully permitted into the gorge was late December of 2023. I know some folks have made it in a handful of times, but mostly during the week which is not feasible for me. I had written of the gorge for a while, but got the opportunity/psych to try this weekend. Here is my experience:

I arrived with one other partner shortly after 8am on Saturday, 9/21/2024. Upon entering the interpretive center, I went to the desk and asked for climbing permits. The working ranger was visibly confused and responded with “I believe you guys will have to wait until 10am”. My heart sunk immediately because this is an all too familiar response upon arriving near 8. This is usually due to moisture/dew on the gorge floor where the rangers look. But it’s really an abstract judgment call by the head ranger on duty.

Of course, I inquired why this was, and I was met with an even more confusing response. “I think that’s when we tell the rangers to get out of there.” To my knowledge, I believe this ranger was thinking we were asking about the WMA land nearby (Turtle), and i had to stubbornly ask for the Head ranger on duty to discuss. Regardless, this first ranger did not seemed to be clued in to the climbing permits system at all.

The head ranger met us shortly, and I immediately sensed standoffish and defensive vibes from them. I was asked if I had “actually” been there before after already confirming this, and then verbally inquired which routes we were “attempting”. I responded with names I knew they would be familiar with, to keep suspicion/questioning to a minimum.. 

Next we were verbally asserted with a new rule: NO RAPELLING. This is a new rule, and apparently upon further inquiry by someone I know, their solution for us is to “top out or down climb” on a wall 300ft tall. This rule is NOT explicitly listed on the paper permit, nor on the website. Only after agreeing to this rule we were given permits to fill out.

They have recently created a different Climbing Permit from Gorge Floor permits (a step kind of in the right direction), HOWEVER they are still certainly the same permit with the same criteria for issuing. There are also some new changes and rules of interest.

Most notably, there is no longer “Top Roping” allowed in the park. 

The next thing we were required to do (while filling out our permits) was point to the routes on an (incomplete and inaccurate) topo map of the Main Wall where the routes we were doing are, and write down the corresponding numbers on our permit. They did not have a topo map for the Slab Wall, despite allowing climbing there.

Once we were officially permitted, the climbing day was amazing. Hot, but it’s hard not to enjoy such a majestic place.

of note: Two routes (Rapture of the Steep and A Remembrance of Jeff are crossed out. I inquired, knowing this is where the raven's nest from the past spring was, and apparently these routes are indefinitely closed in case “the ravens return”.

I am no stranger to the unusual, confusing, and disappointing reality of climbing at Tallulah Gorge State Park, having a stack of over 60 permits from past visits over the past 3 years. However, after this recent experience, and with the season approaching, I am very concerned for the accessibility and climbers' relationship with the state park. The Access Fund, SCC, and AAC-ATL have seemed to make decent progress with communications with DNR, but as a layman climber in this region, it seems like the gorge is simply falling into obscurity and is becoming increasingly unfriendly and inaccessible to climbers. I'm hoping this can get some visibility so the pressure to resolve this issue can increase. If you have read this far, thank you for your time and consideration, Georgia climbers love and appreciate you. 

photo montage of me and my friends and permit photos.

I’ll give you a bump. That’s evil, and idiotic, plain and simple. This is the kind of shit we can expect if the national parks wilderness regulation gets passed. Give an inch they’ll take a mile.

down climbing 300ft and no top-roping, that's fuc**** stupid.  The rangers should be fired and replaced, plain and simple. 

> The head ranger met us shortly, and I immediately sensed standoffish and defensive vibes from them. I was asked if I had “actually” been there before after already confirming this, and then verbally inquired which routes we were “attempting”. I responded with names I knew they would be familiar with, to keep suspicion/questioning to a minimum..

What was your response to this? Just curious.  

Wow. Climbing really doesn't hurt much of anything. The climbers are the ones to get beat up by the cliff. No rappelling creates safety issues. If it starts raining one has to retreat. Strange rule. Europe is so much more friendly to climbers. They just let people have fun. The United States talks a lot about freedom, but they spend a lot more time restricting the actions of their citizens. Everyone should relax and loosen up a bit. Life is short.

B. Stone, this is crazy.  I suggest you get a group of reasonable climbers you know who climb there and ask for a meeting with the park superintendent.  Present your concerns and what you view as a solution.  I have found that this always works well.

If I recall from my visit to the gorge 20 years ago, it's a pretty intense downclimb/scramble to get to the gorge floor and a pretty intense scramble out.  Any rescue in the gorge would be a major ordeal.  Eliminating rappelling, I'm sure is to mitigate people reaching the gorge floor without the competence to climb out.  Many people in the south just enjoy rappelling and have little to no climbing experience (or ability) and couldn't make the scramble out.  Eliminating top roping is probably to keep away those who lack the experience needed to safely climb in this area.  Access was tough back in the day and I'm sure the SCC is all over it.  I agree with some of the access restrictions at this location.  Also, there are very few 5.8 and below for me to climb there so, doesn't really bother me.  Also, given the degree of access difficulty, if you were to get a permit, climb a route, and rap it so you could climb another one, I doubt anyone would be there to stop you.  And, if you were to set up a TR on a hard pitch you're trying to work, I doubt anyone would be there to stop you.  But, this location is NOT a crag.  

This image has been downsized so it may be difficult to read.  Everything below the green line is more cliff line to the gorge floor.  The red line is the trail with the short yellow line representing the down scramble.  It is possible to bushwhack and scramble down hard right (skier's left) to the gorge floor but no matter where you go you will reach vertical sections you must scramble down.  The large X's on the top are main points of egress with the least natural obstructions if you were to do a high angle rescue. 

Todd, the down scramble to the base of the cliff is roughly 30' tall.  They could do an easy extraction from there with a competent rescue team then hike roughly 300-400 yards to the parking lot.  There are also multiple points along the cliff line where a rescue could also take place.  I hope this picture helps refresh your memory.  The current rescue plan is to lower an injured climber down to the gorge floor (~100-200') to either be hiked out the opposite side or helivac from the gorge floor.  This is because they do not have the means to do a high angle rescue, as the head ranger has said.  The great fallacy of this rescue plan, which is the sole reason the climbing permit is tied to the gorge floor permit, is that it requires rope work to lower the injured party to the gorge floor.  This logic falls on deaf ears unfortunately. Also, AF, AAC, and SCC are still putting in the work despite the challenging situation.

Todd Jenkinswrote:

... Also, there are very few 5.8 and below for me to climb there so, doesn't really bother me.  ...

Nice! When some of your favorite 5.8 and below places get threatened I'll be sure to jump in and help!    

https://www.seclimbers.org/project/tallulah-gorge/

Fill out the survey.

Todd Jenkinswrote:

https://www.seclimbers.org/project/tallulah-gorge/

Fill out the survey.

So important to do this anytime visiting, regardless of receiving a permit or not. The more responses the better

Didn’t read the whole thing but if you are with a partner, can’t you get around the no rappeling no toproping rule but building an anchor, lowering the first person from the top, then first person lowers second person from their stance below?  You are neither rapping or climbing on toprope.