Laurel Highlands

The weather has been very wet early this Spring, but we had some dry, windy weather the in the past 36 hours. Thats just enough to allow for good conditions for rock climbing and bouldering. Names such as Cooper's Rock, Seneca Rock, and the New River Gorge, all located in West Virginia, are the most well known areas for great rock climbing and bouldering in the Mid-Atlantic. However the quality of climbing in Western Pennsylvania far exceeds that which is found in the most popular areas in the surroundings. Western PA probably has the best bouldering in the East coast of the United States. Why hasn't the climbing here made it into the national spotlight before now, you might ask? Well, once you get here its easy to notice that you can't see but several hundred feet from the road because of the dense vegetation in Pennsylvania. For this reason, almost all of the rock climbing in Pennsylvania is off the beaten track. Most of it is hidden in a veritable "black forest," usually surrounded by thick evergreens, hemlocks, rhododendrons, and the highly protected and beautiful mountain laurel. By the way, the best climbing occurs in the second to third week of June when the mountain laurel blooms. Combine your adventures with a camping trip, or just make it an afternoon picnic with the crash pad. The wilderness of Western Pennsylvania offers much for the avid rock climber.

Our climbing adventures this Spring of 2008 will focus on terrain as far South as Ohiopyle State Park, and as far North as the northern reaches of Allegheny National Forest. We are linking up with climbers around Ohiopyle, and working with the forest rangers of the state park to open up access to the incredible and numerous climbing opportunities in Ohiopyle State Park alone. Ohiopyle State Park possesses the largest acreage for any state park in America, and I could only assume the climbing is just as extensive. Unfortunately, I have not been able to access good satellite images for majority of the area, and Google Earth has not yet covered the area in great detail. P. S. if you know how how to contact the Google Earth webmasters, tell them to get on with it already!