Whitewater

Climbing

Pisgah National Forest grants access to world class climbing across the 500,000 acre footprint. Explore hundreds of climbing locations throughout the Ranger District and greater Western North Carolina. The region features prominent rock access with trad climbing opportunities around Looking Glass, Table Rock, and Stone Mountain among many others. Pisgah is renowned as a premier bouldering destination in the Southeast with locations around Boone, Big Rock, and Linville.

About

Pisgah features a wide range of climbing destinations scattered throughout the region. Start with bouldering problems at Walker Creek and Corner Rock near Asheville, or head north towards Grandmother Mountain and the Highway 221 corridor to access a huge variety of problems. Trad climbers can focus on Chimney Rock for accessibility from Mills River or head to Whiteside for one of the most challenging climbing locations on the east coast.


View more climbing resources at Mountain Project.

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Guide Services

Climbing Instruction

Whitewater offers climbing instruction and guiding services within Pisgah National Forest for beginners and advanced climbers.
  • Trad Climbing photos from Linville Gorge by Bryan Miller
  • Trad Climbing photos from Linville Gorge by Bryan Miller

Map

Select markers for routes and access information.

Points of Interest

Looking Glass Rock

The Nose (Trad) 5.8

Good Intentions (Trad) 5.6

Southender (Trad) 5.8-

Pooter the Poacher (Trad) 5.10c

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Wolf Branch / Rick Knob

Black Slab Right (Bouldering) V3

Crescent Crack (Bouldering) V2

Dime Crack (Bouldering) V4

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Rumbling Bald

Crescent Crack

Dime Crack

Rotator Cuff (SDS V6 Stand V5)

  • Looking Glass Rock, NCBouldering at Looking Glass