Significant portions of the climbing areas at both Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and The Narrows (aka Lover’s Leap) in Cumberland, MD are closed to visitors effective February 15-July 31, 2026. These closures occur seasonally to protect Peregrine Falcons during the nesting and mating season. Since human disturbance can cause nest abandonment and the loss of eggs and chicks, land managers have closed these areas to all visitors. Mid Atlantic Climbers supports the National Park Service and Maryland DNR closures.

Mid Atlantic Climbers will keep in touch with both land managers and update this post as necessary. The closure is expected to be in effect until July 31, 2026.

Maryland Heights at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

All routes on the prominent feature of Maryland Heights between and including the Gully and the Confederate Walls are closed to climbing for the duration of the closure. A large portion of the hillside above is closed to all visitors as well (see image). You can read the full closure announcement from Harpers Ferry NPS here. 

CLOSED: The Gully, The Sign Wall, The Ramps, and the Train Tunnel Wall, and the Confederate Walls.
OPEN: Skink Rock, Stone Fort, Union Walls, Balcony Rock, Balcony Junior, Elk Ridge Bouldering

More details on walls and routes can be found on the Harpers Ferry Mountain Project Page.

These seasonal closures for Peregrine Falcons have occurred for several years and are supported by the climbing community including Mid Atlantic Climbers, and our partner organizations: The Access Fund, The American Alpine, and The Outdoor Alliance. Harpers Ferry reports that three peregrine falcon chicks successfully took their first flights from the cliffs of Maryland Heights in 2023.  This is the third consecutive, documented fledging of peregrine falcons since the 1950’s and the first time in over 70 years that each chick has survived to this milestone.

The Narrows, aka Lover’s Leap

At the Narrows, all routes between the end of the Sunshine Buttress to the Robinson Crusoe area are closed to climbing.

Route information and maps can be found on the Narrows aka Lover’s Leap Mountain Project Page.

Across the US, 2025 has several wins and losses for climbing overall. The year kicked off with the Explore Act being signed into law on Jan 4, 2025! But we also navigated a lengthy government shutdown that affected several of our local crags and unfortunately overlapped with our fall Adopt a Crag season, leading to two cancelled events during park closures. Despite that, we were able to host just as many Adopt a Crags in 2025 as we did in 2024! We had some new access issues arise, which will be discussed in the “Update on Access Issues” section. Across the country, climbing has been threatened in several areas, and we’ve also seen Access Fund and similar organizations, as well as climbers, step up to challenge these threats.

Here’s what MAC was doing in 2025:

• Hosted 9 Adopt a Crag events at 8 different locations
  • 106 total attendees across the 9 events
  • 337.5 total volunteer hours
  • Completed work included trail building, erosion control, trash pickup, graffiti removal, invasive species removal, and tree planting.
• Tabled at several gyms/events, including DC Boulder Fest, Movement Columbia, DCBP, and Sportrock Alexandria.
• We redesigned our website! You’ll notice we have a new look and it should be easier to find information on our website.
• Launched an online merch store on our website! Now you can buy t-shirts/gear outside of tabling events.
• Moved to a much larger storage unit. This also allowed us to expand our tools and materials. We purchased more Elephant Snot graffiti remover, various handsaws, shovels, trash pickers, loppers, and heavy-duty reuseable leather gloves for invasive species removal.
• Held two sponsorship drives with MAC leadership to get sponsors for our spring and fall season. Thank you to Rhino Skin, Access Fund, Kaya, Rocky Talkie, Edelrid, Down Dog Yoga, Caboose Brewing, Patagonia DC, GaiaGPS, and CalTopo for providing various giveaway items/certificates for our Adopt a Crag raffles!
• Hosted our first Community Climb Night at DC Bouldering Project. This was an absolute blast. We climbed for a couple of hours and then went to a brewery after for a social hour. Some of the attendees of this event came to our Adopt a Crags in the fall season as well! We loved seeing you all again.
• Expanded our leadership team! Welcome to our Outreach Ambassador, Jackson, and Officer at Large, Bryan who have been a huge help in 2025.

Shoutouts & thanks!

We also want to thank various organizations/gyms/companies, and our volunteers, for their support this year:

• All 106 of our volunteers who joined our Adopt a Crags! We couldn’t have these events without you. Thank you!
• Access Fund for their constant support, donations from joint memberships, Adopt a Crag support boxes, and more
• Kaya (and Kaya guidebook authors) for donating portions of guidebook profits to us to further our mission, giving us a direct way to quickly update access issues within the Kaya app, meeting with us on several occasions, and for providing Kaya Pro certificates as Adopt a Crag raffle prizes!
• Gunks Apps (and Gunks Apps guidebook authors) for donating portions of guidebook profits!
• Rhino Skin for a HUGE donation of skincare samples, skincare kits, t-shirts, beanies, and more
• Edelrid for donating several coupon certificates
• Down Dog Yoga for donating 2-week free class certificates and pride shirts/tanks
• Caboose Brewing for donating beer tasting certificates
• Patagonia DC for donating several items including backpacks
• GaiaGPS for donating membership certificates
• CalTopo for donating membership certificates
• All Access Fund members who signed up for a joint membership and choose Mid Atlantic Climbers as their LCO!
• Movement, Sportrock, and DC Bouldering Project gyms for allowing us to table
• Anyone else who donated their time, money, or resources or supported us in any way – we are sorry if we missed you in this list!

Update on Access Issues

New closure: Kemp Mill Overhang near Northwest Branch. We know folks are disappointed about this one. This overhanging trailside boulder was put on Mountain Project in December 2024 and quickly gained popularity. Unfortunately, it was not discussed with the park first and they were unaware of climbing happening on this boulder. This rock formation has been identified as a prehistoric shelter and a protected resource, with a historic marker erected nearby as early as 2017 and archeological studies performed starting in 1997. It’s a registered site with the State (Maryland Historical Trust) and has been long before the boulder was climbed on. As such, the park has asked that we protect this historic resource. This rock falls under Montgomery Parks jurisdiction. We have a great relationship with Montgomery Parks (same park authority as Northwest Branch/Burnt Mills East and Rachel Carson Conversation Park). They are generally very receptive to climbing as a recreational activity and allow it in their parks. Due to this, we urge everyone to respect their wishes to not climb on this boulder, as we do not want to potentially hurt access elsewhere in Montgomery County, and there are several nearby options for climbing as an alternative.

Continued closure: T. Howard Duckett/Rocky Gorge. In 2024, we were working directly with a contact within WSSC Water on a climbing proposal. We drafted a climbing proposal in coordination with the American Alpine Club and Access Fund to present to the WSSC Board in spring 2025. This effort has unfortunately been stalled due to significant staffing changes within the WSSC. Our goal is to continue to push this in 2026, and we are once again involving the Access Fund for help on this issue.

Private property issues: We unfortunately do not have updates for the Jam boulder (Patapsco area) or Anthem Boulder. We did a lot of research on both of these including researching property lines, communicating with the county and police, communicating with nearby parks, and even reaching out to landowners. We unfortunately have not made any contact. We will continue to work on these issues, but private property issues are much more difficult to resolve typically (we’ve seen this in other major climbing areas across the US as well in 2025). Visiting these boulders is trespassing, and the landowners do have the right to call the police when they see folks climbing or in the area. Our official stance is to avoid these boulders and we will continue to try to come to an agreement with landowners, but there is no guarantee.

Looking forward to 2026

We have several ideas and goals for 2026 in addition to our usual Adopt a Crag activities! Including…

• Introducing a new t-shirt design! We are in the early phases of working with graphic designers to come up with a design and hopefully launch a new t-shirt later this year. We have had the same design for several years and would love to have a unique t-shirt for you all to represent MAC, our mission, and our area.
• Working with Access Fund to make progress on access issues. We have engaged with Access Fund for help on our various access issues, as we have been stalled in making the progress we would like to see.
• Hosting another community climb night. We had so much fun with ya’ll and want to do this again! We are unsure of which gym(s) we may host at, but will continue to plan and hope to have an event this spring. Keep an eye out on our website and social media!
• Attending the Access Fund Annual Conference! Several MAC leaders plan to attend the conference, which is conveniently hosted at the New River Gorge this year.
• As always, we look forward to our spring and fall Adopt a Crag seasons where we plan to host about 4 events each season. Our spring season should be posted in mid/late February, so keep an eye out and consider volunteering with us.

Here’s what MAC was doing in 2024:

• Hosted 9 Adopt a Crag events at 8 different locations
  • 111 total attendees across the 9 events
  • 343 total volunteer hours
• Assisted with 7 Unmatched Athlete events
  • 6 climbing days at Movement Rockville where kids 5-18 came to climb with Movement staff as well as MAC members and MAC volunteers
  • 1 day for their Union Collective Pride fundraiser event held at Movement Hampden
• Worked heavily on a climbing proposal in coordination with the AAC and Access Fund, to hopefully reopen climbing to a closed area in our region. More to come in 2025 on this.
• Held a fall email sponsorship drive with MAC leadership to get sponsors for our fall season. Thank you to Organic Climbing and Access Fund for providing incredible giveaway items for our Adopt a Crag raffles!
• Purchased an insurance policy to allow us to host 2 climbing events per year alongside Adopt a Crag events. We held our first climbing event this past fall with Soul Trak at Great Falls.
• Leadership has been continuing to build relationships with land managers, parks, new park rangers, and other organizations to continue to plan events for 2025 and beyond.

Shoutouts & thanks!

We also want to thank various organizations/gyms/companies for their support this year:

• DC Bouldering Project for sponsoring 2 of our events and providing breakfast
• Sportrock for their Earth Day sticker fundraiser and Dynos & Desserts fundraiser
• Organic Climbing for their sponsorship and donation of raffle items
• Gunks Apps for donations from guidebook purchases (and the guidebook authors who opt to donate proceeds to us!)
• Kaya for donations from guidebook purchases (and the guidebook authors who opt to donate proceeds to us!)
• AAC for their help with the climbing proposal we are working on

Looking forward to 2025

Going into 2025, some may feel uncertain about what is in store for the environment, outdoor recreation areas, and climbing access. MAC and members are part of a broader regional and nationwide community of outdoor recreation stewards and advocates. Access Fund recently noted a couple of huge wins including the passing of the Protecting America’s Rock Climbing Act (read more here). We will continue our local work but can always use all of the help we can get. If you haven’t gotten involved with us yet, keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities this spring. We also are always looking for help with Adopt a Crags, our website, gym tabling, grant writing, sponsorship requests, and more. If you are interested in a leadership position please reach out!

For 2025, we look forward to hosting Adopt a Crags around the region, progressing on various access issues, moving to a larger storage unit that will allow us to expand our inventory, doing another sponsorship drive to continue to provide raffle items at our events, hosting two climbing events, and more.

1. Become a Leave No Trace advocate
   
   As climbers, it is our collective responsibility to minimize our individual impact through responsible climbing and help restore these areas through environmental stewardship. Together, we can protect the natural beauty of and ensure long-term access to climbing areas across the Mid Atlantic region. Learn more about how the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace apply to you as a climber and how to be a more responsible climber.
   
   
2. Register for an Adopt a Crag with Mid Atlantic Climbers
   
   We have a full spring calendar for Adopt a Crag events and we need your help! Join us outside for graffiti removal, trail maintenance, invasive species removal, and other stewardship activities critical for maintaining access to and the conditions of our favorite local climbing areas. Learn more and register for our Adopt a Crags here.
   
   
3. Make a tax-deductible donation to Mid Atlantic Climbers
   
   Mid Atlantic Climbers relies on the generous contributions of our partners, members, and volunteers. Donations not only help us buy gloves, snacks, tools, and safety equipment for our volunteers – but also help us protect our precious climbing resources for generations to come. Thank you for your support!
   
   

Rachel Carson Conservation Park is a 650-acre park and a part of the Montgomery Parks system. The trails are very family friendly and enjoyable for all ages. The area is home to equestrian trails, bird watching opportunities, and 6+ miles of hiking. The small bouldering area is reachable via a 10 minute easy hike along mostly a horse trail.

The boulders here are quartz rock – a rarity in local climbing! However, much of the rock was covered in black spray painted graffiti which was an eye sore to an otherwise very beautiful conservation area.

On Sunday, March 24, 10 volunteers met to tackle the graffiti. Three of our volunteers joined from the UMD Terrapin Trail Club, despite being on spring break!

Our volunteers met at 9am, prepped and gathered all materials we needed to carry to the work area (PPE, water, power washers, wire brushes), and hiked in. Fun fact: a 7 gallon container of water is nearly 60 pounds! Extra thanks to our volunteers who managed to haul two of them in. Also, the volunteers braved working with water despite it being a brisk morning at just 35 degrees when we began work.

Our graffiti removal process has been refined over time. Some parks allow pressure washers, some do not. We got the OK from Montgomery County Parks to use them for this event, so our process was as follows:

• Volunteers suit up with rubber gloves and eye protection
• Apply Elephant Snot with soft bristle brushes to all areas with paint
• Wait 30 minutes for the product to do its work
• Brush all application areas by hand with wire brushes
• Power wash with a battery powered pressure washer, using water we carry in
• Pack up all trash and materials (leave no trace!)

Elephant Snot is a biodegradable, thick formula product that is recommended for many rock types. It has been used widely in many National & state parks and is overall considered more environmentally friendly than many products on the market.

Due to the quartz rock being smoother than most rock in the area, the scrubbing was a bit less laborious than at other events. Given that the graffiti was all a solid color and just one layer, this made our work easier as well. Volunteers finished in record time – just 2 hours in total for the entire project! Only one layer of graffiti removal product was needed.

Check out some of our before and after photos:

And check out our time lapse of the entire event!

We are so grateful for the volunteers who helped with this event — thank you! Many of our events happen because climbers in the area reach out with issues they’ve seen while out climbing. If you encounter any graffiti, access issues, trash build up, or potential trail building opportunities while you are out climbing, please reach out to us at info@midatlanticclimbers.org so we can discuss with you and work with proper park authorities or land owners to address it.

If you are interested in this type of work or giving back to your local climbing areas, check out our other spring events and consider signing up!

This spring, join Mid Atlantic Climbers in protecting your favorite crag! Our Spring Adopt a Crags season is already in bloom, so be sure to sign up and reserve your spot today.

• 

  Sunday, March 24: Rachel Carson Conservation Park Adopt a Crag (Olney, MD) focusing on graffiti removal.

• Sunday, April 7: Ilchester, Patapsco Valley State Park(Ellicott City, MD) Adopt a Crag focusing on graffiti removal and trash pickup. Register here.
• Saturday, April 13: Cunningham Falls State Park, Catoctin Mountain(Thurmont, MD) focusing on trail work and maintenance.Register here.
  
• Saturday, April 25: Sugarloaf Mountain (Dickerson, MD) focusing on trail work and maintenance.Register here.
• Saturday, May 25: Carderock Recreation Area (Potomac, MD) – invasive species removal. Registration coming soon.
• May – date TBD – Great Falls Park (McLean, VA) focusing on split rail fence maintenance. More details coming soon.

Space is limited, so be sure to sign up as soon as possible. Lunch will be provided.

Interested in helping coordinate stewardship activities and adopt a crags in your area?

We’re always looking for new team leaders, Adopt-a-Crag managers, and others to take on active roles in our events. Reach out to info@midatlanticclimbers.org for more information.

UPDATE: The seasonal peregrine falcon closures were lifted on June 27th.

Significant portions of the climbing areas at both Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and The Narrows (aka Lover’s Leap) in Cumberland, MD are closed to visitors effective February 15-July 31, 2024. These closures occur seasonally to protect Peregrine Falcons during the nesting and mating season. Since human disturbance can cause nest abandonment and the loss of eggs and chicks, land managers have closed these areas to all visitors. Mid Atlantic Climbers supports the National Park Service and Maryland DNR closures.

Mid Atlantic Climbers will keep in touch with both land managers and update this post as necessary. The closure is expected to be in effect until July 31, 2024.

Maryland Heights at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

All routes on the prominent feature of Maryland Heights between and including the Gully and the Confederate Walls are closed to climbing for the duration of the closure. A large portion of the hillside above is closed to all visitors as well (see image). You can read the full closure announcement from Harpers Ferry NPS here. 

CLOSED: The Gully, The Sign Wall, The Ramps, and the Train Tunnel Wall, and the Confederate Walls.
OPEN: Skink Rock, Stone Fort, Union Walls, Balcony Rock, Balcony Junior, Elk Ridge Bouldering

More details on walls and routes can be found on the Harpers Ferry Mountain Project Page.

These seasonal closures for Peregrine Falcons have occurred for several years and are supported by the climbing community including Mid Atlantic Climbers, and our partner organizations: The Access Fund, The American Alpine, and The Outdoor Alliance. Harpers Ferry reports that three peregrine falcon chicks successfully took their first flights from the cliffs of Maryland Heights in 2023.  This is the third consecutive, documented fledging of peregrine falcons since the 1950’s and the first time in over 70 years that each chick has survived to this milestone.

The Narrows, aka Lover’s Leap

At the Narrows, all routes between the end of the Sunshine Buttress to the Robinson Crusoe area are closed to climbing.

Route information and maps can be found on the Narrows aka Lover’s Leap Mountain Project Page.

Starting September 12, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park will be closing portions of trail and climbing in West Virginia while work is being done to perform rockslide stabilization above US 340. This work calls for rock slope scaling, localized rock bolting, and removal of potential large scale rockfall hazards. Additionally, work will be done to mitigate rockfall. This work is expected to last 90 days.

What climbing areas are closed?

All climbing in West Virginia east of Chestnut Road will be closed. This would include notable climbs such as Loudon Heights, The Frontier, New Dawn Boulders, Potomac Boulders, and PawPaw Overhang.

While the park announcement also mentions this work closing climbing in Virginia, these climbing areas have been closed since 2017 with the Superintendent’s Compendium issued that year. Mid Atlantic Climbers has expressed its disagreement with this closure to the park but has been unable to work with them to lift these closures. Given this, we do not expect the Virginia closure to be lifted with the completion of this work.

What climbing areas remain open?

With the annual peregrine falcon closure having been lifted on August 1st, climbing in Maryland is currently open.

In West Virginia, the bulk of the climbing is closed, but some areas are west of Chestnut Road, such as Giggling Boulders and Moonshine Boulder, are open.

What next?

Mid Atlantic Climbers will continue to monitor the situation and update the community as it develops. Remember that you can always visit our Alerts and Initiatives page to see all access alerts in effect for our area.

Significant portions of the climbing areas at both Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and The Narrows (aka Lover’s Leap) in Cumberland, MD are closed to visitors effective February 15-July 31, 2023. These closures occur seasonally to protect Peregrine Falcons during the nesting and mating season. Since human disturbance can cause nest abandonment and the loss of eggs and chicks, land managers have closed these areas to all visitors. Mid Atlantic Climbers supports the National Park Service and Maryland DNR closures.

Mid Atlantic Climbers will keep in touch with both land managers and update this post as necessary. The closure is expected to be in effect until July 31, 2023.

Maryland Heights at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

All routes on the prominent feature of Maryland Heights between and including the Gully and the Confederate Walls are closed to climbing for the duration of the closure. A large portion of the hillside above is closed to all visitors as well (see image). You can read the full closure announcement from Harpers Ferry NPS here. 

CLOSED: The Gully, The Sign Wall, The Ramps, and the Train Tunnel Wall, and the Confederate Walls.
OPEN: Skink Rock, Stone Fort, Union Walls, Balcony Rock, Balcony Junior, Elk Ridge Bouldering

More details on walls and routes can be found on the Harpers Ferry Mountain Project Page.

These seasonal closures for Peregrine Falcons have occurred for several years and are supported by the climbing community including Mid Atlantic Climbers, and our partner organizations: The Access Fund, The American Alpine, and The Outdoor Alliance. Harpers Ferry reports that the peregrine falcon’s return comes after two consecutive years of fledgling chicks at the park.

The Narrows, aka Lover’s Leap

At the Narrows, all routes between the end of the Sunshine Buttress to the Robinson Crusoe area are closed to climbing.

Route information and maps can be found on the Narrows aka Lover’s Leap Mountain Project Page.