This is a mid-week sport climbing trip to the Smoke Hole Canyon in West Virginia, east of Seneca Rocks and the North Fork Mountain/Germany Valley. It is about a 3-3.5 hour drive from Washington DC.

The canyon contains a number of limestone sport climbing areas, mostly located towards the north end of the canyon.  Reed’s Creek, another popular sport climbing area, is just south of the Smoke Hole Canyon.  The majority of the routes in the canyon are single pitch, 5.7 – 5.10, mostly fully bolted, but take a stick clip if you have one.

Parking – which can be a problem – will be easier than usual since this is a weekday trip but we will likely carpool to the various cliffs.

This trip is open to all Club members but participants should have lead belay experience. Participants will need to have completed the new (September 2025) club waiver.

NOTE: due to the likelihood of the government shutdown closing the original campsite, we will camp near Franklin WV at the Thorn Spring campground. We will climb Thursday and Friday and head back to the DMV late Friday afternoon or evening. Energetic climbers may want to finish one of the days with a 5 mile out & back hike to watch the sunset at the Chimney Top overlook near the entrance to the Canyon, where they will have a 360 degree view of the majestic WV landscape.

Participants will want to pack food for breakfast and lunches and may want to cook any dinner at the campground as the closest restaurants are 45+ minutes away in Franklin and Petersburg.

This trip is a ‘leaderless trip’ but with coordination by Catherine Hambly cathambly at gmail.com. Catherine will set up a Whats App group to coordinate details about the ropes and climbing hardware needed and to establish if carpooling from the DMV is possible.

Participants will decide themselves on what to climb at which areas based on their experience, climbing levels, and interests.

Our website has details of Smoke Hole climbing and Reeds Creek climbing including details of the various Rakkup guides.

Cancellations

Please cancel your registration if you are no longer able to attend  so that someone else can have your spot.  To do this, contact the trip organizer and the webmaster.

If you do not contact the trip organizer or webmaster, this counts as a no-show. If you no show once, you will get an email from the Chair. If you do not show up twice, you will not be allowed to sign up for another event for 3 months. If you continue to not show up, your membership will be cancelled and refunded.

Please note that this is not a guided event and none of our trip organizers are professional guides. You will be climbing with members of the club who are hobby climbers and not professionals. Climbing is an inherently dangerous sport and you do so at your own risk. You are responsible for yourself and your own safety at all times.