Do you love slab climbing? If you don’t know, now is your time to find out! Buzzard Rocks offers great slab climbing, as well as good quality top roping and trad climbing near Front Royal VA. To sign up for this trip, you’ll need to be able to belay and preferably have outdoor climbing experience. Buzzard Rocks is about a 45 minute walk from the parking spot which is about 1 1/2 hours drive from Washington.
Please answer the questions listed here.
Trip leader is Michael Alexander, so please direct any questions to him via [email protected]
Closer to the date a WhatsApp group will be set up to coordinate transport, top ropes, trad racks etc.
Cancellations
Please cancel your registration if you are no longer able to attend so that someone else can have your spot.
You can do this on the website by logging in and going to PMC Member Registrations
If you do not cancel or contact the trip organiser, 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 leaders 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.
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Buzzard Rocks TR and Trad trip
October 17, 2026
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Venue: Buzzard Rocks
Address:
Description:
Buzzard Rocks is an 80 min drive from Washington DC, followed by a 45 – 60min uphill walk. It is in the Elizabeth Furnace area of the George Washington National Forest in Virginia.
Buzzard Rocks sits on a ridgeline at 1300 ft and faces west. It’s great in the mornings in the summer as the crag is shaded until 2pm. In the winter you’ll want to go there in the afternoon. There is no water available.
There are around 30 routes from 5.3 – 5.11, the majority in the 5.7-5.8 range. The routes are slab climbing, 60 – 120ft in length, with mixed protection, a few bolts plus gear. Take a rack. You need two 60m ropes or a 70m rope to abseil so you may want to take a spare rope to fix for this. You can also walk down. Grades are softish.
Directions and Parking
Take I-66 to exit 6 for US-340/US-522, heading left (South) at the exit. After going over a bridge turn right (West) at the light onto 55 — look for a 7-11 on the left. Drive another 5 miles and turn left (South) at Fort Valley Rd/VA-678. After about a mile turn left on VA-619 at a sign that says “Fish Culture Station”. Drive 1.2 miles past the fish hatchery and look for a sign on the right for the Buzzard Rocks trailhead. Park in the small dirt lot and follow the trail about 2 miles to the top. There is an overflow
The parking lot is small and fills up quickly with hikers. You need to be there early.
If there’s no parking try Talking Head Wall as parking on the road will likely get a ticket.
Guidebooks
Buzzard Rocks is in the Rakkup Guide to the Elizabeth Furnace and is listed in Mountainproject under Shenandoah & NW VA Region Climbing.