The World Class Climbing You Need to Check Out in 2025
By Sierra McGivney
Originally published in Guidebook XIII
If you haven’t logged some ascents on West Virginia stone, that’s a gap in your climbing resume that you should rectify immediately. You won’t regret making the trek to climb on the New’s tiered roofs and bouldery, sequency walls. The New River Gorge (NRG) is one of the few truly world-class destinations in the U.S., and a trip to visit in 2025 would be an easy way to ensure your climbing year is filled with unbelievable climbing— the kind that has you yelling, “WOW I LOVE ROCK CLIMBING” halfway up the wall.
STYLES OF THE NRG:
technical, bouldery, puzzle solving, high steps, big pulls, powerful movement
The NRG boasts miles of challenging climbing on ironclad Nuttall sandstone cliffs. Many routes overlook the stunning New River Gorge, or you can travel deep into the vibrant West Virginia forest and find hidden cliffs with stellar routes. The rock is composed of 98% quartz—some even claim it’s harder than Yosemite granite. With over 3,000 established routes, the NRG has almost every type of climbing: run-out and well-bolted, slab, overhangs, cracks, techy vertical faces, corners, arêtes, trad and sport climbing, and bouldering. Technical small holds, long reaches, big moves, and old-school bolting leave many shaking in their climbing shoes. You’ll never get bored if you love finding a sequence of moves that unlocks a climb. And you’ll never feel better than when you push through the mental challenge and pull off the move.
“It’s a humbling place to climb, so you have to be willing to be humbled a lot,” said Jane Kilgour, the Community & Guest Services Manager at the AAC New River Gorge Campground.
Liz Haas on Black Rider (a.k.a. Pocket Route) (5.13a). Land of the Shawnee, Yuchi, and Moneton peoples. Photo by AAC member Jan Novak.
The caliber of climbs makes every fall and try-hard scream worthwhile.
“[The New River Gorge] is the kind of place where people come for a week, and they end up staying for three months and then moving around their plans for the year so they can return again next season,” said Kilgour.
The best advice for visiting the New: chase stars, not grades. The quality of lines and routes is why climbers can’t get enough of the NRG.
AAC Partner Members Get Discounts on Lodging!
As an AAC member, enjoy discounts at AAC lodging facilities and dozens of other locations in the AAC lodging network.
Each membership is critical to the AAC’s work: advocating for climbing access and natural landscapes, offering essential knowledge to the climbing community through our accident analysis and documentation of cutting edge climbing, and supporting our members with our rescue benefit, discounts, grants and more.
A Brief History of New River Gorge Climbing
Magdalena Gromadzka on Tattoo (5.12a). Photo by AAC member Jan Novak.
The New River Gorge National Park is on the land of the Cherokee and Shawnee, among other tribes. We acknowledge their past, present, and future connection to the land. To learn more, visit the Sandstone Visitor Center on your trip.
In the 1970s, West Virginia locals began developing the New River Gorge, focusing on what would become the Bridge Area before the NRG Bridge was completed in 1977. Classics like Chockstone (5.9), Jaws (5.9), and Tree Route (5.10) were climbed in the Bridge Buttress area and graded initially as 5.7. Locals continued to put up more routes, moving on to the Junkyard Wall.
Whispers of amazing climbing at the New River Gorge spread, and the 1980s brought a new wave of climbers who pushed grades and technical difficulties in the area. Rapscallion’s Blues (5.10c), Leave It to Jesus (5.11c), and Incredarete (5.12c) were put up, and with every season, more climbing areas were discovered. In the late ‘80s, sport climbing and Lynn Hill came to the New. Eric Horst put up the first 5.13 in the New, Diamond Life, and Lynn clinched the first ascent of the Greatest Show on Earth (5.13a), setting a new standard for women in the New River Gorge.
Hard sport climbing ruled the early 1990s. The late Brian McCray put up difficult lines on overhanging walls, including the first 5.14a, Proper Soul. Development plateaued in the late ‘90s, as the NPS acquired most of the climbing cliffs, and a power drill ban was enacted in 1998. Currently, the NPS accepts permit applications for new routes. In the 2010s, many 5.14s were bolted and sent, including Trebuchet (5.14b), Coal Train (5.14a), and Mono Loco (5.14a) by guidebook author Mike Williams. Hoax of Clocks (5.14a) was the first route to be bolted legally under the current NPS climbing management plan after the New officially became a national park in December 2020. New routes like Jonathan Siegrist’s Full Metal Brisket (5.15a) continue to be put up alongside classics at popular crags to this day.
New River Gorge Beta
Photo by AAC member Jan Novak.
Getting There
Driving: The NRG is located in south-central West Virginia near Fayetteville.
Flying: Fly into Charleston, West Virginia, and drive about 90 minutes to the NRG. A car is essential at the NRG, where crags, lodging, and grocery stores are spread out.
Season
The New can be climbed year-round and has great warm and cold-weather crags.
The best seasons are fall and spring.
Fall: It is possible to climb at any crag during this season by chasing sun or shade.
Spring: Longer days, higher humidity.
Book Your Stay
If you’re climbing in the New River Gorge, stay in the heart of the national park at the AAC’s New River Gorge Campground, within walking distance of popular climbing crags and hiking trails.
Reservations are required, and same-day reservations must be made by 11 a.m. on the day of arrival. Reservations open March 1, 2025.
The campground offers three types of accommodations: private tent sites, vehicle camping parking spots/sites, and communal camping spots.
No RVs, trailers, or vehicles over 20 feet. Pets are welcome but must be leashed.
Prices are as follows: Member / Non-Member
Private tent site: $24 / $32
Communal camping: $10 / $14
Vehicle sites: $16 / $20
AAC’s New River Gorge Campground season runs from the end of March to early December.
Emmeline Wang on Legacy (5.11a). AAC member Jan Nova
Notes on Climbing Ethics
Stick-clipping the first bolt is expected. On some climbs, the first bolt is 20 feet off the ground.
Always lower (instead of rappelling) from the anchors on single-pitch climbs when possible. New River Alliance of Climbers (NRAC) is active in the area and replaces bad anchors.
Fixed or project draws within the national park are illegal, and placing fixed protection is by permit only.
Most NRG crags are within the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, so all NPS rules apply when climbing there—especially the seven principles of Leave No Trace.
Grocery Stores
Swiftwater General Store, Lansing
Walmart Supercenter, Fayetteville
Kroger, Fayetteville
Rest Day Fun
Hike Endless Wall Trail, a 3.2-mile loop in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
Check out over 60 miles of mountain biking trails in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
Raft the New River or the Gauley River.
Kayak, stand-up paddleboard, or swim at Summersville Lake.
On a rainy day, head over to Rangefinder Coffee in Fayetteville.
Photo by AAC member Jan Novack.
Climbs You Need to Check Out
Now that you’ve packed, prepared, and researched, the looming question of what to climb still stands. We’ve highlighted a number of climbs you don’t want to miss with help from our New River Gorge Campground staff.
Warning: There are plenty more classics not listed here. You might leave wanting to come back for more.
A Forgotten Classic
Bicycle Club 5.11d: Not necessarily “for- gotten,” but often overlooked compared to its neighbor, Sancho Belige (5.11c), this is a high-quality route.
Six Must-Climb Routes up to 5.9+
Ferrovieri 5.7 Sport
Hippie Dreams 5.7 Sport
Mrs. Field’s Follies 5.8 Sport
Two Bag Face 5.9 Trad
Four Sheets to the Wind 5.9+ Trad
Flight of the Gumby 5.9+ Sport
Ten Must-Climb Trad Climbs
Harder Than 5.9
Black and Tan 5.10a
Hyperactive 5.10a
Burning Calves 5.10b
Rapscallion’s Blues 5.10c
Fairtracer 5.10d
Stuck in Another Dimension 5.11a
Mellifluus 5.11a
Leave It to Jesus 5.11c
The Beckoning 5.12a
Ten Must-Climb Sport Climbs Harder Than 5.9
The Rico Suave Arête 5.10a
The Decameron 5.10b
Legacy 5.11a
Satisfaction Guaranteed 5.11a/b
Porter for Recorder 5.11d
Psycho Wrangler 5.12a
Concertina 5.12a
Thunderstruck 5.12b
Welcome to Conditioning 5.12d (“Indisputable Proof that God is a Climber.” —Mike Williams)
Blood Raid 5.13a
Ten Classic Boulder Problems
Gymnastic Fantastic V2
Perfect World V2
Way of the Gun V4
Gundercling V4
Loki V5
Sunshine Arête V5
The MacGuffin V5
West Virginia Hot Pocket V6
There’s No I in Illiterate V6/7
1,2 Punch V7
Explore Guidebook Stories
