DEC Closes Rock-Climbing Cliffs For Falcons

You know winter is coming to an end when the state Department of Environmental Conservation closes rock-climbing cliffs where peregrine falcons are known to breed.

Nesting falcons. Photo from DEC website.
Nesting falcons. Photo from DEC website.

Peregrines are on the state’s endangered-species list, and so each spring DEC closes cliffs to protect their nesting sites. Cliffs will be reopened if no nesting occurs on them. Those cliffs used for nesting will be reopened in the summer after the chicks fledge.

Click here to read about the cliff-closure policy. Click here for updates on cliff closures.

This week, DEC announced that effective April 1, the following rock-climbing routes will be closed:

Moss Cliff

All routes closed.

Chapel Pond Area

All routes on Upper and Lower Washbowl Cliffs closed.

Shelving Rock

All routes closed.

Poke-o-Moonshine Mountain

All routes on the Main Face are closed except the following routes described on pages 39-45 of the book Adirondack Rock: A Rock Climber’s Guide:

  1. Opposition
  2. Goat’s Foot on Rock
  3. High and Dry
  4. Bushmaster
  5. Big Buddha
  6. Bushido
  7. Bodacious
  8. Pearly Gates
  9. Kaibob
  10. Battle Creek
  11. Static Cling
  12. Certified Raw
  13. Air Male
  14. Son of a Mother
  15. Phase III
  16. Bastard
  17. Ladder
  18. Puppies on Edge
  19. Hang ‘Em High
  20. Group Therapy
  1. Adonis
  2. Pandemonium
  3. Discord
  4. A Womb with a View

About Phil Brown

Phil Brown edited the Adirondack Explorer from 1999 until his retirement in 2018. He continues to explore the park and to write for the publication and website.

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