Unfortunately, I can’t claim much knowledge about the bolted sandstone climbing at Gibraltar Rock near Devil’s Lake, WI. In fact, it took me several years before I even realized how close it was to the Lake. How could this be you ask? I thought The Narc was a walking encyclopedia of climbing information on all areas of importance? True, of course. However I like to focus on areas that have been open to climbing at least 1 day during my climbing career, and sadly that cannot be said about Gibraltar. Hopefully, this fact could be changing in the near future.
Long closed to climbing by Columbia County, the land that is home to Gibraltar Rock was recently transferred to the control of the State DNR. This development has reinvigorated the climbing community with hopes that climbing could someday be re-opened at Gibraltar. DNR Program Supervisor Rich Evans has been quoted as saying, “I don’t anticipate that it [Gibraltar] will be open to climbing. If they [all of you reading this] want to climb, they can come to Devil’s Lake.” So, clearly we have a lot of work to do.
This is where you come in. There is a drive taking place to gather up signatures on a petition that will be presented to the various people in charge of deciding what activities take place at Gibraltar. The wording is displayed below. If you would like your name added to the petition just leave a comment requesting as much, and I will add your name to the list.
We, the undersigned members of the Wisconsin climbing community, would like to respectfully ask that climbing at Gibraltar Rock once again be made legal. This amazing area has a rich climbing history dating back to the 1960s. We pledge to minimize our impact, and respect the native flora and fauna. Those of us signed below would appreciate any opportunity to work with the state towards this end; including, but not limited to trail building/maintenance, trash removal and the removal of invasive plant species under the guidance of the managers of Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area. Wisconsin’s rich and vibrant climbing community represents a large asset in the effort to preserve this beautiful and natural place, and we hope to be given the chance to prove that.
This Thursday (tomorrow) there is a ceremony at 11 am at Gibraltar to celebrate the addition of Gibraltar Rock to the Wisconsin State Park System. I will be heading up there tomorrow morning if anyone is bored and wants to tag along. Just let me know. The hope is to take the petitions along on Thursday so be sure to comment sooner than later.
Here are some relevant links to get more information:
Bri, put my name on the list. If you’re interested, Bob Heil championed this cause years ago with no luck. It may be worth talking to him. I’m sure the gym has his digits. Good Luck, let me know if I can help.
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you can put my name on that biz as well
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Thanks guys, I’ll let you know how it goes.
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Put my name on the list…thanks!
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Gibraltar was a great place to climb. Add my name to the list, and good luck.
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Hi – what is the status of rock climbing at Gibraltar ? i climbed there back in the 1980’s – early 90’s. Thanks Bob
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