Located in the relatively flat state of Delaware, less than 10 miles from the PA Border outside of Wilmington, you’ll find some surprisingly fun climbing. Now, when I originally heard about climbing opportunities at Alapocas Run State Park, I instantly turned down the dial of my expectations to a slow simmer…I was expecting a few chossy boulder routes. I did a little more research and found out that there is a pretty good downloadable guide, which managed to peak my interest a little more. So, with a curious mind, I managed to talk some coworkers into heading out to the park to give it a try.

Prior to climbing, you have to get a permit at the park office, which basically consists of just signing a waiver. The permits are free, and from what I was told, will be good for a year. Getting to the park is a little tricky, and being that I wasn’t navigating, I don’t feel qualified to spell out directions. The parking lot is located in a really strange area that feels more like a back alley than a park entrance. If you follow directions from the guide and feel like you’re in the wrong area, you’re probably right where you need to be.

I climbed on the Main Wall, which seems to be the most popular place to climb. I believe the other permitted areas are mostly for bouldering. The park is a former quarry, which seems to make sense when you look at the geography. It surprisingly didn’t have the same feeling as other quarry sites- particularly Birdsboro. You can, however, see the remnants of drill holes and blasting marks on many of the rock faces. Overall, the Main wall was pretty dirty, especially if you made your way to some of the upper climbs. Also, lots of Poison Ivy everywhere- beware if you’re allergic. I was climbing in October, a day after a rainstorm; so much of the rock was cold and wet. It started to dry pretty quickly, but the excessive vegetation and soil made it pretty messy.

The first climb that I set up on was the Junior Slab, an easy 5.3…this was my coworkers first time climbing outside. It was really easy to rig a top rope, thanks to the well placed bolted anchors. The hardest thing about this climb is finding a suitable belay location…avoiding loose dirt, tree branches, and poison ivy. The climb itself was super easy, but did offer some fun slabby moves. I climbed this in boots-mostly because I was being lazy.

I then went on to set up a toprope on the east side of the wall. I set up on Old Granddad, which is a 5.2 slab. A 60 meter rope just barely made it to the base which allowed us to link the climb with the lower section. I would recommend walking around the back side to set up the toprope. I free soloed the 5.2 arête, which looked really easy, but wet rock, loose dirt, and the occasional snake (saw 4 on this trip) made it a little less than enjoyable. Shaun and Lisa both climbed the 5.2 and had some fun moving around on the face to make it slightly more challenging. I tried to head up the dihedral, which isn’t rated in the guide, and found it quite amusing I would put it at a 5.5 or 5.6 (one or two moves). When I get back, I really want to try some of the harder stuff on the lower east face (5.6, 5.9. and 5.10’s). I believe that there are some bolts on this wall for sport leading.

Overall, I definitely wouldn’t consider Alapocas a destination crag by any means…you could blow through all of the worthwhile climbs in one trip; but if you’re a Philadelphian looking for a quick fix, it’s worth the 30 minute drive (quicker than wrestling traffic to get to Livesey).