Rappelling & Rock Climbing:

Crew 270

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We use the following areas for bothrappelling and top ropoing.  The youth of the Post have just started in 1996 to partake of going up as well as down.   In fact, up is now becoming more popular than going down.

Palasides State Park, South Dakota
    Follow brown signs from I-90 11 miles east of Sioux Falls.  There are serveral cliffs of red quartizite from 10 feet up to 60 feet.  Anchors are the rocks themsevles and trees.  An excellent area for biginners and teaching.   The ring of King, Queen and Rattlesnake Rocks is the most popular, with Rattlesnake boing approximately 60 feet high, with at least 5 different routes up and down.  On the south side of Tomahawk Creek is an excellent area for beginning climbers.   Camping is available with flush toilets and showers.  The areas are at times crowded.

 Blue Mounds State Park, Minnesota
    Five miles north of LuVern, Minn. and south along the edge of the park about 1.5 miles is a parking lot from which a trail heads north and west into the Quarry.  Quartzite was mined here by blasting, and thus this area is ok for rapelling and top roping, but not for climbing.  The wall of quartzite extends north and slightly east for over a miles, with several sections that are good for both climibng and rappelling.   Camping is available.  There is a swimming beach for an added bonus.  These are accessed from the main park entrance, about 2 miles north of the road to the Quarry trail.   The highest poi t in the Quarry is from a notch on center of the west wall, about 85 feet.  The south wall offers interesting top roping.  (A book, The Pairie Wall has beern publisehd about this area.

 Fort Falls, Valentine
    East from Valentine, Nebraska, to the Fort Niobrara Wildlife Refugee.  Then enter the show pasture, and exit on the north to the falls.  The falls are just east of the road loop.  You walk down besdie the falls on wooden steps.  We rappel beyond. north and east of the falls, on the cliffs above the Niobrara river.  This is a clay cliff, which is muddy when it rains.    A pleasant 40 - 50 foot drop.
 

 Yellowbanks WMA
    Four miles north from Battle Creek, Nebraska (10 miles west of NOrfolk) go west  1 miles, follow the road south, west, north, and west again.  The cliffs are both south from the first and second parking lots on the Elkhorn Rivers.  These are yellow clay cliffs.  The bottom is frequently muddy, and in times of high water, very muddy.   The climb back to the top is difficult, but it is only 30 minutes from Norfolk, and fairly easily accessable.  Good fror training.

 Cliff Area, Chadron National Forest
    In the Nebraska National Forest (yes, we do have a national forest) south of Chadron, Nebraska.  South from the old Fur Trade Museum on the next road south from Highway 20, then in 2 miles on four wheel drive NFS road, poorly marked.  This is a clay and concretion , nearly sandsstone, 300 foot cliff with a good ledge at 100 feet.  There is a hugh overhang to the wouth of the cliff proper, which has some natural anchors.  The area is beautiful.  No establsihed camping nearby, although Chadron State Park is about 10 miles west on NFS 4WD roads and a group can camp by National Forest Rules in the forests.  This is sometimes a party area for the Chadron State College.

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