Shagg Crag has one of the highest concentrations of excellent quality hard sport climbing routes in the entire New England area. The cliff itself hangs off the side of Bald Mountain overlooking Shagg Pond. The approach is fairly burly compared to typical sport crags and involves hiking for about 10 minutes on flat terrain followed by 15 minutes of uphill hiking. Most of the classics have perma-draws which makes projecting and backing off of routes very easy and low stakes. In addition, the main section of the cliff stays dry in almost anything (the classic “Ginseng Route” (12c) has been climbing in a hurricane). As you approach the base of the cliff, you’ll notice a large crack traversing the cliff face, which marks a 5 bolt 10c “warmup” route called The Great Escape. The mountain project page for the area is very well established and has almost all the routes at the crag on it. Although its home to almost exclusively hard sport routes, it’s worth going to if you’re new to sport climbing. Go with someone who knows the area and can lead some harder stuff.

Callum Douglass ’16 on the deadpoint below the upper crux of Shaggadelic (13c)

Directions

The trail head appears shortly after passing Shagg Pond on the right. Drive up a steep hill and park at the pullout on the left as soon as you reach the top of the. The trailhead is immediately across from the pullout. Follow the trail until it reaches Little Concord Pond (See link in additional notes below). Immediately before the small clearing that leads down to the lake, take a right. There should be a green sign which points up a steep rocky ramp visible immediately. Follow the trail that leads up this ramp, and follow it for 15ish minutes. When you are slightly below the Bald Mountain summit, you’ll be able to see a faint trail heading off to the right towards a cliff which may or may not be visible through the trees depending on the season. If you reach a sign directing you to the Bald Mountain summit, you’ve gone about 500 ft too far (Although the summit is well worth the extra 2 minute hike). Once on the climbers path, follow it down to the cliff.

Trailhead Location:

272 Shagg Pond Rd. Bryant Pond, ME 04219

44.427222°N,  70.542033 °W

Additional Notes

The birds perch ledge is home to a peregrine falcon nest. Make sure to steer clear of this area in the spring and summer while the birds are nesting. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ alum Callum Dougllas ’16 has the first ascent of Shaggadelic. Good luck repeating it!

See also: Bald Mountain;ÌýÌýLittle Concord Pond

The amphitheater is an excellent ice climbing spot located in Grafton Notch. It has a relatively short approach, is rarely crowded, and is easily top roped. The and the approach also offer some incredible views out into the notch. Because of its location, it tends to hold ice even during warm winters.

Koby Yudkin at the Amphitheater in Grafton Notch

Directions

Drive past the parking for the trailhead up Old Speck for about half a mile. On your left you’ll see a pullout with a sign marked cable road. Park here and follow the cable road straight for about 100 feet, then turn off left into a marshy area. There are blazes leading to the cliff but it can be tricky to find if the trail isn’t packed down (I’ve added a second point on the map above with the approx. location of the cliff). Head uphill steadily until you reach a cliff. If you hit a clearing ~ half way you should be on the right track. Once at the cliff, walk around climbers right and set up some top ropes or lead something to the top.

Trailhead Location:

Off of ME-26 in Newry, ME 04261

44.5984°N, 70.9463°W

The Baldface Loop is located in Evan’s Notch, and offers an incredible amount of hiking above tree-line based on the relatively low elevation of the summits and Ridgeline. Once on the ridge, you’ll get views of the Carter Ridge and the Wild River Wilderness. The loop is about 10 miles and very well marked. The uphill sections are relatively mellow which makes for great trail running. The loop is best from south to north (hike up South Baldface first) to avoid hiking down the steep sections on South Baldface. About 2 miles into the loop you’ll pass by the South Baldface Shelter, which is located right below the tree-line and is a great place to spend the night. This also makes the Baldface Loop a great intro backpacking trip if broken up into two days, since most of the elevation is covered on the way up to the shelter. This hike also has an awesome swimming hole (the emerald pool) indicated by a sign at the first turn 3/4 mile into the hike where the loop splits. You should defiantly check it out on the way up or down and take a dip if it’s warm. The summit and ridge of this hike are almost always super windy so bring some warmer layers even if its warm and sunny.

Directions

Park in the parking lot on the east side of the road. Follow the road north for a couple hundred feet to reach the trailhead on the east side (there is a big sign indicating that it’s the boldface circle trail). Follow this for 3/4 of a mile until you reach a junction. Check out the emerald pool on your right, and then hike back to the junction and continue following the Baldface Circle Trail towards South Baldface. There is another junction shortly after, again stay on the Baldface Circle Trail. Continue for another 1.5 miles until you hit the lean-too. The trail continues behind the lean-too onto the exposed ledges. Follow blazes and cairns to the ridge, and follow the ridge to the top of South Baldface. Stay on the ridge and continue to North Baldface. About a mile after the North Baldface summit, follow the Baldface Circle Trail down to the start of the loop.

Trailhead Location:

2223 Main Rd, Chatham, NH 03813

44.237886°±·,Ìý71.015786°°Â

Additional Notes

Don’t forget some warmer clothes for the ridge! Defiantly the more physically challenging end of Intermediate, but well marked enough that you don’t need much hiking experience.

See also: South Baldface

South Baldface is located in Evan’s Notch, and offers an incredible amount of hiking above tree-line based on the relatively low elevation of its summit. At the top, you’ll get views of the Carter Ridge and the Wild River Wilderness. The hike is 3 miles one way and well marked. The uphill sections are relatively mellow. About 2/3 of the way to the top you’ll pass by the South Baldface Shelter, which is located right below the tree-line and is a great place to spend the night. This also makes South Baldface a great intro backpacking trip. This hike also has an awesome swimming hole (the emerald pool) indicated by a sign at the first turn 3/4 mile into the hike. You should defiantly check it out on the way up or down and take a dip if it’s warm. The summit and ridge of this hike are almost always super windy so bring some warmer layers even if its warm and sunny.

Directions

Park in the parking lot on the east side of the road. Follow the road north for a couple hundred feet to reach the trailhead on the east side (there is a big sign indicating that it’s the boldface circle trail). Follow this for 3/4 of a mile until you reach a junction. Check out the emerald pool on your right, and then hike back to the junction and continue following the Baldface Circle Trail towards South Baldface. There is another junction shortly after, again stay on the Baldface Circle Trail. Continue for another 1.5 miles until you hit the lean-too. The trail continues behind the lean-too onto the exposed ledges. Follow blazes and cairns to the ridge, and follow the ridge to the top!

Trailhead Location:

2223 Main Rd, Chatham, NH 03813

44.237886°±·,Ìý71.015786°°Â

Additional Notes

Don’t forget some warmer clothes for the top! If its a clear day bring a camera too.

See also: Baldface Loop

Arguably the closest crag from ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ (~1:15 from door to crag), Tumbledown Dick, also known as the dick, is an expansive hillside located close to the road with several different cliffs. Most of the climbing is trad, but it’s super easy to hike to the top of all of the cliffs and set up top ropes. Mostly slab climbing with some steeper harder stuff mixed in on super nice schist. A great place to practice trad climbing or to test out your anchor building skills and tope rope some stuff. If its warm out, pop over to Evan’s notch and take a dip in the Wild River (about 5 minutes away).

Directions

Turn right onto Bridge st. in Gilead and then take another right onto North Rd. Follow N Rd. past some farms until you hit a forested patch. As you crest a hill, the cliffs should be visible off to your right. Drive to the bottom of the hill and park on the side of the road across from a 10 ft tall roadside cliff.

Directly above where you park, there is a ~40ft cliff called the forehead (it looks like a forehead). There three cracks that go up this face are super fun and the left one is pretty dam hard. All climbs on the forehead are easily top roped. As you walk along the cliffs to the left you will reach the amphitheater, which has some great cracks as well which are easily top roped.

Continuing along the cliffs to climbings left, you will see a small hand line leading up a ramp directly before reaching a giant alcove with a chimney in the back. Follow this ramp up to the 2nd tier. Some of the better climbs on the second tier are located at the top of the ramp where the ramp widens. Thin Air climbs up to a small ledge with a tree, continues in a crack out left, and then another crack out right. Two other 5.9s climb the face to the right of Thin Air. All the climbs here have bolted anchors and are easy to walk around to. Make sure you have a 70m rope. If you continue up past the end of the 2nd tier ramp you reach the 3rd tier, which has some good stuff as well.

From the road, if you continue along the cliffs past the 2nd tier handling and alcove, you will eventually reach the sharks fin. tucked in a corner to the left of all the sport routes is an awesome 5.7 crack. Straight up the sharks fin face there is a super hard 12a crack that stays dry in anything. All routes here are easily top roped.

Continuing along the cliff to climbers left for another couple minutes, you will reach a large clean slab called the Illegal Alien Wall. The rout Illegal Alien is one of the best 10a’s in the North Conway area in my opinion. Climb directly up to the small overlap near the top of the slab. Head right and follow another crack system to the top. The routes directly right and left of Illegal Alien are also 10s. All routes are easily top roped with a 70m rope.

Location:

1700 N Rd, Gilead, ME 04217

44.405054°±·,Ìý70.939026°°Â

Additional Notes

The North Conway Rock Climbs guidebook has the dick in it as well almost all the crags in the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ area. If you’re in to climbing you should pick one up.

Bald Mountain is reached by a 15 minute hike on a flat easy trail followed by a 20-30 minute hike up steeper terrain. The views from the top are spectacular for the relatively small size of this mountain. Half way up, you will pass by an incredible lake that is worth a trip in its own right (See link in additional notes below).

Directions

The trail head appears shortly after passing Shagg Pond on the right. Drive up a steep hill and park at the pullout on the left as soon as you reach the top of the. The trailhead is immediately across from the pullout. Follow the trail until it reaches Little Concord Pond (See link in additional notes below). Immediately before the small clearing that leads down to the lake, take a right. There should be a green sign which points up a steep rocky ramp visible immediately. Follow the trail that leads up this ramp, and take it to the top of Bald Mountain.

Trailhead Location:

272 Shagg Pond Rd. Bryant Pond, ME 04219

44.427222°N,  70.542033 °W

Additional Notes

See also: Little Concord Pond