Happy Derby Day! TLDR: Scary is now open! And save the date May 20th for a trail day.  

❌ Nixon Head – CLOSED
✅ Scary Canyon – OPEN
✅ East Car Body – OPEN
✅ Highway Face – OPEN
✅ Face Canyon – OPEN

Scary Canyon is now open!

Our awesome raptor intern alerted us today that Scary can now safely open, but Nixon is to remain closed. We really appreciate all the active monitoring this season, and all the climbers who have helped educate and chose to climb elsewhere.  

Black Cliffs Trail Day

This wet winter is showing on the trails. May 20th , earlier in the day, come with your own snacks, water, gloves, and tools if you have them. This is not an official adopt-a-crag, and with more hands the work can get done faster.  Exact time to be determined closer to the date, because weather depending.

❌ Scary Canyon – CLOSED
❌ Nixon Head – CLOSED
✅ East Car Body – OPEN
✅ Highway Face – OPEN
✅ Face Canyon – OPEN

The good news! For the first time in many years we can say there were no closure violations that we know of. Thank you very much! Thank you for educating your friends and being part of this community.

The not great news: Some nests did fail. However, failures this year were probably due to the weather and not climbers.

Note for Mountain Project Users

If you are using Mountain Project, we have noticed the closures only update when you update the app.

General Reminder

Please be aware that while the areas are open, there are still active raptors in the area and we want to respect their homes by keeping pets under control and noise to a minimum. If you see bird activity, please alert us.

And again, we had an interesting winter so please be aware of the dangers of rock fall during spring thaws. Climb on!

❌ Highway Face – CLOSED
❌ Face Canyon – CLOSED
❌ Scary Canyon – CLOSED
❌ Nixon Head – CLOSED
❌ East Car Body – CLOSED

Immediate closure update! Face Canyon and Highway Face are now closed! Raptor intern Mackey spotted nests today. Thanks to you all for educating your friends and respecting closures. With the weather and winter thaw, there has also been reports of loose rock, so be aware when climbing.

Above the Black Cliffs

This is a critical winter wildlife area. Do not set up top ropes or access from above. This area is monitored by Fish and Game and could result in fines for you, as well as denied access to Car Body for all.

What you can do to help us!

• Please alert us if see any raptor activity and we will send volunteer raptor monitors to assess it.
• Give nests, and these areas, space.
• Educate your friends and share the information.
• Climb in all the other areas, the Black Cliffs has a lot to offer!

❌ Scary Canyon closed
❌ East Car Body Canyon closed
❌ Nixon Head closed

Thank you to the consistent monitoring from the raptor intern, we received word that we need to give nesting raptors their space in Scary. With the weather and winter thaw, there has also been reports of loose rock, so be aware when climbing.

Reminder about East Car Body

The Face is currently open, and with the access trail being so close to the closures in East Car Body, please be cognizant of signs and not disturbing the area (ex: dogs and music). When accessing, veer right at the trail junction and do not disturb East Car Body.

Above the Black Cliffs

This is a critical winter wildlife area. Do not set up top ropes or access from above. This area is monitored by Fish and Game and could result in fines for you, as well as denied access to Car Body for all.

What you can do to help us!

• Please alert us if see any raptor activity and we will send volunteer raptor monitors to assess it.
• Give nests, and these areas, space.
• Educate your friends and share the information.
• Climb in all the other areas, the Black Cliffs has a lot to offer!

❌ East Car Body Canyon
❌ Nixon Head

Hello climbers! Nesting season is upon us! There is a lot of info packed into this, so please take a few moments. Respecting closures and being aware of land issues is the most important component of maintaining access to our local crag.

Regarding East Car Body

Face is currently open, and with the access trail being so close to the closures in East Car Body, please be cognizant of signs and not disturbing the area (ex: dogs and music). When accessing, veer right at the trail junction and do not disturb East Car Body.

About above the Black Cliffs

This is a critical winter wildlife area. Do not set up top ropes or access from above. This area is monitored by Fish and Game and could result in fines for you, as well as denied access to Car Body for all.

What you can do to help us

• Please alert us if see any raptor activity and we will send volunteer raptor monitors to assess it.
• Give nests, and these areas, space.
• Educate your friends and share the information.
• Climb in all the other areas, the Black Cliffs has quite a lot to offer!

With the weather and winter thaw, there has also been reports of loose rock, so be aware when climbing.

Giving nests the space they need is one of the single most important things that keeps local climbing accessible. Thank you for your cooperation in this and please help spread the word. Climb on!

ALL CLOSURES LIFTED!!!

These little ones have fledged and flown (along with all other nests) which means we can lift all closures! A big thank you to everyone for respecting the closures this year! Signs will be coming down soon.

✅ Nixon Head
✅ Wailing Wall
✅ Scary Canyon
✅ Wast Car Body

Current Closures:

❌ Nixon Head – CLOSED
❌ Wailing Wall – CLOSED — not listed on Mountain Project but means everything up river/ east of Scary
❌ Scary Canyon – Closed
✅ East Car Body – Cautiously open

Our Car Body raptors continue to reside in their same area, however their nest was unsuccessful. Therefore we can cautiously open East Car Body, but it’s important to respect their space.

This means:

• Our raptor friends will still be hanging out on the rock walls.
• Be mindful they are present by not playing music, keeping dogs on leash, and keeping noise (human, animal, etc.), to a minimum as best as you can.
• If you see a raptor, please respect its space and leave the climb and climb something else.
• If you see young raptors please contact the BCA.

We had a great event with the The Peregrine Fund at the The Commons Climbing last week! The relationship between climbers and raptors is crucial to keeping the Black Cliffs accessible. As we learned Friday night, if the BCA and volunteers did not do this work, our closures could be the ENTIRE Cliffs during nesting season.

Thank you all for educating your friends, obeying closures, and being a part of this community. And extra thanks to our volunteer raptor biologist and interns for monitoring every week. Climb on!

Spring is starting to creep in! So are nests, so we need to give them space and reduce noise.

❌ Nixon Head
❌ Scary Canyon, and anything upriver/east of Scary (sometimes known as Wailing Wall) all the way to Discovery/Lucky Peak.
❌ East Car Body Canyon remains closed.

This is a crucial time for nests, so any noise disruptions can cause disturbances. We cannot control the noise from the highway, but we can control our actions as climbers.

Face is currently open, and with the access trail being so close to the closures in East Car Body, please be cognizant of not disturbing the area (ex: dogs, loud disturbances, music, etc.)

Thank you for your cooperation and please help educate your climbing friends! Climb on!

Hello climbers! Nesting season is upon us!

❌ Scary Canyon closed
❌ East Car Body Canyon closed

Face is currently open, and with the access trail being so close to the closures in East Car Body, please be cognizant of signs and not disturbing the area (ex: dogs and music.) BCA volunteers will be out this weekend putting up signs and prepping for closures, so you may see some activity in the area. Giving nests the space they need is one of the single most important things that keeps local climbing accessible. Thank you for your cooperation in this and please help spread the word. Climb on!

All climbing areas are open now! The nests in Car Body are still sensitive, so please keep dogs on leash, under control, and be aware of noise levels.

Dead Cow
Wailing Wall
Iron Man Wall
Scary Canyon
East Car Body Canyon

Our volunteer raptor biologist has given the green light to open all. All closure signs have also been taken down. As always, thanks for your support and please help spread the word!