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For some 30 years, a line of sandstone bluffs stood quiet inside Ferne Clyffe State Park, in southern Illinois, closed to climbers. The precise reasoning for that closure has faded with time, says the park’s assistant superintendent, Dave Hug. Maybe there was a concern about liability, or about the sport’s practitioners themselves, who in decades past had a scrappier, more dirtbag-ish reputation.
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But times change, and so did the park. In the fall of 2023, Ferne Clyffe began welcoming climbers back. It now boasts roughly 90 new single-pitch sport routes and has quickly emerged as that region’s “crown jewel of state-park climbing,” says Hug. “It is undeniably the most popular place down here right now.”
True, the set of 90 sport climbs pales in comparison to the 444 found at Jackson Falls, which is a short drive away, in Shawnee National Forest. But Ferne Clyffe does have several advantages, Hug points out: a shorter hike and closer parking lot; running water, showers, and electricity; and the nearby town of Goreville, where you can grab a pizza. Although it’s too early to tell whether park attendance has increased, Hug says, climbers swarm the cliff line on weekends, and in the parking lots, he has spied license plates “from Oregon to Florida and everywhere in between.”
Hug, who is also one of the leaders of the Illinois Climbers Association, credits Jay Massey, the park superintendent, with being open to the plan. Massey himself says he “didn’t know anything about climbing” when the idea was pitched to him several years ago, but soon came to recognize it as a “win-win.”
The other winner was the ICA, which had already persuaded the leadership of two other Illinois state parks—Pere Marquette and Giant City—to open climbing routes. Ferne Clyffe was their third such victory. To bring it to fruition, they volunteered a combined 1,500 hours and raised the money to purchase and install the bolts, anchors, epoxy, chain, and equalizing anchors. On a more philosophical level, they were able to convince park superintendents that climbers are as legitimate a user group as equestrians, hikers, and campers, observes Jon Richard, the founder and senior guide at Vertical Voyages in St. Louis. “What ICA has been able to get pushed through in the past five years is pretty remarkable,” Richard says.
The main draw on the newly opened bluff line appears to be the colossal Ferne Clyffe wall (also known locally as “the Pump Wall”). Richard considers it a prime destination for moderate-grade climbers who are trying to make the transition from gym to crag. “Especially for those climbing 5.9 and 5.10, that’s just a super high-quality wall,” Richard says. Two more reasons it’s good for trying outdoor sport climbing, according to Hug: The distances between the bolts are only a foot or so longer than those at the gyms, and the sandstone has a feel similar to gym holds.
But that aside, Ferne Clyffe has a little something for everyone: Its page on the Mountain Project lists 17 climbs below 5.9 and then 51 climbs at 5.11 and above.
“There’s a slight shortage of beginner routes,” says Hug. “But we plan on developing more.” Indeed, Massey says the plan is to open five new faces and possibly 50 new routes over the next year or two.
Hug attributes the rising popularity of climbing to several factors: movies such as Free Solo and The Dawn Wall; the prevalence of indoor climbing gyms; and most importantly, the Olympic Games’ decision to incorporate sport climbing in 2020.
There are still opportunities at his park for top-roping, Hug says, but sport climbing is all the rage these days—and Ferne Clyffe is the proof.
“If you bolt it,” Hug jokes, “they will come.”
