Breakneck Climbing Area – Fall 2024 – Update From SWPACC
Over 70% of survey respondents who took our survey this year climb or want to climb at Breakneck – here is some important crag information and a few key point that are CRITICAL to keeping this climbing area open for everyone:
- Access trails have been improved – follow the orange tape – don’t make new trails.
- Park in the established lot – respect the Owner!!!
- Pay for parking as outlined on the sign and encourage your friends to do the same.
- And as always… leave no trace and act responsibly!
The Breakneck climbing area in Southwestern PA is one of our community’s most popular regional climbing destinations, for both roped climbing and bouldering. As stewards of this climbing area, the SWPACC Access + Stewardship Committee has some important information to share.
ACCESS TRAILS
In recent years, logging at Breakneck choked off the approach trail that climbers have used for decades to access the climbing there. SWPACC has been increasingly concerned about the large amount of splinter trails that have been popping up all over the hillside to circumvent the choked access. The proliferation and increased use of so many additional trails, over time, would surely destabilize the hillside.
In order to address this situation, a team of volunteers, working with one of the residents of the area, have done their best to block the various spider web trails and keep climbers and hikers on the two principal trails that will best serve that area. You will see that both trails are now well marked with orange tape to keep people on the designated trails. The first one will take climbers to the Cannabis Boulder at Lower Breakneck, and the second trail (which is approximately 100 yards further up the logging road) leads to the main area.
PARKING
It has been brought to our attention that on some days the parking lot is full and people are unsure of where to park. Please remember that SWPACC has worked hard to establish good relations with the locals of the area and that as climbers at Breakneck, we are visitors to their community. SWPACC leases the parking lot from the property owner who has recently paved and increased the size of the lot and also installed a light there and a garbage can for our safety and convenience.
Donate $5 to SWPACC ($3 for SWPACC members) anytime you park there by scanning the QR code on the signs at the lot to help keep this arrangement sustainable. Encourage your friends to do the same – it is up to the whole community to support this climbing crag.
If the lot is full, the property owner has agreed to allow people to parallel park in the grass next to the street between his driveway and the woodpile (on the same side of the street as the lot). Or perhaps, you could consider climbing elsewhere nearby that day, such as Coopers Rock, White Rocks, or Ohiopyle.
Lastly, if you are not already a member of SWPACC, please consider joining the org to help us in our mission to protect all of our climbing resources. Folks can become joint members of SWPACC and Access Fund, or you can forgo membership and simply donate directly to SWPACC.