Quincy Quarries

I intended to create a Rock page for Quincy Quarries someday, with a section for each face, plus the usual logistic sections such as Getting There and Red Tape. But for now I'm just creating an album to store photos in.

Quincy Quarries is arguably the best and best-known climbing area in the immediate vicinity of Boston. The main quarry (the Granite Railway Quarry) is shaped a bit like a figure 8, with the west lobe (Little Granite Railway Quarry) smaller than the east lobe. Climbable faces are known primarily by letters of the alphabet, starting west of the main entrance and proceeding clockwise. [coming someday: map diagram] This page will follow the naming conventions from the second edition of _Boston Rocks_, which differs from the prior edition. The west lobe is largely flooded but has a walkway of blocks at the base of the walls. A walking path runs around the top of both lobes, with easy scramble routes to reach it.

Additional climbing can be found in the adjacent Swingle's Quarry (east of the east pit of Granite Quarry) and Badger's Quarry (east of Swingle's), and there are some other rocks and pits in the woods, including Bernie's Quarry across the road and Bunker Hill Quarry nearby.

Quincy Quarries is chiefly a destination for top-roping, with walls never exceeding 85 feet. Some walls have huge iron staples left over from quarrying operations, making it trivial to set up toprope anchors. Others have had eyelet bolts added at the lip. In some places you will have to run long slings from trees.
Bouldering is also popular here.
A few routes can be led trad.
Sport climbers are likely to be disappointed. A couple of old pitons have been left to rust in place, but don't even think about putting in new bolts.

Many climbs are slabby, but you can also find finger cracks, laybacks, sustained overhangs, and a big roof. Routes range from 5.2 to 5.12 and V4, but beware: ratings at Quincy, like those at the Gunks, have a reputation for being sandbagged.

Crow Hill

Big, clean faces (relatively speaking) make this a fun place to climb. Mostly toproping, with some leadable routes.

Middlesex Fells

A number of boulders scattered about, and a couple of decent-sized crags (Black and White Rocks). Generally the landings aren't great and the climbing is so-so. But noteworthy for the closest ice climbing to boston: Cascade Falls

Hammond Pond

Multiple boulders, most with multiple toproping routes. The rock is Roxbury puddingstone, allowing for a variety of routes: face climbing on tiny dimples, muscular overhangs on jugs, and some cracks. The "lower wall" in particular has a number of cracks that are great for new leaders, and the "alcove" has some highly overhung bouldering.

Images

Quincy: J, K, and L Walls

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