Login | April 24, 2024
Logtown climbing
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: March 19, 2018
Just southeast of Akron-Cleveland, in the small town of Lisbon, lies a wonderful little sandstone quarry that still remains relatively unknown to many North coast rock climbers.
Now first of all, before I rave on about this local enigma, keep in mind that we live in northeast Ohio, not West Virginia, not New York, not New Hampshire. So finding any kind of rock outcropping that’s vertical, that’s quality, and that’s LEGAL, well, that’s a pretty special situation to find around here. And that’s precisely why Lisbon’s Logtown Quarry is such a unique little Ohio gem.
The Logtown quarry is where sandstone was mined for the construction of Lisbon’s old court house. And all that quarrying left at least half of the area with relatively smooth, chiseled walls that make for some very cool, very challenging sport climbing routes.
Actually, the Logtown climbing area is composed of ten distinct climbing venues, some displaying the drill marks and polished walls resultant from that quarrying process, and others seemly devoid of human intervention, composed of well weathered rock with sheer walls and lofty overhangs.
Now I don’t have enough space here to detail each and every one of the 10 venues, so I’m going to give you a quick synopsis of a couple of my favorites. And since I’m a sport climbing junkie at heart, it will probably come as no surprise that my favorite venue is the Left Main Wall, where you’ll find a selection of 30-40 foot high sport routes ranging from 5.9 to 5.12 in difficulty.
The Left Main Wall was my introduction to Logtown, and several of its routes, Beam Me Up Scotty 5.9, The Open Book 5.10d, and The Quest 5.10a, still give me a kick in the pants each and every time I climb them.
Some Left Main Wall routes require a lead climb in order to set a top rope off fixed anchors (cold shuts), while other routes can be easily set up for top roping via anchoring to trees.
For those who are new to rock climbing, and/or more tuned into traditional (trad) climbing and easy-to-set-up top roping, I offer the Pit. The Pit is a walled-in cavity composed of three walls and a large, blocky overhang. It contains roughly 12 routes, with my favorites being Bursitis 5.6, Bursitis Direct 5.8, and Classic Corner Crack 5.4.
My final offering, the Right Main Wall, is another sport climbing area that features sandstone faces riddled with drill marks, the remnants of blasting holes which held explosives. A couple of my recommendations here include Footloose and Fingers Free 5.9, and Covalent Bonding 5.10a.
The Logtown quarry can be reached via I-77 south to Canton. From there proceed east on SR 30 to Lisbon. Cross the Middle Fork Little Beaver Creek, then take a left, north, on Logtown Road. Park at the Logtown trailhead, part of the Greenway Bike Trail system, which is located approximately 3/4 mile down Logtown Road. From the trailhead hike to the left, west, and then look for a dirt path heading into the woods to the climbing quarry.
For a PDF guidebook of the Logtown quarry go to: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6xL75trr2DXOGM3NjUzYjctYmQ5My00YmJiLTk5ZjEtMzZhMjU5NjFjMzRk/edit?hl=en#
Most of the Logtown climbing area is on city property where rock climbing is legal, but be sure not to stay off city property, because some of the ledges do exist on private property. Please be courteous to fellow climbers and abseilers, and make sure to keep the area clean. Understand that this is a “no amenities” area, so bring your own food and water, and know that there are zero bathrooms at the climbing site.
The fixed anchors are inspected and replaced on a regular basis so you can be assured that they’re safe and well serviced, this because a wonderful cadre of regular climbers take care of the safety and maintenance of the area in order to keep it open to the public year round. And as I mentioned earlier, top roping off these anchors is permissible, but remember, some routes require a lead climb to those anchors for top-roping opportunities.
As you can see, we North coasters don’t have to invest four-plus hours of drive-time in order to get in a couple quality hours of climb-time - therein lies the beauty of Lisbon’s Logtown quarry.