The Role of Parking in Protecting America’s Climbing

Many Americans associate freedom with the open road, and climbers are no exception. Open roads take us to new climbing areas and bring us back to longtime favorites. We use our time on the road to catch up with friends while planning our climbs and crank through our podcast backlog. But that feeling of freedom can abruptly turn to stress at the overcrowded shoulder of a rural highway, as climbers try to create ad hoc parking spaces to access new or popular areas.

“There are a few crags and bouldering areas around the country—Central Park in New York City or Medicine Wall in San Antonio—where you don’t need a car to get there because you can take the subway or ride your bike,” says Access Fund Western Regional Director & Policy Analyst Katie Goodwin. “But the reality is that most of the places where we climb require some kind of personal vehicle to get there.”

Keeping America’s climbing areas open and conserved means addressing the realities of parking at crags around the country. It’s a necessary evil with a big environmental impact, and we always recommend carpooling to the crag. It’s also the kind of work where our programmatic experts thrive. So whether we’re navigating a complex patchwork of landowners, distributing grants to our LCO partners, or buying climbing areas with a long-term vision for climbing access, we work hard to use our members’ donations wisely.

Addressing Access Threats

Table Mountain, California. © Reggie Walters.

Table Mountain near Jamestown, California, is a magnet for climbers across Northern California. Its basalt walls host a mix of traditional and sport lines in the 5.8-5.12 range, and climbers travel from the Bay Area and Sacramento to climb there in the fall, winter, and spring.

While most of the climbing at Table Mountain falls on federal land managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, the area is a patchwork of public and private land. It’s even difficult to figure out who owns the access road that climbers and other recreationists use. The paved portion of Shell Road is maintained by Tuolumne County, but accounts differ over who owns the dirt section past where the pavement ends. A parking lot at the end of the dirt road provided space for just seven high-clearance vehicles. Once it filled up, climbers and hikers would park along Shell Road.

“The people who live along Shell Road were tired of recreational visitors crammed along the side of the road,” says Tom Addison, a Northern California climbing advocate. “So they went to the county, which put up ‘no parking’ signs.”

The issue came to a head on March 27, 2021, when county officials had to push a small passenger car out of the way with a firetruck to reach and rescue an injured climber.

“The rescue made the local newspaper, and the result was that climbers weren’t portrayed in a good light,” says Addison. “As you can imagine, that doesn’t endear the climbing community to the county or to others.”

Building Parking—and Bridges, Too

Addison spent his career as a lobbyist in Sacramento. He knows how to develop relationships and build consensus to get things done. And when you’re dealing with a complex set of property owners that includes federal, state, local, and private entities, he’s a good person to have on your side.

“Shell Road had a parking problem with a very clear solution,” says Access Fund’s Goodwin. “We needed to build a new parking lot.”

Addison stepped into the fray and got to work. He negotiated with the Tuolumne County Council, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and the Bureau of Reclamation. He engaged local Tribes, civic organizations, and climbers. After significant work, Addison received approval to build a 65-space parking area on Caltrans land. But approval was just the first step.

A coalition of local businesses and boosters came together to make the Shell Road parking lot a reality. Two local quarries donated in-kind materials. A semi-retired logging road builder brought in heavy machinery. The local land trust drew up maps. Four local trucking companies helped haul rocks, and someone else donated the use of a water truck. Volunteers from Visit Tuolumne County and Love Tuolumne County stepped in to help. The county donated money, and Access Fund provided a grant and extensive project support.

Road work at Table Mountain, California. © Tom Addison.

“The parking lot is pretty much done,” says Addison. “The only thing we have left is to add new signs thanking all the folks who donated.”

It’s still best for people to carpool to the area, and there will be days in the spring season when every spot in the lot is full. But for now, climbers and hikers have a place to park and hike the local trails.

Future Opportunities Abound

With construction finished, community sentiment in the area is swinging back in climbers’ direction.

“The importance of the parking is that now the county feels great about the climbing community,” says Addison. “We were able to make something happen that they weren’t able to make happen by themselves.”

Locals’ shifting perspective could be a new avenue to access other zones in the area. This parking lot and the dedicated work of local advocates helped provide climbers with a critical opening, and conversations are ongoing.

“Personal relationships are critical to favorable outcomes, which is certainly true for climbing access,” says Addison. “There are a lot of folks in Tuolumne County now who see Access Fund as engaged, getting stuff done in the community, and a force for good. That goodwill is essential for favorable outcomes for the climbing community in the long term.”