Bouldering Outdoors

Tips, Advice and Places to Go

By Troy Tetrault

If you’re new to the world of climbing, bouldering is a discipline originally born out of training for bigger objectives by “practicing” on shorter climbs with no rope or harness. While it seems inherently dangerous, precautions are taken with modern crash pads, attentive spotters – people watching from below to keep you safe, and chalk – to help you manage moisture and increase friction. While originally just training or practice, bouldering has burgeoned into its own sport, its own discipline of climbing, and has become one of the most accessible forms of the activity to beginners with its simple gear and concept.

The combination of climbing in the Olympics, widespread nature of climbing gyms across the country, and higher visibility in the outdoor marketing and social media world, has skyrocketed bouldering’s popularity. It’s catching on with everyone—from weekend warriors to first-time climbers. So in a state like New York, specifically in and around the Adirondack Park, how would you start bouldering?

Before buying the needed supplies for bouldering outdoors, recognize that there are several amazing climbing gyms in that provide a safe, comfortable, and helpful environment for bouldering. In the Capital Region area, gyms like Rocksport Indoor Climbing Gym in Queensbury, The Edge in Halfmoon, and Albany’s Indoor Rockgym are mainstays in the local scene. Newer spots like Hudson Boulders in Latham even provide a bouldering-specific space, where the entire surface area of the climbing walls are for bouldering only. A new player, Central Rock Gym is opening a gym in Troy this summer.

In Syracuse, Central Rock Gym is another phenomenal location for learning the ropes, or lack thereof. Within the Adirondack Park, the outdoor options are out of this world. Those visiting the Lake Placid area will be stoked to visit the Mt Van Hoevenberg climbing gym. While on the smaller side, this gym delivers in quality education of the disciplines, with workers who care deeply about making sure beginners in the sport learn about climbing in a fun environment.

You’ve visited a gym. Now what? Bouldering indoors can be fulfilling for a great many people, and you can continue climbing indoors solely, there’s nothing wrong with that! They offer a rotating selection of “problems” – bouldering specific routes, training equipment, special events, and a supportive community. Indoor gyms have a lot to offer. If you’re looking to go outdoors, the learning curve can initially seem steep and daunting to folks, but rest assured, even the learning process can be quite an exciting time.

First and foremost, finding someone to go outdoors with who has the knowledge and know-how, is important. If you don’t have the luxury of someone with the gear though, heading to a local outdoor sports shop, such as High Peaks Cyclery Mountain Adventure Center, The Mountaineer, Saratoga Outdoors, REI, Rock & Snow, and others can get you started. For bouldering, the items are simple: climbing shoes, crash pad, and chalk. A can of worms is cracked open when you dive deep into the details of this gear, but when you’re starting out, don’t feel like you’re pressured to buy the best, most expensive gear. I’ve been bouldering for years and still have the same budget-friendly crash pads I started out with.

Information may just be the biggest hurdle for the up-and-coming boulderer. Where do I go climbing? Which areas have the highest concentration of easier problems (with easier lines starting around V0 and increasing in difficulty up to V17)? What crag is the closest drive? Luckily, there are useful resources at your disposal for these questions. 

Guidebooks offer the most detailed information on directions to bouldering spots, the problems themselves, and even some of the history to the area. There’s a specific guidebook “Adirondack Park Bouldering” that covers many areas in the park. You can still find it at some local retailers, but physical copies are few and far between. Online apps are another route you can go for accessing beta. “GunksApp” is one of the most useful for buying area-specific online guides, particularly in New York. Options for purchase include McKenzie Pond in Saranac Lake, Snowy Mountain in Indian Lake, Powerlinez in Harriman State Park, Nine Corner Lake in the southern Adirondacks, and even Long Island and New York City! 

If these areas are a far drive from where you’re based, or you just don’t have the money to spend on an online guidebook right now, “Mountain Project” is a free, crowd-sourced online resource for all things climbing. There, you can find information on where and what to climb, as well as a community of climbers that frequently ask questions on the forums. The information may not be as extensive as a guidebook, but it can be a good starting point for visiting an area.

The Adirondacks hold a lot of history when it comes to bouldering development. By all accounts, bouldering development in the northern Adirondacks, particularly in and around the Saranac Lake area, started in the 1970s. Areas like McKenzie Pond were at the center of it all, which has become a popular area for beginner and experienced boulderers alike. If you’re in New York, it’s an easy place to visit, with the infrastructure present for overnight stays in a nice hotel or a backwoods campsite. While not the highest concentration of bouldering problems in the park, McKenzie Pond does have some classic beginner bouldering lines, like Popsicle V0 and Makaia’s Problem V1. There’s a lively scene there, and you’re sure to find others underneath the glacial erratics that dot the multiple sectors of climbing there. 

If you’re based in the Capital-Saratoga Region, an area like Lake George can be a quick drive, and does hold a couple of smaller bouldering areas. Wild Pines, a small crag near Deer Leap Mountain, which is included in the guidebook, is a quick walk from NY Route 9N, situated in a scenic forest, and has quality routes ranging from V0 to V7. The handful of shorter V0s through V2s are worth it for the scenic woodland. Often, area boulderers are headed to the historical Shawangunks climbing area, near New Paltz, where you can boulder along the Carriage Road. With its easy access, immense history as a premier, world-class climbing area, and high concentration of easy to hard problems.

Outside of the High Peaks, the southern Adirondacks holds perhaps the highest concentration of established bouldering problems within the Blue Line. Nine Corner Lake, which has a section in the guidebook, and its own GunksApp guide, comes to mind. There are over 300 established problems, from V0 to V12, and while a big climbing area, access and walkability are fairly easy. If you visit, try Stairs V0, and a few of the easier climbs that exist in Zone A, the closest area to the parking.

If you’re looking for a multisport day, head over to Crane Mountain, at 3,251 feet tall, near Warrensburg. The challenging but rewarding hike is 3.2-miles round-trip with 1,400 feet of elevation gain. Try out some of the 16+ V0s and 17+ V1s before or after a hike, then take a dip in Crane Mountain Pond. This isn’t the only climbing area you can combine with another form of recreation either. The already mentioned McKenzie Pond bouldering area can be combined with a hike to the area’s namesake – or a bike ride or run on the Adirondack Rail Trail. And at Wild Pines, there’s plenty of hiking in the Tongue Mountain Range, the clustering of mountains that these boulders reside in – and swimming in Lake George.

Whether you are just getting into the bouldering scene, or you’re a student of New York bouldering history, we can take solace in knowing that the future of the activity is bright. While often low-key and not overly publicized, development of new bouldering areas, and new problems within existing areas, is active and ongoing. Just recently, one of the hardest open projects – undone bouldering lines – saw a first ascent. At Chapel Pond in Keene, an area more notable for its quality traditional climbing than the bouldering, Patrick Daly, 18, from Pittsford, Vt.,  successfully completed (“sent”) The Old Guard, an airy V12 that stood undone – but known – for decades. Pat recently competed in and won the 2025 Youth National Championships (U20M) in bouldering!

Activity like this gives credence to the fact that we have some world-class bouldering and could become a hotspot with more advocacy and development. With more people taking their pads out into the woods, it’s important to keep in mind that while there are tough, undone projects, there’s also room for the development of beginner-level problems too – something that makes the sport more inclusive and inviting.

Bouldering can be a fun activity to do for multiple reasons! Be it for fitness, community, or for exploring the outdoors, bouldering is something that anyone can get into. Our backyard offers endless opportunities for every style of bouldering. 

To see what boulderers are getting up to, on Instagram visit: @AdirondackBouldering.

Troy Tetreault is a rock climber, hiker, author, and general outdoor enthusiast whose love for the Adirondacks is present in all facets of his life. He loves sharing stories and imagery, everything from High Peaks trail tales to boulders at McKenzie Pond, on his Instagram: @troyhikes.