Jamestown Crag

Jamestown Crag is a privately owned crag that is open to the public.  It is the closest crag to Memphis and the only one that makes for a reasonable day trip.  It offers more than 100 bolted routes ranging from easy to advanced.  Before visiting the crag, you must complete the visitor form and wavier.

The owners ask that you leave a $3 per climber donation in a dropbox for use of the crag.  The folks who own and maintain the crag are super friendly climber types who just want to provide a great resource for the community, and I encourage folks to be generous with their donations.

You can also donate online here if you don't want to deal with the box at the crag:

https://www.paypal.me/jamestowncrag

We encourage accompanying adults to hike down to the crag and watch the climbing for the day.  The crag is a lovely location to hang out in nice weather (and even relatively shady and cool in the hot summer).

Travel

We generally offer van transportation from Memphis Rox to Jamestown Crag and back. We will communicate where and when we will meet via email the week before the trip. If you want a ride for your child, make sure that you answer yes to the ‘Do you want a ride from MOCS?’ question during the registration process.

Jamestown Crag is about 2.5 hours away from Memphis, near Batesville, AR.  Directions to the crag are here: 

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/106407913/jamestown-crag  

You can also type 'jamestown crag turnoff' into google maps and follow it until you get to the right turn onto the logging road. 

The last couple miles of the trip are on the rough logging road.  If you have a truck or SUV with some clearance, you'll probably want to drive that, but I have done the trip many times in my 2011 Prius, and it does fine as long as I drive slow to avoid the big holes.

About half way down the logging road, you will have to open a big orange gate with a locked combination lock.  We will email the combination for the lock to you on the day before we head down.  If you ever want to go to Jamestown on your own, you can just text the owners directly for the code the day before.  

If this is your first time driving to Jamestown, please allow an extra half hour or so to navigate the directions.  If you will be late, please call or text us to let us know so that we can leave someone at the parking lot to help you find your way down to the crag.

The owners ask that every car lock the gate behind it as it enters.  Please remember to lock the gate behind you!

Facilities

Jamestown Crag is a primitive facility, which means there is no electricity or running water.  There are a couple of portapotties in the parking lot, but we do not return to the parking lot during the climbing day (it’s about a 40 minute hike round trip).

You will probably want to make a final bathroom stop at this gas station and then another stop as you leave:

https://goo.gl/maps/6ri6csXZvo5xc3NC8

If nature calls during the day, you will need to use the woods.  We will have a bathroom-in-the-woods kit that we give out as needed.  Here’s more info about the process if you are nervous before coming:

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/hygiene-sanitation.html

Nobody really likes using a camp hole to go to the bathroom, so folks mostly just try not to go during the day, but it’s really not a big deal if you have to.

Camping

Jamestown has a lovely little campground 50 yards from the parking lot.  Some folks choose to camp the night before climbing because camping is fun and you can avoid the early morning drive.  Just remember that the campground is primitive (see above) and that we are not chaperoning any campers.

Hike In

There is about a mile long hike from the parking to the climbing location at the crag.  The hike is moderately sloped downhill for most of the length, but there is a 30 yard section of steep (class 3) scrambling with a bolted guide rope.  This short climb does not require any technical climbing skills, but you should be prepared for some scrambling.  We will be available to assist anyone who needs help for this portion.

Everyone who is hiking down to the crag needs to wear sneakers at the least, and hiking shoes if you have them.

The hike back up is a reverse of the hike in, which means an uphill hike at the end of the day of climbing.  Just be glad that you are not doing the hike out in the middle of the summer!

Please bring and use a backpack to carry everything you will need for the day. You will need to use your hands for climbing during the approach hike (see above), so it is important not to be carrying anything in your hands.

Please do not bring dogs or other pets!  Past experience has shown that dogs do not enjoy the scramble, and we end up spending time managing a scared dog rather than climbing with the group.

Food and Water

You will need to pack food and water for the day and hike it down to the crag from the parking lot.  We do not generally return to the parking lot during the day because it is a 40 minute round trip.  Remember when packing that we will be burning through lots of water and calories on the wall.

We recommend 2 liters of water for each climber, with additional water for non-climbing participants.

Supervision and First Aid

MOCS follows the American Mountain Guide Association scope of practice for climbing instruction, which means our outdoor instructors must be certified at the level required by the AMGA.  

Part of the AMGA requirement is that all guides be certified in wilderness first aid, and all of our supervising instructors exceed the level of wilderness first aid certification required by the scope of practice, as certified wilderness first responders or EMTs. 

Leave No Trace

We will talk to all participants about the Leave No Trace principles of outdoor activities.  This means that every participant needs to make sure that she does not leave any trash or other traces of having been at the crag and that she should take care not to disturb the location more than necessary.  In addition to the ethical principles, we are guests of the family who owns the crag and hope to make many repeat visits to Jamestown in the future, so it's critical that we take care of the crag.

Equipment

Each climber should wear clothes appropriate for a long day outside in the weather, including hiking or athletic shoes for the hike in.  Each climber should also bring her climbing shoes and chalk bag for a good climbing experience. if you are part of the Memphis Rox school program and need help affording climbing shoes, let us or Memphis Rox know.

Each climber and belayer will also need a climbing harness and a climbing helmet.  If you have your own harness and helmet, we recommend you bring those, but we will have enough to lend to all participants.

We're looking forward to seeing you for a great day of climbing at the crag.