Access Fund is thrilled to announce $36,161 in grants to climbing and conservation organizations around the country. These awards are integral to the success of local projects across the country, increasing local climbing organizations’ (LCOs’) capacity to go big for conservation and sustainable access.

“As climbers, we are a powerful force for protecting the places, wildlife, and sport we love,” says Access Fund National Affiliate Director Jenna Winkler. “At Access Fund, we work to make climbers as effective as we can be—and grants for local projects that promote conservation, sustainable access, and education are a big part of that effort.”

Since 1991, Access Fund has awarded nearly $1.5 million in Climbing Conservation Grants. This year’s grantees include:

Donation Rocks, Pennsylvania. Ancestral lands of Susquehannock. © SCPC.

1. South Central Pennsylvania Climbers (SCPC), Donation Rocks Parking Improvements
Donation Rocks is a popular Pennsylvania climbing destination. Access Fund’s grant will support parking improvements to meet strong and growing demand, all while improving relationships with adjacent landowners. The project will tackle both the upper and lower parking lots.

Slugg’s Bluff, Michigan. Ancestral lands of Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, and Omaeqnomenew-ahkew. © UPCC.

2. Upper Peninsula Climbers Coalition (UPCC), Sluggs Bluff Infrastructure
Last year, climbers permanently protected the Sluggs Bluff climbing area when the family who owned the property donated it to the climbing community. The area includes a crag and boulders, and has a long record of as a climbing area in Michigan’s upper peninsula. Access Fund is proud to provide funding to support signage and road improvements to support visitor education and sustainable access at this popular crag. 

New River Gorge, West Virginia. Ancestral lands of S’atsoyaha, Tutelo and Moneton. © Access Fund.

3. Climbers for Bat Conservation (CBC), Starting a Chapter of Climbers for Bat Conservation in Pennsylvania
In partnership with Access Fund and local Pennsylvania climbing organizations, including the South Central Pennsylvania Climbers, Birdsboro Area Climbers Association, and Eastern Pennsylvania Alliance of Climbers. This grant will support a CBC-led community workshop designed to create climber citizen-scientists who help support bat and wildlife conservation.

Table Rock, North Carolina. Ancestral lands of ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi and S’atsoyaha. © Access Fund.

4. Carolina Climbers Coalition (CCC), Table Rock Access Trail
Table Rock is an iconic U.S. Forest Service-owned crag draws climbers from across the Carolinas and the Southeast. This grant will support CCC’s trail crew as they work with an Access Fund Conservation Team and local volunteers on a large-scale trail restoration project that will improve sustainable access to all sides of this quartzite monolith and its many routes.

Summersville Lake, West Virginia. Ancestral lands of Moneton, S’atsoyaha, and Shawandasse Tula. © Access Fund.

5. New River Alliance of Climbers (NRAC), Whippoorwill Restoration Project
Climbing areas on the shores of Summersville Lake, WV are incredibly popular—and with good reason. This grant will support NRAC as local climbers build on their long-standing and successful partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers to steward and protect these unique climbing areas. Through this partnership, climbers will restore and build new climbing trail and base-of-crag infrastructure at popular, impacted climbing sites—including a large-scale restoration project at Whippoorwill, where climbers will construct brand new gabion basket retaining walls, stone stairs, and fencing. 

Moab, Utah. Ancestral lands of Timpanogos, Diné Bikéyah, and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱. © Grand County ATTD.

6. Grand County Active Transportation & Trails Division, Moab Climbing Ambassadors
Grand County is home to Moab, one of the most heavily visited recreational destinations in the country. This grant will support climbing-specific education within Moab’s existing Trails Ambassador program, which seeks to educate visitors on responsible, low-impact recreation and land use. Their pilot Climbing Ambassador program is modeled after Access Fund’s Climber Stewards education program and their own Moab Trail Ambassador program (pictured above). Through events and visitor interactions they will provide accurate climbing information and promote Leave No Trace practices and behaviors.

Red River Gorge, Kentucky. Red River Gorge, Kentucky. Ancestral lands of ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi, 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰𐓓𐒷 𐒼𐓂𐓊𐒻 𐓆𐒻𐒿𐒷 𐓀𐒰^𐓓𐒰^, S’atsoyaha, Shawandasse Tula, Hopewell Culture, and Adena Culture. © Access Fund.

7. Climbers for Bat Conservation (CBC): Engaging Climbers in Participatory Science for Cliffside Species Conservation (Red River Gorge, KY)
Climbers can be valuable citizen-scientists in cliff ecology, and CBC is on a mission to prove it. A new grant will support research in the Red River Gorge, KY, to explore how climbers can support bat conservation and to understand why climbers show pro-environmental behaviors. Bats are recognized and protected cliff wildlife, and significant habitat and roosting areas are known in the Red River Gorge. Access Fund has maintained a positive, proactive relationship with CBC since their inception, and supports their balanced, science-based approach—as does the local Red River Gorge Climbers Coalition.

Bolton Dome, Vermont. Ancestral lands of Wabanaki and N’dakina. © CRAG-VT.

8. Climbing Resource Advocate Group of Vermont (CRAG-VT), Pinneo Brook Parking Access
The Richmond Mountain Trails Association supports many types of outdoor recreation—including climbing access to the Pinneo Brook Boulders, Revolution Wall, and nearby Bolton Dome. Access Fund is proud to support CRAG-VT’s ongoing work to support sustainable access to northwest Vermont climbing with a grant for parking lot expansion project that benefits climbers and other recreationists in the area.

See a project and want to get involved, but not sure where to start? Read up on the five things every first-time conservation volunteer needs to know!