Access Fund is pleased to announce nearly $40,372 in new climbing conservation grants to climbing advocates around the country. Our fifteen awardees will advance new projects in climbing access protection, educational signage, human waste management, and trail accessibility, along with other general climbing area infrastructure improvements.

Since 1991, Access Fund has awarded more than $1.7 million in Climbing Conservation Grants to support 510 projects in land conservation and climbing access. Our spring 2026 grantees include:

Blue Ridge Conservancy: The Knob Boulders & Nature Preserve

At the end of 2025, Blue Ridge Conservancy completed the purchase of 74 acres on Howard Knob in Boone, NC. This historic boulder field will finally be reopened for the local community and regional climbers after a 30-year process that involved many acquisition attempts and several different partners, including Access Fund at various points and the Triple Crown bouldering series. Blue Ridge Conservancy fundraised $1.45 million for the purchase and covered the remaining $250,000 with an internal loan. They are now working to pay back that loan while developing a plan to open the property to the public, in conjunction with the Carolina Climbers Coalition.

Climbers Alliance of Southcentral Alaska: Archangel Toilet Replacement

The Climbers Alliance of Southcentral Alaska (CASA) has maintained an outhouse in Hatcher Pass, just an hour north of Anchorage, for the last five years to serve climbers, hikers, and others recreating at the end of Archangel Road. Due to the remote and unmaintained nature of this road past Reed Lakes bridge, pumping the outhouse is difficult and costly. As a more sustainable option, CASA is planning to install a urine-diverting, composting toilet system that will not require annual sewage pumping. This will provide a top-of-the-line system from Toilet Tech for decomposing waste at a lesser cost for annual maintenance.

Catalyst Sports: Improving Trails to Increase Access for All Climbers

Catalyst Sports is partnering with the Red River Gorge Climbers’ Coalition (RRGCC) to improve certain trail systems on RRGCC properties in order to increase accessibility to select crags. This project will include an assessment of several approach trails in the Bald Rock Recreational Preserve (BRRP) and some crags further down the Bald Rock Valley where the RRGCC recently brokered renewed access. Part one of this project focuses on some existing trails in BRRP, those servicing The Office & Unlode, removing obstacles and widening the tread. Part two will be incorporated into new trail construction for areas scheduled to be opened around Fall 2026. Lastly, part three will revolve around additional education and signage.

Central New Hampshire Climbers’ Association: Merriam Woods Informational Kiosk

Central New Hampshire Climbers’ Association (CNHCA) is completing its parking lot at Merriam Woods this spring and plans to install an informational kiosk at the lot to ensure sustainable access to the climbing area. This signage will include information regarding the protection of natural resources, Leave No Trace principles, communications regarding seasonal closures for nesting raptors, property information and maps, and how the property access came to be, plus how it can be stewarded for decades to come.

East Idaho Climbers Coalition: Ross Park Climbing Area Kiosks

Ross Park is a city park in Pocatello, ID that serves as a multi-use open space for the public – offering trails, playgrounds, disc golf, and two basalt cliff bands. Installing two kiosks and trail markers at Ross Park will be the first official climbing advocacy project involving the City of Pocatello and the climbing community in Eastern Idaho. This project will inform and raise awareness of the park, its environment, climbing, and the importance of the climbing community’s role in helping to preserve resources.

Photo Credit: East Idaho Climbers Coalition

Friends of Big Marsh: South Chicago Community Climbing & Stewardship Program

This unique project will continue the development of an abandoned industrial site on the south side of Chicago for climbing and public recreation. At the Big Marsh sister site—Steelworkers Park—a 30-foot-tall wall of the former U.S. Steel South Works Mill has been transformed into an outdoor climbing area, with gym climbing holds installed on about half of the wall so far. This urban climbing opportunity is an important resource for creating exposure to outdoor climbing in a setting where it may not be readily accessible for all. Friends of Big Marsh is requesting funding to install additional climbing holds on another section of the wall during its Spring Reset event— a community building and stewardship day involving a number of local climbing and affinity groups from the Chicagoland area.

Friends of Positional Projects: Giant Rock Kiosk

Giant Rock is a well-loved landmark outside of Landers, CA, home to a population of 3,000 just outside of Joshua Tree. Known as the Mother Stone and regarded as a sacred site by area tribes, this rock has been the site of a number of different eclectic uses and unfortunately suffers from trash, glass, graffiti, dumping, etc. Working with an indigenous land planner, Friends of Positional Projects has developed a signage template for interpretative content to be installed on a kiosk at Giant Rock. This will feature historical photos, QR codes, linking to more information delivered as a story map on the ESRi platform and geo-located exhibits, and additional interpretive panels.

Ragged Mountain Foundation: Pinnacle Cliff Educational Kiosk

Ragged Mountain Foundation recently purchased Pinnacle Cliff to ensure permanent access and conservation of the prominent Connecticut climbing area. To support responsible recreation and stewardship, they are seeking funding to purchase and install an educational kiosk at the primary trailhead entrance to the property. The kiosk will serve as a central communication hub for climber education, conservation, and land management. It will provide clear information on access guidelines, Leave No Trace, sensitive habitats, & emergencies.

Photo Credit: Ragged Mountain Foundation

Roaring Fork Outdoors Volunteers: Jr. Olympic & Olympic Walls Approach Trail

The Olympic & Jr. Olympic walls are two of the more popular climbing areas on the western side of Independence Pass in Colorado, both host to a high concentration of quality routes from 5.7 to 5.12. The approaches to these crags are unofficial & unmaintained trails, mostly heading directly up the slope. The Independence Pass Foundation is partnering with Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers (RFOV) on this project to provide the skilled trail work needed to rebuild these approaches into a more sustainable trail system. Two volunteer project days will be held by RFOV staff to stabilize the trails and harden the tread.

Rocky Mountain Field Institute: Trail Maintenance and Repair at Shelf Road

Since 1991, the Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI) has provided a significant portion of the maintenance at Shelf Road, near Cañon City, CO, as the primary contractor for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in that area. With federal funding recently cut back and staff capacity restricted, the BLM can no longer provide financial support for the necessary trail work needed in this area. RMFI is receiving funding to support the building of erosion-control structures near the Piggy Bank, Gym, 2150 Wall, & Darkside during a one-week training and volunteer days planned with the Pikes Peak Climbers Alliance.

Photo Credit: Rocky Mountain Field Institute

Salt Lake Climbers Alliance: Storm Mountain Historic Climbing Area Nomination

Building on the 2024 success of listing the Alpenbock Loop in Little Cottonwood Canyon as the first climbing area on the National Register of Historic Places, the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance (SLCA) is preparing a similar nomination for Storm Mountain in Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT. Storm Mountain represents one of the foundational landscapes of American free climbing, where modern climbing standards were defined and grades were pushed in the 1950s. This designation helps bolster partnerships and increases access protection, such as additional environmental review requiring greater consideration of cultural resources in federal planning processes.

Photo Credit: Salt Lake Climbers Alliance

South Central Pennsylvania Climbers: Susquehanna Riverlands Climbers Kiosk

The goal of this project is for South Central Pennsylvania Climbers (SCPC) volunteers to build an educational kiosk that will allow the organization to post information for the general public and climbing community. The kiosk will be used to display information such as rules & regulations of the property, Leave No Trace, upcoming SCPC events, safety considerations, and other sustainable practices.

St. George Climbers Coalition: Moe’s Valley Economic Impact Study

The goal of this project is for South Central Pennsylvania Climbers (SCPC) volunteers to build an educational kiosk that will allow the organization to post information for the general public and climbing community. The kiosk will be used to display information such as rules & regulations of the property, Leave No Trace, upcoming SCPC events, safety considerations, and other sustainable practices.

Moe’s Valley is in the crosshairs of rapid population growth and development pressures in St. George, UT. In order to bolster the argument for protecting this incredible climbing resource, StGCC & Stewardship Utah are planning to conduct a recreational use and economic impact study through the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism at Utah State University. This study will generate defensible data on annual visitation, climber and visitor spending, and the long term economic benefits of maintaining Moe’s Valley as a recreation resource.. These metrics are increasingly required by local governments when weighing conservation against development.

Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition: Deck Expansion at Frank Curto Park

Photo Credit: Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition

Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition (SWPACC) has been partnering with the City of Pittsburgh to repurpose underutilized and abandoned structures throughout the city for the last several years. One of these areas is Frank Curto Park, where a 35-foot-tall retaining wall has been transformed into a full crag with 16 distinct sport routes. The staging area is in need of expansion due to popularity and erosion of the steep slope below the wall. Because of the nature of the terrain, a deck system has been proposed to create a larger staging area that will ease issues of overcrowding at the base of the wall and provide for a safer belay area.

Western Massachusetts Climbers Coalition: Rock Property Survey for Conservation Restriction

Western Massachusetts Climbers Coalition (WMCC) is working with the Trustees of Reservations to place a conservation restriction on the Rock Property at Farley Ledge, which WMCC purchased in 2025 through Access Fund’s Climbing Conservation Loan Program for a parking lot and alternative access to Farley. Because a metes and bounds description is required for all conservation restrictions held by The Trustees, a surveyor must be hired to map this parcel to the correct specifications. The cost of the survey will be split by The Trustees, who will also pay WMCC the appraised value of the development rights on the property, kickstarting the timeline to build the parking lot and trails that will reopen access to Farley Ledge.