Slateford Quarry

Overview

Slateford Quarry is an old slate quarry. It is located on the Slateford Creek about 8 miles south of East Stroudsburg, PA. It is also located a few miles to the south of the Delaware Water Gap.

When conditions are right, Slateford is a great place to climb. Even though the quarry is short, at most the cliffs are 60-70 ft high. It offers route from a WI2 waterfall, to a WI3 curtain, to WI4/5 pillars and some sweet looking mixed routes. According to the mixed grade definitions in the Pennsylvania Ice Guide, I would say that the mixed routes would be in the M3-M5 range.

Slateford Falls is U-shaped. The bottom of the U faces west and is where the waterfall plunges into the Quarry. The waterfall, when in, is WI2 and just over 15m tall. It can be led, but is usually soloed so topropes can be set up on either side of the quarry. To the climbers right of the falls is the Slateford Curtain, WI3. Many individual pillars make up some very nice climbing. There is also a mixed line or 2 possible to the right of the curtain. To the climbers left of the falls are some short pillars that can be challenging. To the left of the pillars is the biggest wall in the quarry, and is home to 3 or 4 mixed lines that follow short pillars that lead to ice-less rock. To the left of the highest part of the wall, the end of the U bends out and there is another section of pillars that lead in to some more mixed ground.

Getting There

Road

From the Town of Delaware Water Gap, PA. (This is the last or first exit on PA off of I-80 based on which way your are traveling)

Travel on PA-611 SOUTH for about 5 miles.
Turn right on to National Park Drive. (The Guidebook mentions signs on 611 of Slateford Farm, but as of 1/09 there were no signs)
Once on National Park Drive cross the Slateford Creek on a bridge and go around a bend and look on your left for a small un-plowed parking area. There is room for about 3-4 cars here based on snow conditions and how people park. If this lot is full continue on the road around horseshoe bends and up the hill, till you reach a large parking area on the right.

Approach

From Lower Parking Area

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Walk up the road for about 100ft.
Look for a climbers path on the left side of the road, if there is snow on the ground it should be obvious.
Follow this up stream till you reach the quarry, you cant miss it.

From the Upper Parking Area

There are two options to reach the quarry from the upper parking lot.
The first is to follow the road back down to the lower area and follow the climbers trail from there.

The second option is to descend one of a number of steep gullies that descend to the climbers trail. This is not the greatest option due to the fact that the gullies are really steep, and near the top they are almost vertical. A fall from the top would be bad cause its 100 to 150 ft to the creek. The gullies also have erosion problems that make for bad footing at the top of the gullies. If you choose this option, it might be a good idea to rappel off of a tree to get past the steepest parts.

Red Tape

Slateford Quarry is located on National Park Service land and is located in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. There are no access issues at this time.

Climbers should follow all Leave No Trace Practices and be respectful of the land. Please try and refrain from doing anything that could affect access to this special area.

Camping

If you really want to camp in the "harsh" Pennsylvania winter, you may be out of luck unless you carry all you stuff up the near by Appalachian Trail for a few miles. Most of the camping areas are closed in the winter. Here is a link of area campgrounds.

External Links

NE ICE- a good place to get conditions and look at photos for ice climbing in the Northeast.

Griz Guides- Home of the PA Ice Guide

Images

View Slateford Quarry Image Gallery - 11 Images