Rough River water bouldering

Post by **bryanboonern** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 10:45 am

I saw a picture of someone water bouldering at Rough River. Does anyone know where this can be done at

Post by **Steve** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 7:54 pm

At Rough River?

Prolly at Rough River Lake State Park. The lake isn't that big, grab a topo, rent a boat, go bouldering. There are few places on lakes in Western KY were you can do some cliff scrambling/diving. Lake Barkley comes to mind. Never heard of any water soloing like at Summersville, WV.

Post by **Wolf** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:26 pm

I've done some nice deep water bouldering at Grayson Lake in Eastern Kentucky. The cliffs were around 15-25 feet high. I've heard there are other places on the same lake with cliffs up to 60 feet, but I haven't seen them yet.

Post by **john e aragon** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 10:18 pm

Grayson is kickass. cliffs up to 60 feet for sure. i would down climb some spots because i was scared shitless to jump. also lots of stuff shorter. you can paddle there in a short period of time from the boat ramp on state route 504. near Sandy Hook. Paintsville Lake also looks promising but did not see alot when i was there.

Post by **keith_b00ne** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:23 pm

I have seen this question many times before so I hope this sheads some light on it once and for all. We went to Rough River for the first time and took our kayaks over Fourth of July weekend. Let me say that there is more boats per square foot of water than anywhere I have seen. Water is rough with 2-3' waves. If you plan on going there you can use a kayak, but a boat with a motor is highly recommended to not get ran over. There are some short bouldering areas in Rough River, but I have never seen beta. Most of the walls are around 20-30 feet and appears to be spread far enough apart that a boat again is recommended. Most of the walls that are climbable are over ran with creatures so I would be highly carefull where I put my hands. I saw a spider the size of my hand!!!!

Falls appear to be clean on one wall near the North Fork area. As with any water bouldering, there can be rocks and debris in the water so I would scout any areas before taking big falls. Would I go to rough river for water bouldering? Maybe if I was planned on other activities such as boating, swimming, or camping. Would I travel to rough river just for water bouldering? Probably not.

Post by KD » Thu Jul 20, 2006 11:12 pm

Okay - I remembered some clifflines at rough river from when i was a kid - my dad lived there in the summer. I went down today and found a lot of short, choss stuff except for at the mouth of Cave Creek. There was a good bit of interesting rock there probab v0 to maybe v5. there's some tallish stuff but mostly around 10 - 15 feet. The starting footholds are slimy and theres spider webs all around. lots of slopers, crimps, and tons of pockets. decent rock quality some choss, some nails in the cracks from old trot lines too.. Was a pretty good way to spend maybe 2 - 3 hours.