New Local Spot- Big Eastatoee Bouldering Wall

One of the spots in the Jocassee Gorges that I've been bouldering at the longest, 20 years or so, is a small mini-cliff on the side of Big Eastatoee Creek. The Big Eastatoee Bouldering Wall, Big Easy or Big E, a chossy mini-bouldering wall, always provides enough routes to get a good pump in and still cool off quick if you get too overheated! Odd for Jocassee Gorges Bouldering, Big E is more of a late spring, summer morning/evening, or early fall spot. Big E is easiest accessed by crossing the creek from the Dug Mountain Fishing Access, which is located only minutes from highway 11, the Little Eastatoee boulders and the Beasley Gap boulders. I recommend going in a swim suit and sandals and packing your important stuff in a dry bag, just in case you take an unexpected dip while fording the creek. Most of the routes here are sit starts on slopey crimps, that follow small edges to a top edge and then downclimbs back to the sitting position…for the full grade difficulty on all of the routes (except the traverses), you must get both hands on the uppermost point of the route and then downclimb back to the starting position. Climb all 21 of the routes in a session for the Big E Circuit, then cool off with a dip in one of the swimming holes upstream or downstream of the bouldering, before grabbing a good beer with some good lunch down the road!

Directions: From the 4 way stop at the junction of Highways 11 and 178, drive west on Highway 11, towards Lake Keowee and Walhalla, for approximately 5 miles and then turn right onto Roy F Jones Road. Follow Roy F Jones for approximately 1.3 miles, over the bridge, and turn right into the Dug Mountain Fishing Access parking lot, just after the bridge. The bouldering wall is located immediately across Big Eastatoee Creek, past the gate in the parking lot used by DNR to stock the creek with fish.

I've also included some ideas on other summer time activities to enjoy while you're in the area. Enjoy!

Big Eastatoee Bouldering Wall Mini-Guide

I had a little trouble printing this guide, but here is how I figured it out so it would print into a nice little booket format...
1. Click the above link,
2. Click "File" on the webpage under the Google Docs logo, not on the main toolbar for the browser
3. Click "Print (PDF)"
4. When the print window comes up, under the Page Handling section, change "Fit to printable area" to " Booklet Printing"
5. Make sure that the booklet Subset is set to "Both Sides", the "Auto-Rotate" button option is checked and "Left" Binding is selected.
6. Hit "OK" now to print
7. Do not rotate the paper when asked to while flipping the paper to print on the back side of the pages...if you rotate the paper, it will print the backs of each page upside down and out of order.
8. After its printed, fold the paper in half to make an 8 page booklet!