Viva Chattavegas by Percy Bishton include "header_root.php

Where to stay
Visiting climbers can camp for free at Rocktown, although you must pack everything in, including water. You have to pay to camp at Horse Pens 40, but it is well worth the 10 dollars a day, which includes your climbing permit and all the facilities including hot showers and electrical outlets. For Little Rock City, your best bet is to find cheap lodgings in Chattanooga, which is also the ideal base for all the areas, being pretty central. If you want to climb routes as well as boulder, the crags around Chattanooga will not disappoint, with quality 'trad and sport crags littering the area. For those with more time who are prepared for a bit of driving, head over to Boone in North Carolina which is the latest bouldering area to get the 'Best Bouldering in the US' title in all the most recent America magazines, (this trip takes about 4/5 hours). North from Chattanooga, climbers can do routes in the famous Red River Gorge, although most climbers will find enough to occupy them on the rocks around Chattanooga for a good few years!

Season
The best time for a visit is between September and May, although the winter months between December and February will yield the best conditions for hard bouldering.

Getting there
This area is only 5 hours ahead of GMT, so jetlag is not a big problem, and air ticket prices to Atlanta at present are a lot cheaper than flights to other parts of the US so these areas can be a viable alternative to European venues for a two week break. A flight to Atlanta from the UK should take about 8 hours, and you'll have to drive less than 15 minutes from the airport to hit your first bouldering area - the bizarre, yet wonderful area of Boat Rock. A collection of huge round granite boulders in a forest literally within 10 miles of the runways, an ideal place for a pre-flight pump before your return flight. The drive to Chattanooga, or to Rocktown from Atlanta takes about one and a half hours.

Rest Days
Chattanooga is a very pleasant and relaxing place to while away your time whilst you try to grow some skin back on your fingertips! Good places to eat and chill out include the Stonecup Coffee house and Phat Wraps, although any restaurant or diner downtown is good. For a true taste of deep south hospitality, go for a drink at Lamar's. An impressively seedy drinking establishment, which opens late and closes even later. Check out a) the size of the drinks, and b) the gold and black velvet wallpaper! Chattanooga has a number of pretty expensive attractions, the best of which is the Aquarium, and the strangest of which is the Tow Truck Museum! For chalk, tape and other climbing bits, head to Rock Creek Outfitters, or you can pick up gear at TBA bouldering gym on St Elmo Avenue. TBA also sells 'Hoofmaker', a veterinary ointment that can be used on the hands/hooves to toughen your skin up, (and it really works….)!

Further info
For information on the boulders check out: www.southernslopers.com www.tbagym.com www.horsepens40.com or drop into the TBA bouldering gym on St Elmo Avenue in Chattanooga where the local boulderers hang out. They'll be more than happy to fix you up with somebody to show you around the local areas.