Area 74

One of Northwest Arkansas finest hike-free bouldering hotspots

Written by: Scott Fitzgerald With collaboration by: Patrick Kabanuck & Patrick Weldon

Presents An Introduction To Bouldering At

Area 74, Arkansas

When you first pull into 74, you will wonder if the Little Rock state park system loves climbers. They seem to have paved a sidewalk to all the problems on the main wall area for us all to enjoy. Once you go up the steps into the woods of the hidden areas, you will start to feel at home in the woods of Arkansas. Smell the scent of ancient moss and leaf litter as you walk casually through the most dense bouldering area this state has to offer. Please shut the fence behind you when you leave. Please remember that ratings and stars are subjective. Enjoy! How to get there: From Fayetteville/ Springdale: Head east on highway 412 towards Huntsville. Go into Huntsville via 412B. Go South via 23/74 toward St. Paul, turn left on 74 toward Kingston at 4 miles from Huntsville. Area 74 will be 2 miles on your right after the left turn. From Little Rock, AR: Take I-40 to Russellville, turn North on Hwy 7. Head North on 7 until you reach hwy 16. Take a left on hwy 16, follow to hwy 21 North. Head North on hwy 21 until you get to the town of Kingston. Go West on hwy 74 for 14 miles until you see Area 74 on your left. From Springfield, MO: Go South on hwy 65. Turn West on hwy 62 in AR, then go south on hwy 412 to hwy 21 South towards Kingston. Go West on hwy 74 in Kingston. Area 74 is 14 miles on your left. Season: This is considered Southeastern rock, so the season generally runs from Mid September through March. This area does not see a lot of traffic as of yet. The occasional redneck might come through with a rusted out truck saying Yall caint climb at, it hangs backards, but pay them no mind. Camping: This is a touchy subject at 74. You can pitch a tent on the clifftop above the staircase at the far right end of the main wall. No camp fires allowed, unless they are in designated fire pits. Please keep a low profile and stay on state land. The field on top of the cliffs is privately owned. Notice the No Tresspassing signs. Eats: You can find all groceries at the Harps/Wal-Mart in Huntsville. May I recommend a local favorite at the Cobbs corner market in Kingston. They have great burgers and other grilled items at very reasonable prices. This is the only gas station in Kingston. Thanks: I would like to thank Galen Harp for first showing me this great area. I would also like to thank my two bouldering crew members, Patrick Weldon, and Patrick Kabanuck for all the help in cleaning and developing new problems at 74. A major thanks to Richard Ruhland, for without him, I would not be a climber.

The Corridor
1. The Trash Monster - V?
Start in the trash pile and climb it with or without sidewalls.

14. Deliverance - V5
Climb face right of arete.

2. The Barndoor Effect - V7 3. Gangster - V5

Start on two sidepull crimps, smear and go right hand to jug. Start on left hand sidepull and right hand crimp, throw to block and continue to the top.

15. Slider - V2

Classic. Start on arete and climb face.

16. Slider Left - V?

Undone. Start on undercling.

17. Resin-Ate-Her - V0

4. Hickory Pop - V5 Hickory Low - V?

Project, SDS to Hickory Pop

Start at the rock pipe and climb the arete.

Start on two crimps at five feet, go left to gaston and finish straight up.

5. Hickory Girls - V5

Start #4 and top out Delta Girls.

6. Flight of the Delta Girls - V4 7. Delta Dyno - V8

Dyno from start to the top.

Start on good sidepulls at 7 feet. Go straight up.

Legend
Trail = Tree = Log = Small boulder/rock = Overhang = Stairs = Picnic Table =

8. Bad Girls - V? 9. Bad Tree - V7

Start # 9 and finish on Delta Girls. SDS on flake and go straight up behind the tree.

10. Skigger D Bulge - V6 11. Gear Jammer - V1

Climb the cupped hand crack. Start on slope and mantle it.

Start on left facing bulge and climb to top.

12. PKs Mantle - V2 13. Crack Dependency - V3

Lieback the crack to the top.

page 2

page 15

Corridor Area To Fear Factor

Road Maps
23
Hartwell

412 to Springdale and Fayetteville

412
412 BUS

412
Harmony

127

Short Wall

Huntsville

Trash Pit

74 23 74

74 23

11 12 13 9 14

10
412 BUS

127

17

15 5-8 16 4 3 2

Tall Face

23

un

ts

vi

lle

74

23
185 186 254

23

74

page 14

page 3

150

re a

74

249

to Harrison

A a re 74

N Gaskill St

G r no er ov Rd

1 2

Main Wall and Cave

The Grandaddy Roof & Project Walls

1. Grandaddy Crack - V4
Climb out the hand/fist crack and up the face.

Cave Roof

3 4 7

11. Monkey Face - V1 12. Pancakes - V3 13. Butter - V6

5 6

2. Core Crazy - V6

Start on the crack or directly below the Monkey Face. Start on jug and sidepull and go to slopey mantle. Start between #12 and 14 on bad holds, straight up.

SDS in the jug in the back of the roof, climb to rail and exit right.

Wet Wall

3. The Ozark Gangster - V8 4. Donald - V4

SDS on #2 and go straight out the roof to the block.

Main Wall

8-14 15 16 17 18, 19

14. Syrup - V3/5

SDS on rail on left side of roof and cross right.

Start matched on slope, use crack to top. Different for everyone.

5. Poppa Dickey - V8

Start #4 and go straight out to block.

15. Moss No Moss - V3 16. Fear Factor - V? 17. The Funnel - V1

Traverse the boulder from moss to moss. Run and jump to bulge then continue to top. Highball! SDS and go up the shoot.

6. One Eyed Bandit - V3 7. Two Pop - V3

Climb the bulge.

Cliff top trail

Start in a large pocket and traverse right to the arete and topout.

Rock Spring

20, 21 22 23 24 25 26, 27
V0

8. Blitzkrieg - V?

18. Tyson Eats Your Babies - V5

Start on sidepull and go right to point and topout into field.

Project, start on rock and go up into the arete.

9. Battle Of The Bulge - V12?

Project starting from the flake and going up the arete.

19. Punch Out - V?

Project. Start #18 and go straight out.

Across The Road

28 29 30 31

10. Napolen Dyno-Mite - V11?

Project. Start on slope and sidepull and go straight up.

Project Overhang

32 33 Slab Toproping

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page 13

The Grandaddy Roof & Project Walls

To Barbed Wire

Cave Roof (Wall past where the sidewalk ends)

1. Right Arete - V1 2. Left Arete - V2 3. Cave Pearl - V6 4. Flow Stone - V7

Main Wall and Cave Roof

22. Squeeze Play - V10 23. Project

SDS on two stacked low crimps, gaston and squeeze your way to the jugs. Drop off. Stand start on a good incut jug and fire up miniscule crimps to the hole. Drop off.

Start on blank wall between roofs.

24. Crack - V4

Grandaddy Roof
1 2, 3 4, 5

SDS on jugs under roof, go up arete to top.

SDS to jugs and drop off.

5. Hueco Face - V1 6. Mantle Problem - V? 7. Flakeout - V3

25. Legalize 5.12c or V5 26. MC Dynamic - V3

Start on jugs above the marijuana leaf and go up to the high horizontal seam. Start right of the picnic table. One move campus/dynamic move from one permachalk rail to another.

Main Wall

8. Warm Up Arete - V0 9. Fuck The Tree - V2

SDS on the arete left of the steps and climb to the top. Start on the Arete and go to the ledge below the cedar tree and topout.

27. The Lower Ball - V4

SDS to the left of the picnic table and go up the dihedral/arete and drop at jugs.

10. V2

Across The Road

One Eye
Tall Face

Start on left facing rail.

28. The Ripple Effect - V6 29. Open - V7/8

11. V3 12. V2 13. V3

Start on crimps at bulge. Left pinch, right seam, topout. Start on undercling on right side of rock.

Stand start on crimps where the small boulder is on your right and a tree on your left. Go up on crimps and throw to the top. Highball. Start on good ledges, go up right to the gaston/undercling and fire for the top. Holds have broken, increasing the grade.

Slabs

14. V2 15. V4

30. Unknown - V0
Climb the arete.

Start left of rock on left crimp & right sidepull, go straight up.

31. Unnamed project - V?

Starts on low slopes and tops out.

7 10 11 9 8 16 15

Fear Factor Boulder

Down Climb

Start with left in crack & right on slope.

32. Mr. Sandman - V? 33. To The Point - V0

SDS and climb the point.

Climb the crimps on the overhang.

16. Get Hooked - V4 17. Slope Shelf - V4 18. V4 19. V5

Start on right facing jug & go up to jug. Start on left facing sloper and go straight out roof or topout into the slot.

18, 19

12 13 14

17

Start on crimps in the dihedral and go up to a large horn. Start in crack, go up underclings to larger ledge.

20. V5

Start on low crimps and finish on the fin.

21. The Fin - V4

To Corridor

page 12

Start on slopers in the large dihedral, go up crimps to sharp jug out left. Drop off.

page 5

This is home to some hard overhang projects and some good slab climbing. There are a couple of faces tall enough for bolts or a very highball boulder problem. (Check out Eminent Doom if you are a high ball connoisseur.)

Woods Area 1

Carbon Nook & Barbed Wire Area

1. Crack/ slab project 2.Carbon Arete - V5
Highball! SDS the arete and throw to the top.

12. Fatty Slapper - V3 13. Neven - V2

SDS on Slap Stick and go out left to sloper. SDS, go to top via the double two finger pockets.

3. Carbon Monoxide - V8 4. Pocket Rocket - V8

SDS the arete and topout via Carbon Mechanics. 1, 2 Start on crimps and go right hand to two finger pocket and fire to the top. SDS is V9.

14. One Hit Wonder - V2 15. Sloper Troopers - V5

SDS left of #14, go up.

SDS on good ledge and go straight up.

5. Carbon Mechanics - V5
3

Start on high crimp with good left foot, throw to the slopey top.

16. Point of Puke - V5

SDS #14 and go to point.

6. Layaway - V2
Climb the crack.

17. Beer Boost - V6/7

Start #19 and go right to point. Start #19 and go up crack.

7. Whats the Dealio? - V9/10 8. Jangalang - V5

18. Beer and Crackers - V6 19. Barbed Wire - V8

SDS and go straight up.

SDS on undercling, throw to crimp and its not over yet! Stand start is Dealio - V2, start on left-facing flake. 7 8 6 5 Jump start to huge slope and mantle it, stand to topout.

9. Vending Machine O Doom - Project

Start on huge iron ledges and go up. HIGHBALL w/ BL.

20. Diamond Bear - V4

Climb crack.

21. Junk In The Trunk - V1

Stand start right of tree. SDS burly to easy top. Climb arete.

10. Crap - V3
11 12 13 10 9

22. The Man With No Name - V4 23. Todds Arete - V5

11. Slap Stick - V5

Tall Faces

SDS crimps, go out to slopey crimps and fire to the ledge.

Fence

page 6

page 11

Carbon Nook & Barbed Wire Area

To Woods Area 1

Woods Area 1
1. Shape Shifter - V10/11 2. Blank Canvas - V8
Start sitting low on left side and traverse out into the bad slopey ledge and top out straight up. Start same as shape shifter and go out to the lip at the first chance via the flake in the roof.

1 2, 3 4 5

Fence

8. Crap Shoot - V2

Climb the shoot between the huge pinches.

9. Point of Disjointment - V4 10. Unnamed - 5.10d

Start on the left side and traverse right to an ironrock crimp, then topout. Climb the tall East facing wall.

3. Frese in a Blender - V9 4. Devil May Cry - V9/10

Start in back of the cave on a right facing rail, go out to pockets and traverse right to topout. Start #3 go out to lip from pockets and mantle

6 7 8

11. Eminent Doom - V9 12. The Blade - 5.10a

the jug.

Climb the beautiful face with 4 pockets. Highball! Climb the bolted line on the yellow face.

Start on the flake system and climb the bulge to the top. Highball!

6. Make My Day - V4

arete to the jug on #4.

5. Project -Traverse from a sit start on the

13. Birds Nest Arete - V2

Low start on jugs leads to flakes and pockets above bulge. Highball.

10

Stand start and climb the clean slab in the corner.

7. Scareotonin - V3/4

11, 12

13 14, 15, 16

20

17, 18, 19

Walk Up

21

22 23

page 10

To Grandaddy Roof

Area 74 Overview

Area 74 Overview

North

The Corridor
(page 14) Tyson Roof & Pancake Area Walk Up (page 10)

Carbon Nook
(page 10)

Grandaddy Roof
(page 12)

Barbed Wire
Fence

Woods Area 1
(page 6)

Main Wall
(page 4)

Camping Area

Death Boulder

Fear Factor Boulder

(page 12)

One Eyed Boulder

(page 12)

Parking

Childs Play Boulder

Cave Roof
(page 4)

Hwy. 74
Across The Road Boulders

Hwy. 74

To Kingston

(page 4)

To Huntsville

page 8

page 9