FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Thank you for asking – the answer is that there are many options!
Sign up for a recurring or one-time donation on our donation page. Recurring donations help us determine our yearly budget.
Shop our Online Store to get great RRGCC merchandise sent to your home.
Shop Amazon via Amazon Smile – no extra work for you, and Amazon donates .5% of your purchase amount to the RRGCC.
Sign up for Kroger Community Rewards – a quick one-time sign up results in donations from Kroger to the RRGCC every time you shop at Kroger. Detailed RRGCC_Kroger instructions here.
Become an RRGCC member and an Access Fund member in one fell swoop with the Joint Membership Program. Please direct any questions about Joint Membership to membership@accessfund.org.
Please note that the Joint Membership charge on your bank statement may look like this: CHECK CARD PURCHASE BLK*ACCESS FUND 1234567890 CA
See RRGCC Annual Report: https://rrgcc.org/about/
The RRGCC has many ongoing projects! We are working on:
- Installing our second pit toilet.
- planning Rocktoberfest, Rocktoberfest come - Columbus Day every year!
- Trail and road maintenance, as it never ends.
- Gym to Crag and other educational programming.
- Working with the USFS on super top secret things we won't tell you about unless you join the Board of Directors
- Raising money to pay for and maintain our land!
- Have thoughts? We'd love to hear them, email us.
Climbing access is always at the discretion of the owner. It is our mission to to secure and protect open, public access to rock climbing in the Red River Gorge area of Kentucky and to promote conservation of the environment on the lands where we climb. We believe that by owning land and by working with other land owners in the area, we can ensure open public access to climbing. You, as a climber and ambassador for our sport, can help protect access by behaving responsibly and respecting land owners' wishes.
The RRGCC requests notification of all new bolts & development in the PMRP, MFRP, and BRRP so trail work and staging areas may be constructed sustainably and simultaneously. Please email the land manager with intent and location of bolting, all information will be kept confidential. More information can be found here and always sign a waiver.
No -- While it is recognized that many climbers enjoy utilizing hammocks in the outdoors, the RRGCC has witnessed the environmental detriment and increased erosion at climbing areas due to hammock usage. In an effort to uphold the mission of conserving climbing areas for future generations, hammock usage will be permanently disallowed on all RRGCC-owned properties effective immediately.
Short answer is no. We get it, drone footage is amazing and looks really cool. Unfortunately, the noise that echoes along the cliff lines and unpredictability of the devices makes them more of a hazard than a help. As a result, we do not allow drones on RRGCC property. Professional requests are accepted, contact rrgcc@rrgcc.org
There is a lot of rock in the Red River Gorge region of Eastern Kentucky. This rock is owned by various non-profits, the federal government, and private entities. It is up to you as a user of this land to follow all rules and regulations of the owner of the land you use. The RRGCC requires all visitors sign a waiver to visit PRMP, MFRP or BRRP. A waiver is required or you are considered trespassing. We encourage you to contact those owners to learn about their specific requirements.
Spring and Fall are considered to be the premier seasons for climbing in Red River Gorge because of moderate temperatures. Summer weather tends to be very hot and muggy but can be endured, especially at crags that stay in the shade. In the Winter, climbing conditions at crags that stay in the sun can be tolerable to excellent. Winter climbing can be nice too because you don’t have to worry about bugs or snakes.
Call 911!
It is important to know where you are - geographically - what road are you on, not which crag are you at? Remember, emergency crews may not be climbers.
The best guidebook is the most current guidebook. There are four options you can choose from: Red River Gorge North by Dustin Stephens (Wolverine Publishing), Red River Gorge South by Blake Bowling (Wolverine Publishing), The Red, 2nd Edition by Brendan Leader (Onsight Publishing), and Red River Gorge Select by Dario Ventura (Wolverine Publishing).
They may be purchased online and are also available for sale at various climbing related businesses and gyms, including Miguel's Pizza.
A percentage of the profits from sales of the guidebooks are being donated to the RRGCC.
Depending on whether you are planning to engage in traditional climbing or sport climbing, there are any number of areas that are good places to take beginners. As long as you have one or more competent lead climbers in your party, most crags have easier climbs that can be set up for beginners. Route developers throughout the RRG have consciously established easy to moderate climbs in the interest of making these areas accessible to beginning climbers.
Very few places have access to the edge of the cliff in such a way to allow easy setup of a top-rope. If you have one or more competent lead climbers in your group, then there are plenty of climbs that can be set up for top-roping. When top-roping, please set up your own gear to run the rope through and do not top-rope directly through quick-links or any other portion of a permanent top-anchor.
Are you interested in hosting an event in the tri-state area that you would like us to attend? Do you want to help us share our message at your business or your event? Great! We would be happy to come and hang out, bring some information (and swag), and help share our mission and vision for climbing in the Red River Gorge.
Please send us an email to rrgcc@rrgcc.org (or find us on Facebook) with the event details and what you would have in mind and we will be happy to discuss coordinating.
You can update your donor information here. We use Network For Good for all events, registrations, and donations.
If you are an Access Fund joint member, contact them here.
The RRGCC considers all fixed gear abandoned gear, including, but not limited to: bolts, bolt hangers, quickdraws, and anchors. Use as your own risk. The RRGCC does not maintain bolts or any type of climbing equipment. The Fixed Gear Initiative is a local non-profit that was established to bolt and rebolt in the Red River Gorge.
That's great! First, contact our Land Manager with a plan for where the trail will go, how it will be built, and the expected costs and resources required to build it.
If you want to lead the project, it’s important to attend a Trail Leader Training day; these are held throughout the year. We use these days to teach specifics and techniques regarding sustainable trail building, including resource protection, rock work, safety measures, and more.
We are working on getting all trails to the best standard, making the least environmental impact as possible and requiring as little maintenance as possible based on the guidelines set out in Trail Construction and Maintenance Notebook – USDA Forest Service.
To participate in a planned trail day, please register online.
All RRGCC properties are open to any human-powered recreation - such as: hiking, climbing, trail running, and mountain biking.
A few years ago the RRGCC started work on mountain biking trails. These trails are open, though at the moment there is only a one-mile loop that is completed.
We would love to have more trails so if you have interest in working on this, reach out to us!
The RRGCC owns surface rights to all of our properties. Previous to acquiring the property, many long years ago, the mineral rights were severed - this is common in this region, in fact often times several mineral rights owners may exist within an area. This means that while the RRGCC has the rights to everything above the soil, the mineral rights owner has the right to everything below, including extraction.
In February 2004 the RRGCC obtained a Temporary Restraining Order that prevents Charmane from towing climbers’ cars from the PMRP. Charmane Oil has since been purchased by American Natural Gas. In the interest of respecting ANG’s right to access their oil wells, the RRGCC has established designated parking areas on the PMRP. When visiting the PMRP you are asked to please follow posted signs, park in designated parking areas, and not block or interfere with ANG’s right to access their oil wells.
Logging was not pursued for several reasons.
Most of the PMRP had been logged at some point prior to the purchase by the RRGCC. Thus, the amount of mature wood is limited. If we were to log the PMRP, selectively or not, the amount of money that would generate is surprisingly low relative to the impact it would have on the land. There are some talented logging companies in the area that do a great job of minimizing their presence, etc. but at the end of the day, their impact on the land far surpasses what most of us would consider acceptable for our beloved PMRP.
In the MFRP, the timber rights to the property were a point of negotiation for the purchase. There is more mature wood on the MFRP, and far less presence of oil infrastructure.
Because of the aesthetics of the property, the disruption of roads and trails, and complete closure of the MFRP during logging, we felt that is was in the best interest of the climbing community that the RRGCC maintain the timber rights to the property. For those reasons, we have no intention of logging selectively or otherwise in the MFRP.
In September 2017 the RRGCC granted Access Fund Conservation Easements on all RRGCC properties, ensuring they would be open for recreation in perpetuity and aligning with a conservation mandate that prohibits activities such as logging.
The PMRP was purchased by the RRGCC in 2004 at a purchase price of $227,500 ($325 per acre) for 700 acres. In 2010, the RRGCC restructured the PMRP with the owners and with the Access Fund. The last payment was made in 2012.
The MFRP was purchased by the RRGCC in 2013 at a purchase price of $245,000 ($792 per acre) for 309 acres. The Access Fund awarded us a $10,000 grant to help toward the down payment, and financed the loan via their Land Conservation Campaign. The MFRP was paid off in 2017.
The BRRP was purchased by the RRGCC in December 2016 for $235,000 with help from the Access Fund Climbing Conservation Loan Program and a generous $10,000 donation from Trango Climbing Gear. In March 2017 we received a Conservation Alliance Grant for $40,000 which the RRGCC matched through our Own History campaign, with over $40,000 in individual contributions! The BRRP is set to be paid off by 2021.
The RRGCC Board of Directors (BOD) are volunteer members who have made a commitment to dedicate a portion of their time to directing and managing the organization. Board members serve for a three year term and may serve three consecutive terms before they must leave the Board for at least one year before becoming eligible again.
The RRGCC has four officer positions: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. These officers must be members of the Board of Directors and are elected by the Board to serve one year terms. No one person may serve more than three consecutive years in one position without taking a one year leave from that position.
A listing of our current board members and officers can be found here.
To take a position on the Board of Directors you must be 21 years old and have been an active volunteer of the RRGCC for at least one year. Any person meeting these requirements may fill out the application to be elected to the Board. For the practical functioning of the organization, people with relevant skills and experience are sought for Board service. Past non-profit service and/or knowledge in the areas of accounting, law, fundraising, public relations, business, and environmental issues are examples the types of experience sought in prospective Board members.
The deed descriptions for the land owned by the Red River Gorge Climbers’ Coalition (RRGCC) were written over a century ago. When first written, the general purpose of these deeds was to transfer usable and marketable land (e.g. homestead, farming, livestock, etc.) and/or the mineral rights. Many of these deeds do not directly address ownership of a cliff face when used as a property boundary since the concept of the cliff face having value was not considered in pre-climbing days. These deeds reference physical land features including cliff tops, cliff faces, rocks, trees, and bodies of water which can be difficult to identify and which may have changed over time. Portions of these tracts have changed ownership and been separated, rejoined, and separated again over the course of the past 100+ years. Given these issues, the RRGCC often consults with legal and real estate professionals for guidance on who owns the cliffs.
Climbers often theorize and the answer may vary from crag to crag. Some climbers believe that where cliffs are overhanging, the “drip line” always is the boundary. However, this “drip line” concept is not recognized under established Kentucky law. Sometimes deeds are clear that a certain point is the boundary. That point may be the outermost point of the cliff, an "X" carved in the base of the cliff under an overhang, or a tree near the cliff. Sometimes the deeds are not clear. Many simply say "the cliff" is the boundary, without establishing a clear point along an overhang. Determining ownership of any given route requires review of the deeds for properties both above and below the cliff. Often a surveyor can read these deeds and definitively determine ownership. Sometimes the neighbors must work together to determine a clear boundary line utilizing modern survey techniques.
Anyone who would like to pull the deeds to the relevant tracts of land is welcome to do so, and to form their own opinion on cliff face ownership.
Due to waste left behind by visitors parking on RRGCC property, we do not allow overnight parking at any of the parking lots.
This includes PMRP, BRRP, and MFRP.
We allow back-country camping, but please refrain from leaving vehicles in the parking lots overnight.
*we reserve the right to tow abandoned cars