Mocanaqua (aka Shickshinny) – Eastern Pennsylvania Alliance of Climbers

About The Area

Mocanaqua is a small town located on the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County. Dispersed in the foothills, you will find several crags and boulder “gardens”. These include such area as Paradise, The Library, Squirrel Rock , Main Wall, The Boulder Garden, The Coal Bowl, Hawk Rock, The Penitentiary, and other sub areas.

LocationMocanaqua

AmbassadorAaron Stredny

GuidebookNext Ascent Apps

Land ManagerDCNR State Forest, Earth Conservancy

Native LandSusquehannock and unverified portions

ACCESS

Paradise, Library, and Hawk Rock Closed to Climbing:

During the recent public OHV study meetings (linked below), the Earth Conservancy has made it clear that they do not allow rock climbing on their land. The Library, Paradise, and Hawk Rock all fall within Earth Conservancy Land, and are therefore closed to climbing. The Eastern Pennsylvania Alliance of Climbers is currently working with the Access Fund, Earth Conservancy, and DCNR to reopen these areas to climbing. Please be respectful of this closure and utilize the other crags around Mocanaqua to avoid further jeopardizing our future access of these beloved crags. Updates on this will be posted below.

ACCESS INFORMATION MEETING 2022

On June 22, 2022 EPAC invited community members to join us for a night of information sharing. We have had many questions about the Mocanaqua climbing closure. We also see access opportunities and potential issues for Tilbury. We updated the climbing community on communications with land managers, stewardship projects, options for the future to help protect access and addressed various questions. Thank you to all who attended.

To review the information that was presented, we have posted both the slide deck and meeting recording.

For further questions or comments, please reach out to joe@epaclimbers.org for Mocanaqua and dana@epaclimbers.org for Tilbury.

PROJECTS

On May 1st, 2022, members of the Eastern Pennsylvania Alliance of Climbers cleaned up the parking lot, roadside, and approach trail at the Main Wall rock climbing area in Pinchot State Forest.

Altogether, they collected:

21 bags of trash
4 tires
Various car parts
2 TVs
A fake Christmas tree, and a plastic Santa Claus.

We noticed a decline in trash compared to the last cleanup event hosted at Main Wall.

•August 16, 2021

Mocanaqua Public Meeting #2

On August 4, 2021, the Earth Conservancy held its second public meeting regarding the Newport Township OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) feasibility study. Over 10,000 acres of land, comprised of various parcels, is being considered. This includes all of the Mocanaqua climbing areas including the Library, Paradise, Main Wall, Squirrel Rock, Hawk Rock, The Penitentiary, and...

•February 12, 2021

Mocanaqua Public Meeting

Members of the EPAC and the Access Fund attended the virtual public meeting held on February 11, 2021. Rock Climbers were mentioned throughout the presentation as a user group of the area. Presentation slides and the meeting video can be found on the project website. EPAC and the Access Fund are reaching out to those...

•February 4, 2021

Action Required for Mocanaqua

Mocanaqua in Northeast Pennsylvania includes areas such as Paradise, The Library, Squirrel Rock , Main Wall, The Boulder Garden, The Coal Bowl, Hawk Rock, The Penitentiary, and all of the sub areas. Newport Township is conducting a study to explore the creation of an Off Highway Vehicle Park on lands that include the Mocanaqua climbing...