East State Street Area

Getting there: Head east on East State Street past the Krogers to the Wallmart. At the traffic light for the entrance to Walmart turn left (away from Walmart) up a street marked by the OU Credit Union Building on the corner. Pass a row of trailers, drive to the end and park in the faintly marked spots (~8) near the renovated barn, next to the semi-obvious trailhead.

Hiking to boulder cove: From the parking lot next to the barn, hike uphill on “Cucumber tree connector” until you reach the Rockhouse trail (about 10 min). Follow the rock house trail to the right, away from the footbridge. After about 5 min you will see rocks on the left. Keep hiking past several outcrops, until you see three medium sized boulders downhill on the right. These decent warm-ups are about 75 feet away from the trail, but clearly visable.

Boulder Cove, aka “Trailer Park” boulders includes several outcrops and a few free standing boulders. This area is basically the rock band on the western side of Crumley Ridge, beginning near the area marked as “Boulder Cove” on the topo map provided by Athens Trials.org. The primary area is uphill and to the Northeast of McLaren pond. The features in the main cliff band include, “commitment or birds nest” area and, further up the trail “Big Mamma” which is pictured on a Climbing Mag Blog. The commitment area is located uphill and to the left after crossing the small wooden footbridge, soon after this climbers trail you will pass a low, trailside roof, and after 10 more yards, a path downhill to the right to the boxcar boulders. The crimpy corner, and the mini-twinkie uphill of the Rockhouse trail as you approach the rockhouse, but before you pass the apex of Crumley Ridge.

Hiking to Copper Ridge, aka, COAD: Same initial approach, but turn left and cross the foot bridge. Follow the trail around to the south until you get to the obvious boulders that surround the trail. This will happen soon after the trail turns sharply right at the end of the bluff, and you can see out over stores on East State below. These boulders are located on the Western side of the Southern end of Copperhead Ridge. They are directly behind and uphill from of BigLots. There are several good free-standing boulders here, and several of the problems are composed of solid stone (for Athens). The emerald, a true gem, is located on the way to Copperhead ridge proper. About 1000 feet beyond the footbridge, watch for boulders high on the ridge, and a low triangular boulder on the left. The emerald is downhill on the left, head into the woods and downhill immediately prior to the low triangular boulder.