In the DMV area, we have many bouldering crags that may not be “destination” spots, but they provide locals with areas to recreate and climb outside without having to travel hours to the more well-known areas such as the New River Gorge, Mt. Gretna, or Cooper’s Rock. Some of these bouldering crags have been around for many years (like Northwest Branch and Springfield Boulders), but locals have been scouting out new areas and expanding our options recently. One of the more recent additions is Rachel Carson Conservation Park boulders near Olney, MD. It was first listed on Mountain Project in 2021 and then in 2023 saw some growth with additional lines/FAs being added by Alek Fredriksson. Currently, it has 13 established lines ranging from V0 to V11.
Rachel Carson Conservation Park is a 650-acre park and a part of the Montgomery Parks system. The trails are very family friendly and enjoyable for all ages. The area is home to equestrian trails, bird watching opportunities, and 6+ miles of hiking. The small bouldering area is reachable via a 10 minute easy hike along mostly a horse trail.
The boulders here are quartz rock – a rarity in local climbing! However, much of the rock was covered in black spray painted graffiti which was an eye sore to an otherwise very beautiful conservation area.
On Sunday, March 24, 10 volunteers met to tackle the graffiti. Three of our volunteers joined from the UMD Terrapin Trail Club, despite being on spring break!
Our volunteers met at 9am, prepped and gathered all materials we needed to carry to the work area (PPE, water, power washers, wire brushes), and hiked in. Fun fact: a 7 gallon container of water is nearly 60 pounds! Extra thanks to our volunteers who managed to haul two of them in. Also, the volunteers braved working with water despite it being a brisk morning at just 35 degrees when we began work.
Our graffiti removal process has been refined over time. Some parks allow pressure washers, some do not. We got the OK from Montgomery County Parks to use them for this event, so our process was as follows:
- Volunteers suit up with rubber gloves and eye protection
- Apply Elephant Snot with soft bristle brushes to all areas with paint
- Wait 30 minutes for the product to do its work
- Brush all application areas by hand with wire brushes
- Power wash with a battery powered pressure washer, using water we carry in
- Pack up all trash and materials (leave no trace!)
Elephant Snot is a biodegradable, thick formula product that is recommended for many rock types. It has been used widely in many National & state parks and is overall considered more environmentally friendly than many products on the market.
Due to the quartz rock being smoother than most rock in the area, the scrubbing was a bit less laborious than at other events. Given that the graffiti was all a solid color and just one layer, this made our work easier as well. Volunteers finished in record time – just 2 hours in total for the entire project! Only one layer of graffiti removal product was needed.
Check out some of our before and after photos:
And check out our time lapse of the entire event!
We are so grateful for the volunteers who helped with this event — thank you! Many of our events happen because climbers in the area reach out with issues they’ve seen while out climbing. If you encounter any graffiti, access issues, trash build up, or potential trail building opportunities while you are out climbing, please reach out to us at info@midatlanticclimbers.org so we can discuss with you and work with proper park authorities or land owners to address it.
If you are interested in this type of work or giving back to your local climbing areas, check out our other spring events and consider signing up!
3 Ways to Protect Mid Atlantic Climbing this Earth Month – Mid Atlantic Climbers
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