Mount Scott is perhaps the foremost accepted peak in Oklahoma next to the part of Black Mesa. One doesn't commonly think about Oklahoma as a state with mountains, and therefore is pleasantly shocked once 1st seeing Mt. Scott and therefore the remainder of the Wichita Mountains rising out of the prairie. For climbers, Mt. Scott is known not for its summit, except for its outstanding cragging on the granite walls on 2 areas on the side of the mountain (Upper Mt. Scott and Lower Mt. Scott). If you would like to forgo the crags and bag the summit, the easiest method is to drive to the highest via the sealed road. That said, hiking or biking the road are choices, and there are those hearty souls who bushwhack their thanks to the highest.
Mt. Scott and therefore the remainder of the Wichita Mountains life Refuge host a number of the premier hiking areas within the south-central U.S. this is often wherever climbers like Duane Raleigh and others cut their teeth within the late seventies and early eighties, establishing over forty routes on higher and Lower Mt. Scott, and 250 routes within the remainder of the Wichitas. Climbers currently come back from everywhere, and it's common to fulfill folks from Texas, Arkansas and Kansas on a typical weekend. Mt. Scott’s walls have one thing for everybody. All the routes area unit one-pitch, starting from 5.4 to 5.11, and almost all are often top-roped. Most routes area unit easy to moderate jazz lines, however there are some exhausting sport climbs. Sport climbs within the Wichitas area unit generally chancy, and Mt. Scott is not any exception. The primary bolt is typically high and therefore the rest are distributed.
We are lucky to possess this space in Oklahoma and like to brag concerning it and share it with everybody. Thus next time you’re on I-40 heading to the depression, take an additional day, veer south to the Wichitas, and look at some nice Oklahoma climbing!
Getting There
Mt. Scott is found within the Wichita Mountains life Refuge (WMWR) more or less twenty five miles northwest of town, Oklahoma and seventy miles southwest of Oklahoma City.
From exit 45, flip west on road forty nine. Drive west on road forty nine for 6.7 miles, through the tiny city of drugs Park, till reaching the doorway to the refuge. Mt. Scott can greet you on the proper as you enter the refuge. Continue on road forty nine for 1.7 miles till reaching the sign for the sealed Mt. Scott summit road on the proper. Each of the Mt. Scott technical ascension are accessible from this road.
Lower Mt. Scott: drive up the mountain for one.4 miles to the third pull out on the side of the mountain. Park at the third disengagement and walk down twenty yards (east) to the tip of the safety rail wherever a path can begin left through the rocks. Follow the climber’s path down towards the drop-off edge. Before reaching the sting, the path can veer left (west), then switchback to the proper and descend to the bottom of the drop. At the top, you'll be able to additionally go right a faint path that results in the highest of the drop wherever you'll be able to rap High Anxiety (two anchors, 60 ft). Note: If the Lower Mt. Scott disengagement is full there are many a lot of pullouts concerning each two hundred yards additional up the road. Don’t park on the road.
Upper Mt. Scott: Continue on the road to the summit. Park within the parking lot on the side. Walk backtrack the mountain road for concerning seventy five yards (count twenty five safety rail posts from the top). The path (?) scrambles down a ramp to the proper (east) for thirty foot. Then switches to the left and scrambles down another fifty foot. To the lowest of the wall. Continued west another fifty foot through the boulders finds you in a very nice shaded space below the upper Scott walls correct.
When and where To Climb
Spring and fall are the simplest times. Summer is hot and windy, however each higher and Lower Scott walls area unit north-facing that makes ascension sufferable up till concerning hour. After that, you actually ought to like ascension, as a result of the warmth is intense. Curt Fry makes an attempt Crack...Curt Fry climbs "Crack Attack." Image by Destine. A number of the higher Scott area unites are within the shade at the bottoms of the crags that offers respite throughout belays. Winter in Oklahoma are often cold and nasty, however may have some terribly gentle days with temps within the 50s and 60s. In winter, check the climate before visiting, as a result of it are often sixty and sunny in the future, then twenty and snowing subsequent. And through all seasons, look out that if it's breezy at the lowest, it'll be terribly windy and far cooler at the summit--take a jacket!
Weekends are often a madhouse at the technical climbing areas. On weekends, be there before the gate opens, or park at the doorway, then hike up the road at sunrise to stake your claim. Weekdays are the simplest time to climb. It’s rare to ascertain over one alternative party on a weekday and you'll most likely have the total wall to yourself.
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