Routes
The main cliff at Pettaquamscutt Rock is approximately 50 feet in height
and 40 feet in width. The rock surface is pock marked with mica and quartz
nubbins that are very sharp. There are no distinct routes on the cliff.
You can pretty much climb anywhere. Because of the rough nature of the
rock routes are fairly easy but painful on the fingers. Farther to the left (south) you
climb the more you can increase the difficulty. There are also some
smaller rocks in back of the the main cliff that provide interesting
bouldering.
Protection
The five eye bolts that were at the top of the cliff were chopped in
2001. You
will need long slings or a static rope because the trees are a way back
and the
top of the cliff does not fall away at a 90 degree angle and
substantial rope abrasion is unavoidable. There were two new anchor
bolts installed on the cliff in 2006. They are set fairly far
down from the top and you should rope-up to scamble down to them.
With a couple of runners on the anchors you can set up a top-rope
and avoid some of the rope abrasion. There are very few fractures
in the rock so if you are interested in practicing leading you are
restricted to one large diagonal crack.
History/Guide Books
Climbers have used Pettaquamscutt for many years as is evidenced by the
rusty piton found on one of the routes. A small guidebook entitled A Climbing Guide to
southern Rhode Island was written by Gary Peterson in 1978 and is republished
here with the permission of the author.