Cathedral Ledge — The Cliff at the Edge of the Valley
Near North Conway, New Hampshire
The granite cliff called Cathedral Ledge rises several hundred feet above Echo Lake on the western edge of North Conway. The rock face is visible from most of the valley floor, a sheer wall of pale granite streaked with dark vertical cracks, shaped over hundreds of millions of years and then scoured and polished by glaciers during the last ice age. A paved auto road loops to the summit of the ledge from which you can look down the full drop to the lake and across the Saco River valley to the Presidential Range beyond.
Below the cliff, Echo Lake is a clear, shallow body of water tucked between the ledge and the forested hills, busy in summer with swimmers and picnickers. Cathedral Ledge is known throughout the climbing world as one of the finest traditional rock climbing venues in the northeastern United States. Many established routes run up its face, from moderate cracks to expert overhangs requiring advanced technique.
White Horse Ledge, a neighboring cliff, offers additional routes and is a popular destination for ice climbing in winter. The climbing community has used these ledges for decades. Most of the technical routes on Cathedral Ledge require gear-based traditional climbing skills rather than fixed bolts, which gives it a reputation among experienced climbers for character and commitment.
