Orc Wall
- 6 routes
- 5.5 – 5.11-
- Top Rope · Trad
- Apr–Oct
- best months
Orc Wall is a climbing area in Blue Mounds State Park in Minnesota, managed by State Park and Recreation. It sits among a cluster of other climbing spots, with Bison Buttress, Primitive Buttress and Kanaranzi Buttress (South Face) all about 0.1 mile away. The climbing here is a mix of top rope and trad routes, with grades ranging from 5.5 to 5.11. Lumberjack Crack is a trad route at 5.5, and First Blood is a top rope at 5.6. The hardest route is Death's Door, a top rope at 5.11- first climbed by Eric Odegaard and Paul Kummer in August 2017. Summer is the most comfortable time to climb. Typical averages from a nearby weather station in Rock Rapids, Iowa, show July highs around 85°F with lows near 62°F, while January highs average about 25°F.
- Bison ButtressRock climbing0.1 mi
- Primitive ButtressRock climbing0.1 mi
- Kanaranzi Buttress (South Face)Rock climbing0.1 mi
- North Quarry TalusRock climbing0.1 mi
- The ChamberRock climbing0.1 mi
- The Metamorphic RockRock climbing0.1 mi
- North Quarry AreaRock climbing0.1 mi
- North Quarry BoulderRock climbing0.1 mi
Source: Roamze catalog (indexable pages within 10 miles, PostGIS distance)
- North Quarry TalusRock climbing · Next door
- The ChamberRock climbing · Next door
- North Quarry AreaRock climbing · Next door
- The Metamorphic RockRock climbing · Next door
- North Quarry BoulderRock climbing · Next door
- Quarry BoulderRock climbing · Next door
- East Quarry BoulderRock climbing · Next door
- Saturday ButtressRock climbing · Next door
- Midnight ButtressRock climbing · Next door
- Many Cracks ButtressRock climbing · Next door
Also worth it near here
- Blue Mound State Park Tipi and Cart-In CampgroundCamping · ~2 min drive
Rock RiverCanoeing · ~33 min drivePhoto: Don Graham from Redlands, CA, USA - God bless it!, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Great Bear Recreation ParkDownhill skiing · ~44 min drivePhoto: Jake DeGroot, CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Sioux FallsWaterfall · ~49 min drivePhoto: Clyde Charles Brown, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Best time to visit Orc Wall
Best months: April–October. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.
Jan
25° / 6°
5 wet
Feb
30° / 10°
5 wet
Mar
43° / 22°
6 wet
Apr
58° / 34°
9 wet
May
70° / 47°
12 wet
Jun
81° / 58°
10 wet
Jul
85° / 62°
8 wet
Aug
82° / 59°
8 wet
Sep
75° / 50°
7 wet
Oct
61° / 36°
6 wet
Nov
44° / 23°
5 wet
Dec
30° / 12°
5 wet
Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Rock Rapids, IA, 18.5 mi away at 1,350 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
