The Road Side Boulder
- 2 routes
- V2-3 – V6
- Bouldering
- May, Jul–Sep
- best months
Road Side Boulder is a climbing area in the Tower Fish Hatchery State Aquatic Management Area (St. Louis) in Minnesota, managed by State Fish and Wildlife. It sits within the hatchery's grounds, and the nearest town is Tower. Summer is the most comfortable time to visit. Typical averages from a nearby weather station at Tower run to highs around 77°F in July with lows near 51°F, while January highs average just 17°F. The closest neighbor is the Vermilion River, about 2.7 miles away, with fishing access at Tower. Pfeiffer Lake campground and the Pfeiffer Lake Spur C hike are both about 5.5 miles off. Lake Vermilion, roughly 7 miles away, offers more lake fishing.
- Vermilion RiverRiver fishing2.7 mi
- Pfeiffer LakeCamping5.5 mi
- PFEIFFER LAKE SPUR CHiking5.6 mi
- Lake VermilionLake fishing7.2 mi
Vermilion-TroutHikingPhoto: Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0 (via Flickr)8.6 mi
Source: Roamze catalog (indexable pages within 10 miles, PostGIS distance)
- Laurentian Divide Climbing AreaRock climbing · ~29 min drive
- Willie WallRock climbing · ~54 min drive
- C SectionRock climbing · ~54 min drive
- M&M Hill - Crane LakeRock climbing · ~54 min drive
- Government BayRock climbing · ~58 min drive
- Double X BoulderRock climbing · ~58 min drive
- Baird BlocksRock climbing · ~1h drive
- Crane Lake WallRock climbing · ~1h 2m drive
- Jeff's World (MN/CA border)Rock climbing · ~1h 4m drive
- Secret Lake and Warmup wallRock climbing · ~1h 9m drive
Best time to visit The Road Side Boulder
Best months: May and July–September. 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
17° / -7°
7 wet
Feb
23° / -5°
6 wet
Mar
36° / 9°
7 wet
Apr
50° / 24°
8 wet
May
63° / 36°
12 wet
Jun
73° / 47°
13 wet
Jul
77° / 51°
12 wet
Aug
76° / 48°
11 wet
Sep
67° / 42°
11 wet
Oct
51° / 31°
11 wet
Nov
35° / 18°
9 wet
Dec
22° / 3°
8 wet
Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Tower 2s, MN, 4.4 mi away at 1,430 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
