Bear cave area
Photo: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)- 8 routes
- V1 – V6
- Bouldering
- Mar–Nov
- best months
Is Bear cave area open right now?
Closure in the area
There's a closure order in Shenandoah National Park. It doesn't name Bear cave area, so check the source for the area it covers.
Active Closure
Park closure covering Shenandoah National Park · NPS · Shenandoah National Park
Parking at Boundary Access Areas
Park alert covering Shenandoah National Park · NPS · Shenandoah National Park
As of · Source: NPS · Shenandoah National Park. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.
Bear Cave Area is a bouldering area in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, within the Shenandoah Wilderness. The National Park Service manages the land, and the area sits about 8.8 miles from the Luray weather station, which sits roughly 775 feet lower than the climbing area. Typical averages from that station point to fall as a comfortable time to visit, with October highs around 67°F and lows near 43°F, and late spring running similar at about 74°F by day. The area holds eight boulder routes, all rated from V1 to V6. The hardest of them is Cat scratch hemorrhagic fever at V6, and Cold mountain air runs V3-4. Warm up slab and Lower Ridge Trail Slabs both lie within a quarter mile, while Wall That Dreams Are Made Of is about 0.2 miles away.
Best time to go · Mar–Nov
Best time to visit Bear cave area
Best months: March–November. 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
43° / 23°
9 wet · 2 snow
Feb
47° / 26°
8 wet · 2 snow
Mar
55° / 32°
11 wet · 1 snow
Apr
66° / 41°
12 wet
May
74° / 50°
12 wet
Jun
81° / 58°
11 wet
Jul
85° / 62°
11 wet
Aug
83° / 61°
10 wet
Sep
78° / 54°
9 wet
Oct
67° / 43°
9 wet
Nov
57° / 34°
9 wet
Dec
47° / 28°
9 wet · 1 snow
Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Luray 5 E, VA, 8.8 mi away at 1,400 ft. The station sits about 800 ft lower than this place, so expect it a little cooler here. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
Routes (8)
Cat scratch overhang(4)
Contagion Boulder(2)
Perspective Boulder(1)
Poison Boulder(1)
Facts about this crag
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