Cotton Top
Cotton Top in West Virginia has 34 routes across 23 grades, offering bouldering, sport, and trad climbing.
- 34 routes
- 5.7 – 5.13c
- Sport · Bouldering · Trad
Best time to visit Cotton Top
Best months: April–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
42° / 23°
Feb
46° / 25°
Mar
55° / 31°
Apr
68° / 40°
May
75° / 49°
Jun
81° / 58°
Jul
84° / 62°
Aug
83° / 61°
Sep
78° / 54°
Oct
68° / 43°
Nov
56° / 33°
Dec
46° / 27°
Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Anstead Hawks Nest Sp, WV, 1.3 mi away at 1,296 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
Cotton Top is a climbing area in West Virginia, about 0.2 miles from the town of Cotton Hill. It sits among a cluster of other climbing spots, including the Cotton Club, Highball Boulder and Slitty Titty Boulder, all within about a tenth of a mile. The area also draws hikers, with the Cliffside Trail and Loop Trail about 0.9 miles away. The climbing here is a mix of sport and boulder routes, with a few trad options. There are 34 routes in total, and the grades run from about 5.7 to 5.13c on the YDS scale and from V2 to V10 on the V scale. Some of the named routes include Cotton Gin and Tonic (5.7, trad), 98% Cotton (5.10b, sport) and The Rheesist (5.13c, sport). For comfortable weather, late spring and early fall are the best bets. Typical averages from a nearby weather station show May highs around 75°F and September highs around 78°F, with July the warmest month at about 84°F.
Routes (34)
Flux Boulder(3)
Man On The Moon Boulder(3)
Taper Point Boulder(2)
Other routes(26)
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