Iron Mountain/Lake Oswego RR Crag

[GregD]

No Trespassing Sign

 

Posted: NO TRESPASSING, PROHIBIDA ENTRADA, PORTLAND AND WESTERN RAILROAD.

 

The Lake Oswego Crag, the Iron Mountain Rock Wall, the Rock by the Railroad Tracks, whatever you call it, the signs are clear and access is closed. You can see the crag is hiding in the background on the right hand side of my photo. I have been climbing here for almost 10 years and have never had a real issue. The railroad guys wave, the police say hello sometimes and plenty of kids, parents and dogs walk down this section of tracks. I don't know when these signs were first put up but I would be interested in finding out when and why. The last time I climbed here was in December, dry tooling practice. The next time I attempted to climb here was Sunday, the 15th of February, 2009. The signs look brand new. I would be interested to find out when and why these signs were placed.

 

This is a small, but incredibly local (for me) climbing area. It has about a dozen bolted routes that range from 5.8 to 5.11. It's not a destination by any means but if you are in the area it's a great place to spend a summer evening sport climbing with friends, teaching new people how to climb or practicing dry tooling in the winter. Unfortunately it is clearly located on Railroad Right of way. City and County maps (as well as no trespassing signs) list the land as belonging to the Portland and Western Railroad. The right of way apparently extends 120 feet wide roughly centered on the tracks and butts up against private property along the back.

 

The funny thing is I'm not sure that climbing was the reason for the no trespassing sings. As mentioned earlier a lot of people in the neighborhood walk along this section of tracks. There are actually a total of four, no trespassing signs at the crossing with Berwick Road. You see two when facing west (towards the crag) but you also see two facing east (away from the crag).

 

I have begun to do some research on this issue. I have made contact with the regional coordinator for the access fund and he is aware of the issue and more than willing to assist. In the meantime if anyone knows anything about this area, climbing access in general, land use, railroad property etc. please feel free to post your comments.

 

[rbw1966]

There are signs like that along the tracks through Oaks Bottom. They are largely ignored. I think it may be a railroad CYA move that protects them from liability.

[beaconben]

Thanks for looking into this. This is local for myself as well.