The Seldom Seen Greenway Park is a Pittsburgh city park. The stone trestles at the entrance the park are bolted, providing over a dozen bolted lines with difficulties ranging from 5.6 to 5.11. There is even one multi-pitch climb.

History

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Getting There

There are about a dozen parking spots by the salt dome at the bottom of Woodruff. Google Maps and Apple Maps can sometimes provide bad directions. If you have trouble finding the parking area, get directions to the nearby BP gas station from your GPS. Then, exit onto Saw Mill Run and immediately veer right as you appraoch the stop light. The salt dome is impossible to miss, and the entrance to the parking area is immediately after the dome.

Overview of the Climbing Area

Seldom seen has four walls:

  • The Main Wall, to your right as you enter the park from the parking area.
  • The Mr. Rogers Wall, to your left as you enter the park. Accessing Rogers requires crossing the stream.
  • The Arch Wall, which contains two climbs on the right and the second pitch of a Mr. Rogers route on the left.
  • The Back Wall, which has two bolted routes and is just down the path from the park’s entrancy (follow the rails). A good option when the main climbing areas are crowded.

The top of the Main Wall is easily accessible by foot, and the anchors are placed close enough to the top that a top-rope can be easily setup without leading. You’ll need to lead the Arch, Rogers, and Back. Arch has a 5.6/5.7 and Rogers has a route in the 5.8/5.9 range. In both cases, there’s an easy horizontal climb to the anchors for more difficult routes. So, everything in the park can probably be put on top-rope by a 5.9 or 5.10 lead.

Main Wall

The main wall is pictured below in three panes, moving from the front of the park backward (i.e., left to right as you stand facing the wall).

There are five sets of anchors. All of the anchors on the main wall are safely accessible from the top, with the exception of the middle (top-most) anchor. Setting a top-rope on this route without leading is possible due to the two artificial holds, but not recommended.

Each set of anchors has a single bolted line, with the excpetion of the right-most anchor which offers three bolted routes. All of the climbs on the main wall are below 5.11 – probably in the 5.7 to 5.10a range if I had to guess.

The Mr. Rogers Wall

The Arch (Right)

The Back Wall

The arch picture at the top of this page is due to JC Ciesielski.