The Jurassic Climbs
Over 75 routes to pick from at Waipu Caves Farm Park
The Jurassic Crags is the collective name of 3 limestone crags and lots of boulders spread around several spots at Waipu Caves Farm Park, a private park where you can come and climb with your own gear. You can also stay in the camping ground, swim in the river, walk one of the many walking tracks or even do a cave tour in the Milky Way Glow Worm Cave.
Climbers pay a small fee to climb.
There are over 75 routes on hard limestone ranging in skill level needed. There is really easy climbs great for kids and beginners through to very difficult. Hangers are set up for top rope climbing with easy access to the cliff top for set up. There are hangers for lead climbing on some climbs and several places you can trad climb.
Bouldering can be done around the base as well as at several locations where there are boulders.
Fees are $10 per climber.
There are lots of bouldering rocks which have been water-blasted clean. These range from 2m to 4m high and range from really easy suitable for kids and beginners to some rather difficult routes or traverses for experienced climbers. Bouldering is a great way to learn climbing without the need for expensive equipment or rope skills required for rigging. This activity good for school groups particularly if budget are smaller (schools get a special rate). It's also a way parents can engage with their kids in a sport without needing to be a climber themselves. Helmets are optional for bouldering and if you are climbing high we recommend you use foam mats on the ground as well as a spotter. We intend to have hire mats here for early 2025.
We started opening these climbs up in 2023 and have yet to write the guide book with map, climb names and grades. This will come in time. We will then also put the info on websites such as The Crag and Climb NZ etc.
Most climbs are within a 300m walk from the large car park and office. If you are staying in one of the camping areas some boulders are right there in camp.
Developing The Jurassic Climbs.
As a privately owned park we can development and maintain the crags and boulders differently from that of sites which are publicly owned such as conservation land or public parks.
Much of our property is protected under QEII covenant and that includes a lot of rocks, boulders, crags and cliff faces, however some have been kept out of the protected areas specifically for recreation climbing and outdoor education.
After selecting the crags and boulders we clean off all vegetation which in some places is 50cm thick of plant roots in organic matter and small trees. From around the rocks some trees are removed and others are pruned back so there is more light and wind so that faces stay drier to reduce moss regrowth.
Then we water blast with a 2800psi water blaster. Both the Milky Way Crag and Valley Road Crag took over 60 hours each to water blast them clean. While doing this we remove all small rocks and flakes off the face and from ledges.
Once clean we remove or stabilise all bigger rocks so they are not a risk. Some of these are the size of small cars and refrigerators. This may include concreting some which need extra securing or to stop wobbly rocks moving.
During this time we put in hangers for moving around the top of the crags and once each area is clean we put in hangers for top rope climbing, followed with hangers for lead climbing where appropriate.
Our hangers are secured with 12mm x 120mm stainless steel trubolts. This is much larger than normally used.
Next stage is putting on the name tags for each climb and grading them. Then we will do the map and book.
