Cliff Drive is the shortest scenic byway in the United States.
The 4.5-mile road that runs east of downtown Kansas City was originally built by a settler named Nathan Scarritt as a driveway of sorts. Today, itβs beloved by runners and cyclists for its car-free weekends.
The 35-foot cliffs along Cliff Drive are also the best βand only β place to do serious outdoor rock climbing in the Kansas City area.
In fact, the bluffs are the only place you can do Class 5 free climbing within a two-hour drive. Even though climbers have scaled the limestone bluffs along the scenic byway for decades, it still remains a little-known attraction.
βI donβt think it gets enough attention for what it is,β says Ryan Surface.
Surface, 29, is from Prairie Village. He first heard about the crag of Cliff Drive online in 2008, but it took him a few years to finally get there.
βI donβt think I ever actually went there until 2012,β Surface says. βIβd been climbing for four or five years at that point, and it was a place in my backyard that I hadnβt been to.β
Kansas City has an active indoor climbing scene but Missouriβs outdoor climbing hadnβt been documented until the first complete guide, Moβ Beta, was published in 2016.
Still, word of the bluffsβ existence has spread by word-of-mouth, and infrastructure has followed.
βCliff Drive is approachable for new climbers and can help keep veteran climbers in shape if they canβt get down to Arkansas,β says Peter Chollet, president of the Kansas City Climbing Community.Β βRelatively speaking, itβs not a great crag, but it is outdoor climbing in Kansas City.β
Part of the reason Cliff Drive doesnβt get super high marks is its limestone, which Surface says doesnβt have the friction of the sandstone in popular climbing spots of Arkansas.
Chollet says that serious climbers gravitate to the Overhang for the βbusiness routesβ (to take care of your business, as it were.) Thatβs where youβll find the grade 5.12a route called Malaria, along with Bovine, Chomping the Bit and Subtle Caress.
(In case you were wondering about the names: In rock climbing culture, the person who puts up the route, installs the bolts and helps clear the first path on the crag gets to name the route.)
A key feature for those wanting to graduate from the climbing gyms that keep popping up around town to technical climbing is that Cliff Drive is well-maintained.
Chollet and his club have worked on upkeep, replacing bolts and fixed anchors along the routes. You only need basic equipment such as quick-draws and rope to climb there.
βSometimes, when I havenβt been out there for a while, you walk out and see this thing and think, βDamn, this is just as tall, no, taller than some of the gym walls at RoKC [Climbing Gym],ββ Surface says. βYou get out there and say, βWhoa, this is in my backyard!β You forget that once in a while.β
Know if you go
βΊThe best way to get to the crag is to enter Cliff Drive on the west side of the byway from The Paseo. Stay to the left of the road until you see the crag on your right.
βΊCliff Drive is closed to vehicles during the weekend, so youβll need to walk or bike in on Saturday or Sunday.
βΊClimb according to your ability. While some of the routes along the Overhang are fairly strenuous, there are good moderate routes like Across the Choss (grade 5.7) and Chomping the Bit (grade 5.10). Consult the Mountain Project (mountainproject.com) or the KCCC for more information.
