COVID-19 Climbing Guidelines: The Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Muir Valley, and all RRGCC-owned property - which includes Miller Fork Recreational Preserve, Bald Rock Recreational Preserve, and Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve - request that you follow the guidelines outlined on each website if you choose to climb during this time. See links above for more details about each climbing area.

The Zoo

Grade Trad Mixed Sport Total
5.9 4 4 48 56
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Directions to The Zoo

This wall is in Private property. Be respectful. Your behavior on this land can either help us secure access.. or help us lose it.
Drive 6.2 miles south (toward Miguel's) on KY 11 from the Junior Williamson Rest Area. Turn right into a large camping area with some shelters, garbage cans and a dumpster. Park and walk back through the campsite area toward the stream. Cross the stream at a bend where it is shallow and continue on the faint trail for 150 feet until you see a tributary on your right. Continue on the trail uphill past some steep sections and eventually you will end up near the top of the hill next to a 4-foot high arch.

Wall Sun: Unknown



Click the column heads to sort. Hold shift to sort on multiple columns.
Route Spray Name Type Grade Quality User Stars Length Picture

1

 Put Me in the Zoo Sport 5.9+
 
 3.43  (99) 70ft

2

 Armadillo Sport 5.10d
 
 3.34  (67) 70ft  

3

 Jailbird Sport 5.10d
 
 3.35  (52) 90ft

4

 Chimp Sport 5.10a
 
 3.32  (75) 60ft  

4b

 Live Action Trad 5.9-
 
 3.29  (7) 75ft  

5

 Edgehog Sport 5.11a
 
 3.39  (36) 60ft

5a

 Zoolander Sport 5.14d
 
 0.00 60ft

5b

 Zookeeper Sport 5.14b
 
 5.00  (2) 50ft

5c

 Zoology Sport 5.12b
 
 3.33  (3) 40ft

6

 Skin the Cat Sport 5.11a
 
 3.36  (56) 80ft  

7

 One Brick Shy Sport 5.10c
 
 3.36  (103) 80ft  

8

 Geezers Go Sport Sport 5.11b
 
 3.84  (86) 80ft  

9

 Monkey in the Middle Sport 5.11a
 
 3.98  (138) 80ft

9a

 Animal Husbandry Sport 5.11b
 
 3.19  (47) 80ft  

10

 Cannonball Sport 5.11b
 
 3.46  (74) 80ft

11

 On Beyond Zebra! Sport 5.11b
 
 3.12  (41) 80ft

12

 Lynx Jinx Sport 5.11c
 
 3.63  (57) 50ft

13

 Scar Tissue Sport 5.12a
 
 4.24  (74) 45ft

14

 Hippocrite Sport 5.12a
 
 4.70  (117) 45ft

14a

 Eye of the Liger Sport 5.11d
 
 3.33  (3) 45ft

15

 Aviary Sport 5.12b
 
 2.00  (1) 80ft  

16

 Sidewinder Sport 5.12b
 
 3.56  (16) 60ft

17

 Speedy Gonzales Sport 5.13b
 
 4.00  (1) 60ft  

18

 Irony of a Twisted Fate Sport 5.12c
 
 3.50  (6) 60ft  

19

 Sparkling Jackass Sport 5.12b
 
 3.97  (31) 80ft

20

 Hippopotomoose Sport 5.11b
 
 3.83  (53) 70ft

21

 Barrel Full of Monkeys Sport 5.11a
 
 3.81  (74) 80ft

22

 BabaBooey Sport 5.11c
 
 3.37  (27) 70ft

23

 Sendex 147 Sport 5.12a
 
 3.63  (19) 70ft  

24

 Honey Badger Sport 5.12c
 
 4.13  (8) 70ft  

25

 The Peyote Pup Sport 5.11b
 
 2.62  (26) 60ft  

26

 Sons of Perdition Sport 5.12a
 
 3.54  (13) 80ft

26a

 Closed Project Sport 3rd
 
 0ft  

26b

 Slow Stepper Sport 5.13c
 
 80ft  

26c

 Eager Beaver Sport 5.12c
 
 4.71  (14) 90ft

27

 Hammerhead (Open project) Sport Unknown
 
 65ft  

28

 Jethro Bodean Sport 5.13c
 
 5.00  (1) 75ft  

29

 Slackjaw Willie (Open Project) Sport Unknown
 
 65ft

30

 Reasonable Doubt (Open Project) Sport Unknown
 
 65ft  

30a

 Botanical Gardens Sport 5.10a
 
 3.78  (27) 95ft  

30b

 Scantily Trad Mixed 5.11a
 
 3.00  (1) 90ft  

30c

 Romance Explosion Sport 5.11a
 
 4.00  (16) 90ft  

30d

 Snake Charmer Sport 5.11a
 
 3.40  (15) 65ft

31

 Buried Alive Trad 5.8+
 
 2.20  (5) 55ft  

31a

 Crimpin' Ain't Easy Sport 5.11c
 
 4.12  (17) 85ft

31b

 Action Potential Sport 5.11d
 
 3.17  (6) 80ft

32

 Dirty Bird Sport 5.10b
 
 3.04  (49) 55ft  

33

 Lone Coyote Sport 5.10b
 
 3.31  (36) 75ft

33a

 Here Comes the Beep Beep Sport 5.10b
 
 3.22  (23) 70ft  

34

 Harley Trad 5.8+
 
 2.67  (3) 50ft  

35

 Gunner Sport 5.9-
 
 3.26  (31) 50ft

36

 Can of Biscuits Trad 5.4
 
 2.62  (13) 50ft  

37

 Bumpin with Bulldog Mixed 5.10
 
 2.67  (9) 60ft

38

 Goblins In My Mind Sport 5.11d
 
 3.00  (2) 60ft

39

 The Fangs and the Furious Mixed 5.10b
 
 3.80  (5) 65ft

41

 Mosh Pit Viper Mixed 5.11
 
 4.00  (1) 80ft

Comments

40 comments {add your own comments}
1
Anonymous said on April 16th, 2004
hey, what is that route just to the right of One Brick Shy. it's a good route! Andrew
2
Anonymous said on April 16th, 2004
hey, what is that route just to the right of One Brick Shy. it's a good route! Andrew
3
Roentgen Ray said on May 15th, 2004
Easier than edgehog and jailbird.
4
Anonymous said on May 19th, 2004
Watch out for copperheads!
5
Roentgen Ray said on June 12th, 2004
On May 14th, I'ze talkin'bout Armadillo. Ditto on the vipers.
6
Anonymous said on October 5th, 2004
o yea
7
Green3 said on November 8th, 2004
Could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there is a new route tucked between Monkey and Lynx somewhere, thought i counted five routes there, if anyone knows anything it would be cool if the website got updated, just checking
8
Anonymous said on November 9th, 2004
nevermind, my counting skills are a little off, don't worry, I am going back to kindergarten
9
pigsteak said on September 11th, 2005
people always say the Zoo is choss. I wonder if they've ever climbed up there. It has no more chossy routes than, say, Roadside. Agreat day away from the crowds.
10
dah-le said on April 23rd, 2006
The new guidebook mentions 'a tree trunk bridge' across the stream. While there is a tree trunk crossing the stream the scramble along the streambed after crossing makes it easier to cross about 10ft further upstream. Either remove socks & shoes or cross on wobbly stepping stones (best use a stick for balance).
11
dbrayack said on August 1st, 2006
Whats the really sweet looking new line left of Hippocrite?
12
Crankmas said on August 3rd, 2006
if its the line with (hopefully) the cord hanging, it is an unfinished project of Funhog's
13
JR said on October 8th, 2007
Is the project to the left of Hypocrite open?
14
Anonymous said on November 2nd, 2007
Monkey in the middle has been one of my lifetime favorite climbs however over the last 10 years many holds have broken off was wondering if anyone knew if the sandstone handle is still intact at the top?
15
MSMITH said on March 31st, 2008
WTF? Couldn't find the trail anywhere, HALP PLAESESE!
16
pawilkes said on April 8th, 2008
trail isn't too hard to find, I found it in the snow! anyhow, cross the river just upstream from the left side of the parking lot. hike along the far side maybe 100 feet until you come to a little valley coming into it. turn up this valley and look to your right. the trail goes up the valley right away, kinda steep. the rest is pretty obvious.
17
MSMITH said on April 9th, 2008
Ok, Thanks, I got across the river and to something that slightly resembled a trail, but it just led into a big ass pile of leaves, so we just bailed and went somewhere else. By the way, what's up with the overflowing garbage cans at roadside parking lot?
18
Josephine said on May 18th, 2008
the trail is not very dog friendly as there is a steep incline where the dog had to be lifted.
19
Dman said on December 30th, 2008
i love the zoo the trails easy to find on the right after you cross the water and walk about ahundred feet i went left the first time up to the zoo and came out by hippocrite (forgot my book and got lost but it worked)
20
Dman said on December 30th, 2008
i love the zoo the trails easy to find on the right after you cross the water and walk about ahundred feet i went left the first time up to the zoo and came out by hippocrite (forgot my book and got lost but it worked)
21
Deal1 said on January 1st, 2010
I did a trad climb here back in 2002 access it by going left at the top of the trail follow the cliff line and when the trail forces you away form the wall start on top of a block with a small crack that gets wider shortly and leads to a ledge. I took most the choss off the first pitch and always thought of scrubbing and adding a bolted anchor at the ledge but never did only because of the lack of other trad climbs at the crag. If my jeep had top and doors I would not have had my rack with me. The second pitch went on the FA but I do not recommend anyone else go up there in the sea of choss. I remember the first pitch having surprisingly good rock under the flakes of choss and being rather fun. I think it was in the 5.9, 5.9+ range but it has been a while.
22
ontariariario said on June 5th, 2010
anybody know anything about that stunning, left-leaning finger crack slashing through the amphitheatre? simply undone? pure choss? impossibly hard?
23
JR said on July 27th, 2010
Crazy ground bees about 2/3 up the trail.
24
michaelarmand said on August 23rd, 2010
The bees are yellow jackets I believe and they are pure evil. They are 2/3 the way up on the left side of the trail by a tree and a dead log. Just walking by I was stung 3 times and my partner got about 10 stings. They chased us to the top, it was awful. At least it provided me with a good excuse for sucking today. I'll but a beer for anyone brave enough to take a can of raid to them....
25
jimmy said on August 28th, 2010
I didn't see these posts before heading up here today, but I was verbally warned by two people. For some reason, I didn't think the bees would be that bad, but I definitely agree that they are PURE EVIL. There is really no avoiding them and they WILL sting you. The first person walking by has an OK chance of sneaking by, but whoever is 2nd (or 3rd, etc...) is probably screwed. I got stung 6 times on the way up, and my partner was stung 4 times on the way down. Pretty brutal... I would go up there with a can of Raid, but now I'm scared... Any takers?
26
pigsteak said on May 15th, 2013
In the next few weeks the new routes on the right side of the Zoo will be up here. Please respect any red tagged routes, as the developers are still an old farty pants bunch and are slow pokes. The first wall you hit is called the New Zoo..once you head down the hill to the cave area and on around, we are calling it The Birdcage. If any developers see something they want to bolt, please get a hold of me first as I have a good relationship with the landowner. Please do not develop around the corner right past "the fangs and the furious"..that is state property.
27
tcu said on May 15th, 2013
Thanks to Kipp and Jeff for all the work put into this area, tremendous job!
28
Jeff said on May 15th, 2013
New Zoo is shady all day for you hot weather climbers. First few routes on far left get sun until 9:30 or 10 am.
29
chosen1 said on June 2nd, 2013
Great day on the new lines. Thanks for the new routes guys!
30
Willy said on June 10th, 2013
New Zoo is killer! Basically the Dark Side for non-mutants. Unfortunately the top gets wet at least on the right side. Got chased away today when it started raining
31
dustonian said on October 28th, 2013
Most of the routes from #27-39 (far right side of new Zoo) get great sun almost day and make for a good choice on colder days if you're into nice face climbs and cracks
32
Saxman said on May 14th, 2014
There is a line of bolts between Edgehog and Zookeeper and there is no red tag.
33
dustonian said on May 14th, 2014
Open project apparently. Hard 14 range.
34
Anonymous said on March 26th, 2018
Who's the douche-nozzel who chopped the tree you could use to cross the river
35
Anonymous said on March 26th, 2018
i know it's private property etc. but the approach trail gets my vote for next big trail day project, including footbridge. obviously most of the staircase framing/s could be built in advance and assembled in place with a few battery powered drills. on the other hand, would require somewhat thoughtful planning, so, go figure.
36
DrRockso said on March 28th, 2018
Probably got washed out. I doubt RRGCC would support a bridge or trail on land with handshake access. Maybe you can accidentally get a good dead tree to fall conveniently across the creek.
37
Anonymous said on March 28th, 2018
yeah, no need to involve the rrgcc, bs should have quit last century.
38
amarius said on March 28th, 2018
Coincidentally, and anecdotally, the owner(s) of property were not happy with climbers using the tree to cross instead of just hopping across.
39
mbrunell said on May 13th, 2021
Is anyone aware of trail beta heading directly to the right end of the new zoo? Walking is hard.
40
said on May 14th, 2021
Just down and back up. Dont think there's another way. This section definitely needs some attention.