City and landowner preserve future access to popular rock-climbing wall

POCATELLO – The Gate City and one of its landowners came to an agreement that will protect the future of a well-known recreation area.

After a years-long effort, the city of Pocatello and landowners Gary and Jennie Ratliff completed a targeted land swap at a March 6 City Council meeting, according to a news release published on Monday. This swap moved a critical access point for the Sunny Side rock climbing area to public ownership.

“This is an important step in ensuring that outdoor recreation and public access to climbing routes are protected for generations to come,” says Senior Planner Matthew Lewis in the city’s press release.

The Sunny Side rock-climbing area, generally understood as the basalt cliff face to the east of South Second Avenue, has been used for rock climbing for many decades. It’s the location of the Pocatello Pump, which claims to be the oldest rock-climbing competition in the country. (It started in 1981.)

“I’ve been with the city for almost 37 years, and it’s been climbed on even before that,” Lewis told EastIdahoNews.com.

Lewis, an avid rock climber himself who used the area frequently in the mid-2000s, discovered a potential threat to continued public access to the cliffs in 2009.

“There’s a very important south side that the climbers would use to set up the ropes … at the top of the basalt cliff, but that trail that was on private property,” Lewis said.

That property was owned by the Ratliffs. Although they had no plans to prevent climbers from using the trail, Lewis recognized that if someone bought the property from the family, that owner would have that option.

“A private property owner could simply one day say, ‘Well, I don’t want anyone to trespass on there,’” Lewis said.

Lewis began negotiations with the Ratliffs after making this discovery. Things were progressing smoothly up to 2012, when a “cloud,” referring to an area of ambiguity on the land title, was discovered at a City Council work session.

“It just got kind of put on a back burner. And as far as city staff, we got busy,” Lewis said.

This delay went on for years. But despite this, the effort was never abandoned.

The effort became a priority again in the last year, and the planning department renewed its efforts to complete negotiations with the Ratliffs.

Eventually, the city came up with a “win-win” solution – completing a land swap, exchanging a corner parcel of land for the access trail.

“It’s a win for the rock-climbing community and just the community in general, to have access. … That corner piece, Mr. Ratliff owns all that property that’s adjacent,” Lewis said.

And so at the March 6 council meeting, “we were able to finally, after all these years, do the land swap,” Lewis said.

“The city would like to extend its sincere appreciation to the Ratliffs for their collaboration, patience, and generosity throughout this process. Their willingness to work with City staff on this land exchange demonstrates true community spirit and a shared dedication to preserving Pocatello’s outdoor culture,” reads the news release.