This land is my land, this land is your land. Yeah, try telling that to a landowner with a “No Trespassing” sign and a shotgun. Nobody understands the painful reality of “No Trespassing” more than rock climbers. Because many of the South’s best climbing spots rest on private property, climbers have to watch more and more of their favorite crags disappear behind fences everyday.

The epidemic hits close to home for the folks at the Southeastern Climbers Coalition. Two years ago, the organization’s favorite boulder field, Boat Rock, a 7.8-acre tract of land in Southwest Atlanta, was zoned for development. Almost overnight, some of their favorite boulders were demolished. The destruction prompted the SCC to perform the wildest form of protest imaginable: they bought the land from the developer.

“Some people suggested we chain ourselves to the rocks,” says Brad McLeod, co-founder of the SCC. “All that does is make a spectacle and alienate a lot of the community that would otherwise help us out. Buying the land was proactive. Plus, if you own it, they can never take it away from you.” With the help of Access Fund, an activist group dedicated to preserving climbing access across the country, the SCC raised the sizeable $20,000 down payment in only 90 days and now holds the note to their very own climbing Xanadu. Imagine it. Your own private boulder field. No crowds. You could climb naked. Sounds perfect, right?

But this is when the story gets weird. The SCC raises the money, buys the land, starts paying the mortgage, taxes, and insurance and then-get this-they open the land to the public.

“We wanted to establish a presence in the community,” McLeod says, “so we turned Boat Rock into a public park.”

And the community loves it. Since the original land purchase, another $30,000 has been donated to the SCC, giving them half of their $100,000 mortgage. An additional 5.5 acres have also been donated by members of the community, and the club has an informal agreement with other landowners giving them roughly 40 acres of climbing area. And what a climbing area it is. Giant granite boulders jut out of the ground, giving locals a buffet of slab and balance climbing along with some impressive overhangs.

But Boat Rock isn’t just for climbers. Hiking trails meander through the hardwood forest and the club operates an education program to teach the community about preservation and the significance of the area’s ecology.

“Our insurance company thinks we’re crazy because we don’t put a fence around the land,” McLeod says. “We could save a small fortune in insurance costs. But now there’s this green space and public park in an urban area. I mean, local school kids come through and study geology. We’ve really brought the community into the area.”

Rest assured, you won’t see any “No Trespassing” signs at Boat Rock any time soon.

-Graham Averill