The Expanse Climbing

This digital The Expanse climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your The Expanse days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

This region feels a lot more remote and adventurous than the other Calabogie areas. The Portal boulder has some great climbing out of a horizontal roof and some high quality moderates. The Wormhole area offers primarily technical face climbing on vertical to slightly overhanging walls.

Most boulderers may baulk at the long, steep and not very straightforward approach, but if you are training for long hikes or backpacking in the mountains, hauling your gear to The Expanse is a great way to get in shape.

Access

The approach trail and boulders are located on Crown land. Th... Show more

This digital The Expanse climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your The Expanse days smoother, safer, and more dialed. This region feels a lot more remote and adventurous than the other Calabogie areas. The Portal boulder has some great climbing out of a horizontal roof and some high quality moderates. The Wormhole area offers primarily technical face climbing on vertical to slightly overhanging walls. Most boulderers may baulk at the long, steep and not very straightforward approach, but if you are training for long hikes or backpacking in the mountains, hauling your gear to The Expanse is a great way to get in shape. Access The approach trail and boulders are located on Crown land. The parking lot requires a fee, which is managed by the Township of Greater Madawaska. See the Lake Cliff area for parking details. Good to Know The Portal area is on a south-facing slope and snow melts quickly there. The Wormhole area faces west and has morning shade. History Ken Flagg and Petra Slivka likely climbed some of these problems in the 2010’s, during their days exploring the area. Kristal and Jason developed most of the area in the spring of 2021, as the region was in full social distancing mode due to COVID. The Expanse is definitely the place to avoid the crowds! Pat Brown visited in the fall of 2025 to finish up the roof problems on the Portal boulder. The Expanse boulders are accessed via the Barrett Chute Trailhead parking area. This is a small paved lot that can accommodate 18 vehicles. From the Bogie General Store, drive south on Calabogie Road (County Road 508) for 6.6 km. At the ski hill, turn left onto Barrett Chute Road. The parking lot will be on your right after another 1.4 km. Of all the areas in this guidebook, this has the longest and steepest approach. For the most part, it follows different sections of the Manitou Mouintain trail system, but it also requires a bit of off-trail hiking. If all goes well, and you are in decent hiking shape, it should take around 45 minutes.