Quarry Park

About

Casket Quarry is the informal name for an abandoned quarry located below Skyline Parkway in West Duluth. The land was originally owned and worked by the Duluth Crushed Stone Company throughout the early 20th century. By the time the company ceased operations, it had quarried out a 1000-foot-long, 100-foot-high cliff of black gabbro. 

By the 1970s, groundwater seeping down the rock face that froze into impressive icicles and pillars had attracted the attention of the local ice climbing community. In the ensuing decades, climbers from beyond Duluth became commonplace as word spread throughout the Midwest of this superb concentration of vertical ice. More recently, Casket Quarry’s reputation as a climbing location has been augmented with the focused development of equipped mixed (a combination of rock and ice) climbing routes.

On June 22, 2020, an agreement was reached between the City and the DCC to begin farming ice here, making this Minnesota’s third official farmed ice park.

Today, this is a premier site for ice and mixed climbing utilized by recreational climbers, university climbing programs, and guided groups. In 2015 Casket Quarry was included in a broad proposal for outdoor recreation projects in the St. Louis River Corridor. The proposal—unanimously supported by the Duluth City Council—has resulted in the acquisition and approved development of Casket Quarry into city-owned parkland with a West Duluth ice climbing park component.