An indoor rock climber tackles Tubbs Hill bouldering in Coeur d’Alene, led by local guidebook author Owen Harro

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Inlander Staff Writer Dora Scott, right, boulders on Tubbs Hill as Owen Harro spots.

Gone are the color-coded plastic holds and the plush gym flooring. Instead, real rock digs into my fingers, my feet scrape over moss, and two crash pads below are my only promise of a soft landing. When I finally climb atop the boulder, my reward is an expansive view of Lake Coeur d'Alene.

After a year of indoor bouldering — shorter, rope-free climbs over padded floors — I finally have the courage to head outdoors in June to Tubbs Hill, the public recreational land near downtown Coeur d'Alene bordering McEuen Park and the lake.

Guiding me is Owen Harro, author of The Tubbs Hill Bouldering Guide, which was published in 2024. If anyone knows these rocks, it's him.

Harro was born and raised in Coeur d'Alene and learned to climb as a kid at the Kroc Center, where his dad used to teach climbing classes. Now, Harro sets routes for the center.

While he's climbed with ropes outdoors before, Harro got into outdoor bouldering in 2021 after watching an old YouTube video of someone climbing a more challenging V5 route on Tubbs Hill.

"I was like, 'Oh, I want to do this,'" Harro tells me. "So then I set out, and I remember I did that in probably two or three sessions. I was really happy. And that kind of started it."

That discovery led him to explore the hill for more climbable boulders. Eventually, he started cleaning rocks — brushing them off and removing loose debris — and naming the routes.

"I went out with a friend of mine, and we cleaned our first boulder and climbed it. I remember how fun that was," Harro says.

That climb became "Ingrown Toenails," (V2) named for a particularly painful foot placement.

After encouragement from his dad, Harro, now 19, began compiling the guidebook the summer before his senior year of high school.

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Harro climbs one of the many routes he's helped clean.

"I didn't know how to make a book," he says. "So I kind of just looked up, like, 'How do you make like a pamphlet or like a zine?'"

Armed with a Microsoft Word pamphlet format, he listed every route he knew, organizing them by area, assigning grades and writing descriptions. The most time-consuming part, he says, was editing photos of the boulders to show the start holds and the route lines.

Harro printed about 50 copies and sold them for $10 at local climbing gyms like Coeur Climbing until they sold out. While the first edition listed 56 routes, as Harro and other local climbers have cleaned more boulders, the second edition that's underway will list more than 70 routes. He hopes to release it in 2026.

While some climbing predecessors have drilled holes in some rocks of Tubbs Hill to make holds, Harro aims to be respectful of the area and its natural features while still making it safe for climbing. He regularly attends cleanups with the nonprofit Friends of Tubbs Hill, and notes the area's history is rooted in preservation.

Tubbs Hill is named after Tony Tubbs, who attempted to sell over 100 acres in 1884 for development, but the rugged rocky terrain made building too difficult. The land remained undeveloped until local preservationists in the 1960s successfully fought to incorporate Tubbs Hill into the city's park system.

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Young Kwak photo

Owen Harro, 19, has been climbing since before he was even in kindergarten. He hopes to write more guidebooks.

On the morning of June 20, Harro and I meet at the trailhead near The Buoy Bar & Grill. We hike up the trail to the fire road before veering right to warm up on a group of easier climbs called Monkey Bread Left (V1) and Monkey Bread Middle (V0).

While I climb a V4 to V5 range indoors, I knew outdoor rock would humble me. The challenge isn't just a matter of strength, but learning to read the rock. Indoors, you follow colored holds. Outdoors, you follow the natural line in the rock.

And unlike the polished routes at local climbing areas like Q'emiln Park in Post Falls or Minnehaha in Spokane, Tubbs Hill still feels a bit wild. Dirt and moss still coat much of the rock. Harro even points out mole droppings on the Monkey Bread boulder, explaining how it's likely home to the critters.

"It's like balancing, maintaining the rock's natural features but still making it climbable in some way," Harro says.

Next, we try Monkey Bread Right — a slabby (rock slightly titled away from you), crimpy (small holds) V3. Harro climbs it first, showing me the way. But instead of focusing on his movements, I'm more fixated on my first time really spotting, making sure the pads are placed right in case of a fall.

My first attempt? I get the standing start, but there are no obvious footholds to be found. I hop down, and Harro climbs it again to demonstrate. On my second try, I edge farther right, find a solid high foothold and commit, standing up.

I take a breather before topping out, regaining my nerve — which doesn't take much considering the alternative is a 14-foot drop. Mole poop be darned, I heave myself over the edge.

Sitting on the top, breathing hard and beaming, I think: Holy shit, I just did a V3 outdoors.

Many of the boulders in Tubbs Hill follow the 2-mile main trail loop. Some are right by the water and only accessible in the winter when lake levels are low. Harro includes a link in his book where people can check the current water levels. Bonus: The lake is perfect for a post-climb swim.

We wrap up the day at the Hawaii Boulders, which include easier V1s like Dead Spelunker and 'Ele'ele, and more midrange routes like Connected Rainbows, a skin-shredding V3 that traverses low and to the right.

Looking out at the lake after climbing Dead Spelunker, a 15-foot boulder, it finally clicks. The rock, the adrenaline and the view make me understand why Harro put so much time into documenting this place. ♦