When driving westward towards Estes Park from the town of Lyons, you have to make a choice. Turn right, and drive HWY 36 through North St. Vrain Canyon or turn left and drive HWY 7 through South St. Vrain Canyon. Either way is a nice drive. But what is lesser known is the some 750 climbing routes on over 150 rock formations above the road. The rock is granitic, and the climbing ranges from sport to trad, single pitch to a few pitches in height, shade or sun, and only a short hike from the car. Although perhaps not as classic as other popular climbing areas, many of the routes are of good quality. The St. Vrain is a great place to escape the crowds.
To date, I have only climbed in the St. Vrain Canyon for a handful of short days. Here's a summary of where I have climbed in St. Vrain Canyon.
- Observatory Rock: May 2021, May 2024
- December Wall: August 2021, November 2023
- River Wall: April 2022
- Button Rock: June 2022
- Monkey Skull: May 2024
On this page, I give photos from climbing in St. Vrain Canyon, organized by date. At the bottom of the page, I keep a list of the climbs I've done in St. Vrain Canyon.
Photos
SOME RANDOM PHOTOS FROM CRAGGING IN ST. VRAIN CANYON
More climbing fun!
More climbing fun!
Date: May 27, 2021 (Thu)
Partner: Nate Arganbright
Climbed at: Observatory Rock
Routes (ordered by grade): • Original Route 5.8, trad • 99% Pure 5.9, trad • Will Chevy Slab? 5.10d, mixed
A quick midday "it's too nice to not get in at least a few pitches of climbing" excursion. Just a few pitches at Observatory Rock. Okay. Nothing remarkable.
Just one pitch before the rope got dragged through poison ivy. I was game to continue climbing but Nate (probably wisely) opted to call it for the day and go get some rope wash. I wanted some more exercise so I hiked to the top of the Twin Sisters.
Routes (ordered by grade): • Origami 5.9, 2p • Dreaming in Color 5.10b, 2p • Lima Bean 5.10c, 1p • Southwest Direct Pitch 1 5.10d, 1p • Granite Beach Pitch 1 5.11d, 1p
The forecast called for "70% chance of thundershowers after 2pm" so we figured it was a good day to do lower commitment cragging. We decided to go to Button Rock, where I had never been and Nate had not been for several years. The rains never materialized and we got in a good day of climbing: 7 quality pitches of 5.9 to 5.11d. We had the place to ourselves.
Routes (ordered by grade): • Caesar's Crack 5.10b, 2p, trad • A Long December 5.11a, 2p, mixed • Life After James 5.11b, 3p, sport
The previous time we had been to December Wall, I had dragged the rope through poison ivy and we bailed to go wash the rope. So it was nice to finally come back and finish the route we had started up that day, as well as climb a couple of other routes. We climbed three quality routes: Caesar's Crack (5.10b, 2p), A Long December (5.11a, 2p), and Life After James (5.11b, 3p).
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