Lumpy Ridge is a long spine of 500-foot tall lumps of granite, situated in a sublime setting in the northeastern sector of Rocky Mountain National Park on the outskirts of Estes Park. Hundreds of routes ascend the lumps, on excellent rock composed of incut edges, knobs, crystals, and cracks. The faces are about 70°, so climbing often involves trusting the feet just as much as the arms. The gear can be a bit thoughtful at times, so it is a good place to test your trad game. Lumpy Ridge is south-facing, making it a hot summer crag but perfect place to spend a sunny spring, fall, or even winter day. It is also a good option when the weather is a bit iffy for a committing climb in the central region of RMNP.
Seasonal raptor closures are in effect at Lumpy Ridge, usually March 1 to July 31, although sometimes the closure is lifted early if no raptors are detected nesting on the walls. Not all of the formations are closed for bird nesting. An updated list is on the NPS website.
I first climbed at Lumpy Ridge in the summer of 2018, on a climbing road trip to Colorado. At the time I lived in Washington and expected the few climbs I did at Lumpy during this trip would be the extent of my climbing there. But in 2019 I moved to Boulder, Colorado, and in 2023, I moved to Estes Park. The Lumpy Ridge trailhead is a mere 5 minutes from my doorstep and I can see Twin Owls from my driveway. Lumpy Ridge has become one of my favorite and closest places to climb. As a result, this page exploded into containing nearly 100 trip reports and overlays for all of the major formations. So I reorganized this page into subpages for each formation. The result is a mini online guidebook of sorts.
(Even with all of the beta and overlays online—my website as well as even more extensive route list on mountainproject—I would still advise getting a guidebook. I personally prefer Bernard Gilette's Rocky Mountain National Park: Estes Park Valley: The Climber's Guide and Richard Rossiter's Rock Climbing Rocky Mountain National Park: The Crag Areas.)
