Thumb and Needle Climbing 2022-present

Route:

various

Region: Colorado

Elev: ~8,400 ft

Rock type: Gneiss & Granite

Type:

Date(s): 2022(x3 days), 2023(x2 days)

Partner(s): Nate Arganbright

The Thumb and The Needle are two more popular crags on top of Prospect Mountain, located just south of downtown Estes Park. The routes range from 5.0 to 5.13. Most of the routes are bolt-protected, but often require a couple of pieces of gear. Both The Thumb and The Needle are short (2 pitches at the most), but offer excellent exposure to the town of Estes Park. Sometime in 2021 or 2022, the Town of Estes Park purchased the property with the Access Fund, Rocky Mountain Conservancy, GOCO, and the Estes Valley Land Trust, with the goal to make this area public with climbing access. Most of the routes were re-bolted to be more friendly to climbing. The Thumb and The Needle is a good after-work spot to climb for those based in Estes Park and has some nice sport routes to project.

The first time I climbed at The Thumb and The Needle was in June 2022, shortly after the area had been re-opened to the public with a new approach trail and new bolts.

On this page, I give photos from climbing at The Thumb and The Needle, organized by date. At the bottom of the page, I keep a list of the climbs I've done at The Thumb and The Needle.

Photos

SOME RANDOM PHOTOS FROM CRAGGING AT THE THUMB AND NEEDLE

More climbing fun!

Date: June 15, 2022 (Wed)

Partner: Nate Arganbright

Climbed at: The Thumb

This was the first time I climbed at the Thumb and Needle area. Nate and I had planned to climb at Lumpy Ridge, but it was quite windy, so the recently-rebolted (the area had been bought and rebolted by the town of Estes Park) Thumb and Needle sounded like a good area to check out. We climbed three 5.10 routes and enjoyed a nice lunch break. Unfortunately in the afternoon the sunny side was also the windy side (40 mph gusts) so we decided to call it a day. I enjoyed the climbing here and hope to come back (and indeed, we returned just a few days later).

More climbing fun!

Date: June 19, 2022 (Sun)

Partner: Nate Arganbright

Climbed at: The Needle

Four days after first climbing at The Thumb and Needle area, Nate and I returned for a morning of cragging (the forecast was for "70% chance of afternoon thundershowers" so cragging locally sounded lie a good idea). This time we cragged at The Needle. We managed to squeeze in 8 pitches of 5.8-5.12a, leaving with tired arms and getting back to the trailhead just minutes before the rains started.