Boise, ID climbing

I'm seriously considering going to BSU for a masters degree starting this fall and I am wondering what the climbing opportunities are like in the area.
It looks like City of Rocks is ~3.5 hours which sounds good for weekend trips. Is Smith close enough for weekends as well?
Is there much right near Boise in the way of routes (sport, trad, ice)?
Are the Sawtooths (elephant's perch) reached easily as a weekend trip as well?

Answers to these questions or any other elaboration on the area would be much appreciated!

Edit: I have searched the site a bit, so I'm aware of the Black Cliffs area but not certain of how far it really is from downtown Boise. Other than that, I'm totally wet behind the ears.

Thanks,

Reggie

Northern Utah/Idaho forum

I don't live in Boise but have close friends there that I visit often. The Black cliffs are 20 min from BSU and there is lots of fun climbing there for a quick outing. The City is amazing but also about the same drive time away from Boise is American Falls (massacre rocks), which is very unique and fun no crowds. Then there is Hell's canyon only about 2 hrs away. Very fun limestone pulling and no crowds. If I had a choice of where to go for grad school and climbing, Boise would be at the top of my list.

Hi Reggie,

I'm originally from Idaho, but have taken up climbing since living in CO. I'm back in Boise about every 3-4 weeks and have done a fair amount of climbing at the Black Cliffs. They are practically in Boise proper and from the university, probably a 10 to 15 min drive. Technically, you could ride your bike there if you wanted to get some cardio on the way.

They are great in the late fall/winter/early spring, but man does it get hot up there. The most popular cliffs are south facing. There are some on the north side of the canyon, but I haven't checked them out yet. Be warned, this is basalt climbing. The rock isn't nearly as polished as for instance, the Golden cliffs in CO, but it still takes some getting used to when you've been climbing on granite. Rockclimbing.com actually has a decent description of the routes and some pics (better than MP). rockclimbing.com/routes/Nor…

Also route descriptions for Black Cliffs and areas around Boise in Sandy Epeldi's book: "Boise Climbs" mountaingear.com/pages/prod…

Stanely is a definite weekend trip! Probably ~3 hour drive as well. I will be spending some time up there and in COR.

There is some granite to be had up near the ski resort on Mores' Mountain. Apparently some bolted, some trad. I've also been researching some climbing in Riggin's. 2-3 pitch limestone from the looks of it. If you are into alpine climbs, I think you'll have some luck with Tom Lopez' book: "Idaho: A climbing guide" idahoaclimbingguide.com/

There bouldering at the Table Rock area in town which is ~5-10 mins from the university. Also about 45mins from town, there is a relatively new area for boulder (FAs to be had) called Reynold's creek: drtopo.com/idaho/reynolds.html

There are more climbs around pocatello and in the south eastern part of the state, but I don't know much about them. Here's a link to south eastern idaho climbing with info about massacre rocks, etc. seiclimbing.com/

Good luck. Hope this helps.

Lisa

Boise is a GREAT city, super friendly folks, good restaurants, etc. The climbing nearby is very fun. Black Cliffs has sport and trad. City of Rocks is 3 hours, Dierke's Lake is super fun steep basalt sport climbing 1.5 hours away. Stanley is 2 hours.

Lots of info about climbing around Boise here:
boiseclimbs.com/