City of Rocks & Castle Rock - Tips

The real trick is to climb on Monday through Thursday. Litterally a ghost town. Drop me a line, I can climb after work anyday. I'm about 30 minutes away.
Kevin

Campsite #19. It is THE BOMB. On the loop with Practice Rock, but tucked in among huge boulders - the tent platform is partially under a giant balanced boulder, and the whole thing feels private. Has a "secret" path to the outhouse.

Man do I love the City. Wish I could be there right now.

If you are planning on eating dinner at the pizza place or the Almo Inn they close early. Don't show up at 7:30...they will be closed.

Sometimes they have live music at the Almo Inn...drop in and check to see what going on during the time you are there...it can be a nice break.

Watch for a$$holes climbing the route you are rapping back down. This really only happens on the very popular routes but I can't tell you how many time someone couldn't wait until I got back on the ground to start climbing.

If you are sporting it always carry 2 extra draws. Bolt counts listed on the net and in some of the books are wrong. I don't mind skipping blots but it screwed with my partners head when he was leading.

Rope length requirements vary alot in the City...always double check to see if your rope is long enough.

Watch out for those pesky ground squirrels. They will steal anything that is not tied down and will chew through you pack if they can smell something edible inside. They are fun to watch though.

Don't camp by the bathrooms.

The top of "Delay of Game" is a great place to watch the sunset...take beers and headlamps.

Pictures

Please DO NOT post the whereabouts of the free BLM camping! Sorry Eric and jdm, but if that information is posted here we'll have every punter and they're brother taking up the free campsites. Keep it to yourselves.

As far as the climbing, as others have said, Yellow Wall (no crowds) is great. Some of the climbing at the sisters is restricted, apparently due to the fact that climbers impede on the visual experience of tourists traveling the Oregon trail (there were no climbers when the Oregon Trail was being used) even though those tourists are probably traveling in lavish RVs (not horse and wagon)... Actually there is ALOT of climbing that is not restricted near the sisters, most people just assume otherwise, leaving much of the climbing uncrowded.

It should go without saying that the further you are willing to hike, the less crowded it will be. Some great climbs that are a bit off the beaten path include Yellow Wall, Lego, Techno-Weenie, Private Idaho, Lost Arrow Spire, True Grit (Castles), and many more...

You may have to wait in line a bit for Tribal Boundries, but as Paddy said before, Don't go to the City without getting on it. Best 5.10 at the city!

Boissal wrote:If your favorite thing at the Rock City store is the pizza, your priorities are skewed.

Damn straight!! We had people from Northern and Central Idaho saying that it was the best beer selection in the state. The pizza is real good though.

And hike out and do White Lightning. You won't regret it.

mountainproject.com/v/white…

I was climbing at the Castles yesterday and only saw 3 other people there. The weather was great (low 70's).
More advice? Stay away from Castle Rock because it gets 90% of the traffic. We climbed many routes on True Grit. It was a great day!
Anyone know if Dave Bingham has written the second edition of the Castles Guide book?

I heard a rumor that Dave is working on a new edition color guide book for the area.

kevinhansen wrote:Anyone know if Dave Bingham has written the second edition of the Castles Guide book?

He put out a couple of interim guides when the area was fresh. Then, first edition, 2004, has a black cover with yellow, photo of a guy on Twinkie. Second edition has red print and is a shot of G Money on Southern Rock Opera, 2008.

Brad has an online guide for a few of the zones. Pretty current info there.

Rumor has Dave working on a new edition.

Wouldn't it be great to have a link to Brad's guide?
Wow that would be awesome.