Idaho Panhandle Area Partners and Trip Ideas

I will have the opportunity to spend about a month in Idaho this summer (July 16th – August 19th) and I am looking for some suggestions on places to climb as well as partners for when I am there. I will be staying in Sandpoint, ID to give you a better idea of where in Idaho I will be. Where should I try to climb when I am here? I am interested in sport routes as well as longer trad routes but definitely prefer trad. My first thought was City of Rocks until I found out it was a 10 ½ hour drive!

I will be:

1 hour from Spokane
3 ½ hours from Missoula
5 ½ hours from Seattle
8 ½ hours from Squamish
and not too far from some stuff just north in Canada if I’m not mistaken

I am willing to drive a good amount to climb while I am there but will be limited to where I can find partners. I should be available on weekends (hopefully 3 day weekends) and for a few days when I first arrive. Thanks in advance for the suggestions and if you want to climb when I’m there shoot me a message!

You'll be in a pretty killer area actually, especially for long trad climbs. There's a lifetime of climbing within an hour of Sandpoint, I suggest taking a drive up Pack River Rd for a real eye opener. Chimney Rock has a ton of classics, it sits on an extremely exposed ridge line overlooking Priest Lake and the Pack River Valley. Lions Head, a bit further down the crest offers some harder 6 pitch climbs on a 800ft face at 7000' elevation. Harrsion Peak, Silver Dollar, Gunsight, Myrtles Turtle Dome all offer established multi pitch trad routes. Not to mention the acres upon acres of unclimbed granite slabs all around them. The Beehive Dome offers a fun 5th class to 5.7 simul-climb or solo, it's 1200' of snow polished granite with a 20 min approach. All these within an 45 mins to an hour from Sandpoint, definitely recommended you do some exploring. LaClede has a nice little crag that offers a pretty good selection of sport routes and a few good trad lines. About 30 mins out of Sandpoint and right off the highway. I live local and climb in the alpine as often as work allows. Shoot me an email if you end up in need of a partner.

Awesome! thanks for the info. Seems like there is a ton more around Sandpoint than I originally thought due to the lack of routes listed on here. I thought I was going to have to drive a lot further than an hour. Also I will definitely be searching for partners while I'm there so i may be sending you an email in the very near future.

Bump! I just arrived in Idaho last night and am still looking for someone to climb with one of these days. Shoot me and email to drewtmadison (at) gmail.com or text me if you want to go climb. My # is 203-727-3742. I'm up for sport, trad, or whatever!