Nearby places to South Bay to practice placing gear?

I am a beginner trad leader and I want to get more practice placing gear - I'm still on the "try all the sizes I got" strategy when I'm leading :P. I'm wondering if folks here have recommendations on where I could go to do that.

I live in Fremont, at the moment, and anywhere within an hour is good. I have been to Castle Rock a couple of times, and am looking for other potential spots? Ideally, I'm thinking somewhere with lots of cracks I can reach from the ground.

Or if you have other suggestions on how to get practice in when I can't get on actual routes, please fire away.

Thanks y'all.

closest place that could work is Indian Joe Caves

mountainproject.com/v/india…

I don't believe you are supposed to place gear at Castle Rock (actually illegal?) as the sandstone is soft and you will permanently damage the rock there. (Perhaps I am wrong and someone can correct me?)

There are some cracks at Beaver Street Wall in SF (not that I would lead there, maybe TR for practice) otherwise just learn in Yosemite/Tahoe.

^^^ I've never heard this. I've been , and seen, trad climbing at CRSP for years...

Eh, I may be wrong then... I swear I saw it somewhere.
Anyways, my apologies. Carry on.

I would not recommend trying to learn to place gear at Beaver St.
Within an hour of Fremont is going to be difficult, pretty low lying country 'round those parts.
Mt. Diablo is an option.
Pinnacles is 2 hours aways.
Tahoe would be your best bet but it's getting late in the season.
I recommend quitting your job and moving to Joshua Tree for the winter.

Haha, the quitting job & travel & climb life might not be too far in the future.

Thanks y'all for the input. Looks like I will milk Castle Rock for what it's worth, check out Indian Joe, and keep planning weekend trips out to Yosemite.

If you were to find yourself a bit north: Indian Rock, Morter Rock, or Grizzly Peak Boulders in Berkeley? I've also built trad anchors atop the rock at Remillard Park.

I'm not sure of the driving distance, but I practiced gear placements at Glen Canyon Park in SF. Probably not worth going there unless you're already in that area, though.

Also, I've taken gear and plugged it into cracks at PGSF. Perhaps PG Sunnyvale would be amenable. Don't let them think that there's any "teaching" going on, though. They don't take kindly to non-staff doing any "instruction" in the gym.

Kent Richards wrote:Also, I've taken gear and plugged it into cracks at PGSF. Perhaps PG Sunnyvale would be amenable. Don't let them think that there's any "teaching" going on, though. They don't take kindly to non-staff doing any "instruction" in the gym.

Yeah don't do that at PGSF, or any of the PG's. You'll be told not...

And isn't there trad-able stuff at Mt. Diablo?

NorCalNomad wrote: Yeah don't do that at PGSF, or any of the PG's. You'll be told not... And isn't there trad-able stuff at Mt. Diablo?

Told not to plug gear into the crack while standing on the floor? They didn't tell me not to do that, they told me not to "instruct" my friend on placing gear.

Unsure about trad at Mt. Diablo... To be clear, the OP is asking about placing gear from the ground, not asking about leading (or mock leading) trad routes. At Mt. Diablo, are there ground-level cracks for practicing placements?

A weekend trip to the Valley or Tahoe would likely be more instructive than placing gear in the marginal rock all over the immediate bay area IMO.

Pinnacles?