Rockfellow from What's My Line. Abra is on the le...
Description
Rockfellow Dome is perhaps the finest chunk of rock in Arizona. It has some of the best crack and face climbs anywhere. Anyone climbing in Arizona should aspire to stand atop this rock.
The rock is divided into spires by massive fissures. One of the best outings in Arizona is the Inner Passage - a perfectly formed cleft that passes all the way through the Rockfellow Group, between Rockfellow Dome and Chay Desa Tsay.
This formation is flawless granite. It lacks the seas of chickenheads found on the surrounding domes - most of the climbs are crack and face routes.
Getting There
Approach as for What's My Line. Follow the drainage up from the Rock in the Middle of the Road and turn left when reaching the divide to approach most of the routes. Approach time is a hour if you know the way and maybe 2 if you don't.
You can also get there from the west - the trail crosses the divide about .4 miles from the rock. This trail also goes back to the campground - an alternative to stumbling down the climbers trail in the dark if you have no light.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Rockfellow Dome:
One of the finest routes in Arizona or anywhere. Every pitch is hard. Every pitch is different. The position of the route is incredible. An ascent of Abra is one you'll always remember.The line of the route is all too obvious as you approach the rock. The route faces northish and remains comparatively cool. On the highest part of the wall two crack systems lead to either end of a small roof about 250' up. The right hand crack is mostly wid...[more]Browse More Classics in AZ
And from the west you don't have the silly fee just to park your car either. But the drive to the west side is definitely longer from Tucson given all the dirt road it requires.
West entrance is more primitive and there is limited camping sites without access to water. East entrance sports a camping ground. However most routes on Rockfellow Dome have better access from the west side.
The turn off from trail #279 is marked with a small cairn as of 12/23/06 again. From the west side, shortly after passing the 1 mile marker, look for a small trail descending down and to the left as the main trail switchbacks up and to the right. Follow the trail as it wanders up a drainage, going in and out periodically. On the right, you will see the Rockfellow formation, and on the left is Cochise Dome. We found this easy, but perhaps slightly longer route to the base of the End Pinnacle. Continue in the main drainage for a while, past Cochise Dome, past a large formation immediately to the right -- hike until you are past the Rockfellow formation (it will seem like you've gone too far!). About 1/4 mile past the formation on the right, look for a trail leaving the drainage off to the right (cairned as of 12/06). Follow this up some low-angle slabs, weaving around boulders (again, it might feel you are hiking away from the Rockfellows). Go through a small boulder tunnel, and then turn right up a drainage which leads to the N side of the Rockfellow formation. This should all be well-cairned. Follow the trail that skirts the bottom of the formation to the base of a number of End Pinnacle routes.
The drive in from the west side (Middlemarch Road) was 20.1 miles according to my odometer. 9.8 miles to the 687 turnoff and another 10.3 miles to the West Stronghold campground. Even at 10pm, having never seen the place before, it was not too difficult to piece together the drive. Once we got there we did not have to move the truck until we left, and all of the approaches we did were quite manageable. This was suggested by 'Weekend Climbing Arizona', a nice cheap book that contains updated approach beta for Warpath, detailed instructions for getting to the Rockfellow domes and WML, and generally rules if you can't find Kerry's book prior to leaving for your trip.
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