They say they keep their climbing areas underground in Flagstaff. Paradise Forks (aka The Forks) is one of those areas. The climbing is found in the upper end of Sycamore Canyon where the walls of the Y-shaped canyon are lined with tall bullet-hard basalt columns. This yields awesome crack lines between and in the columns and some of the best and hardest cracks in Arizona. For a leading party, the usual procedure is to bring a rap line, rig it to a tree, rap in, climb out.
Routes at Paradise Forks are largely in the upper side of the ratings, with only a couple of 5.8's and a few 5.9s, but lots of 10's on up. Since this is a canyon, toproping the harder lines is also possible if you're not quite up to the lead.
This is a beautiful area, please help to keep it that way!
Many thanks to Larry Coats for providing first ascent information!!!
Getting There
Paradise Forks is just southeast of the town of Williams Arizona, just off Interstate 40. From Flagstaff, drive west until you get to the Garland Prarie Exit, then drive south following the signs for White Horse Lake. There is a sign marking the turnoff for the parking area (think it says "waterfall trail") a couple miles before the lake.
Waterslip Down is accessed (as for Grevious Angel) from ledges above and west of the Gold Pond. Getting into the route is pretty exciting business. Move to the eastern edge of the ledge and look around the corner and the finger crack you see is Waterslip. You have to place some gear, then crank up into the crack with instant exposure as you move over the void. Then just head to the top. Mostly fingers and wide fingers....[more]
Hi all. For those of you who don't know me my name is Will Cobb and I am the Access Fund Regional Coordinator for Northern Arizona. Chris Tatum from Vertical Relief Climbing Gym let me know about an active Turkey Vulture nest situated on the ledge at the top of T.L. Bush earlier this week. With help and feedback from the kind folks of the NACC we felt that a voluntary closure of the Gold Wall was in order. I have since learned that Turkey Vultures are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and that disturbing the nest is a lawful offense.
Local climbers will be checking on the nest frequently from the far side of the canyon in order to minimize disturbance. Once it has been determined that the nest is abandon for the season the closure will be discontinued.
I believe that this is a great opportunity for climbers to show the Forest Service that we are capable of self-policing and are dedicated to environmental friendly action. Please avoid the Gold Wall until it is determined that the birds are finished with the nest.
What will the weather be like at the end of October? Might be coming in from out of town to visit a friend who just moved to the area. Any other climbing suggestions for a 10-11 sport leader? 9ish trad leader?
The weather at that time of year will depend on the particular year. I've climbed there on Christmas Day (obviously in December) but at that time of year, there could also be a raging blizzard. Chances are that its going to be beautiful though.
For a 5.9 leader, probably the highest concentration is on the Pillow Wall (but the cracks tend to be wide hands) and short (in the 50-60ft range, the best at 5.9 are probably on the Prow(but there are only a couple of them though) and the most popular tend to be the Three Yogis (or Black Rose).
In Dec and Jan the sun angle is low. As a result the sun may not hit the bottom of many walls like gold wall, and especially the pillow wall(where many of the 5.8 and 5.9s are)and the cold air which drains local terrain may keep the bottom of the canyon below 40 deg. You may be hard pressed to find 5.8 or 5.9 in the sun. Be prepared for frigid belays!
Paradise Forks
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