Groom Creek is a collection of steel grey seperated boulders that adorn a hillside south of town up Senators Hwy. There may be well over a hundred problems to be had from overhanging jugs to slabby slopers and everything inbetween. Excpect mostly sound rock, good landings, and an amazing place to watch the sun set. As far as I know right now, grades run from v-easy to V9 or so.
Getting There
From the Courthouse square in Prescott drive east on Gurley street until you hit Senators Hwy. Take a right on this and follow it up a long ways until you pass through Groom Creek (collection of houses). Up the road a bit further you will start to notice boulders on the road side. Park at a large area on the right with a stickered Bus Turnaround sign. Most of the bouldering lies across the road up the hill with warmups and some harder stuff right in sight.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Groom Creek:
Steep! Sit-down start at the obvious jug underneath the boulder on the right side, near the edge of the drop. Steep but positive pulls out the overhang until your feet cut loose, then a dynamic move up to a crescent incut near the lip. Slap the dish over the lip and then don't come off the finishing jugs and you are there.One of the best problems Groom has to offer.PLEASE CLEAN YOUR TICK MARKS OR DON'T USE THEM AT ALL!...[more]Browse More Classics in AZ
At Gurley St. you actually turn south onto Mt. Vernon St. that soon becomes Senator Hwy. The Drive from Gurley to the boulders is about 6 1/2 miles. The School Bus turn-around is the first parking reached, but you can continue to the next road on the left that leads to Camp Wamatochick. Turn left and park near the large rocks (the Island boulders, many classics) and hike the Groom Creek Trail #307 to the main area or cross the highway to more boulders on the west side of the highway.
Way glad to see this area added. I live in colorado and used to frequent arizona on trips. Groom Creek is solid and one of my favorite bouldering areas. Allen
The school bus turn around was recently destroyed due to logging. The pull out is still there but the stickered sign is missing, making it devoid of obvious landmarks.
Please folks, if you choose to use tick marks wash them thoroughly when you are done.
this area is good for what it is, but i would not try to go there if you are not in the area. most of the place has people either cutting down trees or the problems have paintball shots on them. It is really not the effort. Overall i would just not go there.
Not worth the effort? Perfect granite, tons of problems, incredible concentration, great landings, lots of other bouldering close by... how is this not a destination, exactly?
I must agree with Andrew. I havent bouldered there in 5 years but solid rock in the shade of the pines, a variety of problems, good landings. Lynn Hill, John Long, and Royal Robbins all climbed there. Way good enough for me. Allen
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