Climbing near Rawlins Wy.?

I'm going to be around Rawlins Wy. for the month of October. Any ideas on places to climb? Partners? -Thanks.....-z

My guess is you would probably have to go to Lander or Jackson for the nearest cragging. Alpine rock is out of season by now. Although there has been some stuff going up near Pinedale.

Sorry to hear it. That place is a wasteland. Good luck!

I'll have to second what jfox says. I lived in Laramie for 6 years and drove thru Rawlins quite a bit on my way to Lander. Rawlins is one of the most depressing towns I've been thru. Just suck it up and drive to Lander which is about 1hr 45 minutes away. The temps may be getting cool enough to hit Sinks. I guess there is also some climbing at "sweet water" which is on the way.

You'll maybe be a bit cold, but around halfway to Lander, you'll drive past a number of interesting granite domes in the Sweetwater area; starting in/around Split Rock. (It will be obvious on the drive.)

The "Lander Rock" book details 'em. I'd assume that the wind keeps them free of snow most of the time (and in Oct there won't be much/any snow to worry about), and it can be nice enough on a sunny day if you're lucky.

As far as partners go ... good luck with that.

(Edit : originally said "freeze your ass off" ... but that would be January, not October.)

Right in the middle of Rawlins along the railroad tracks are cliffs. You can't see them from the road. I have only done one route which is on the north side of the tracks on a west facing cliff. It is a classic, first climbed 50 years ago. Start up an offwidth chimney then to a fixed peg and up face climbing to the top. 5.8 maybe. Chuck Schaap, who grew up in Rawlins and has been the owner of Teton Mountaineering, did it as a youngster. North of town, within walking distance is unlimited good bouldering. For good granite climbing go north of Sinclair to Seminoe Reservoir, park below the dam and hike up. There is a good pinnacle up there with an easy route. There are also lots of other climbing possibilities such as the south side of Ferris Mountain north of the the ghost town of Ferris. Serious four wheel drive may be needed. Have fun!

Fremont canyon has some of the best crack climbing anywhere with hundreds or routes. It is an hour+ from Rawlins. Great rock quality with good access. Need a partner? Let me know at mjdoutdoors@hotmail.com

thanks for the responses. hope i have enough time to go to fremont. bouldering in town sounds more likely. see ya in rawlins. -z

Actually Laramie has great climbing. Vedauwoo campground is within short walk to climbs. Over 800 routes. Granite. 5.6-5.14

Another notable attribute of Fremont Canyon (1.5 hours from Rawlins) is that it is one of the best places in the US for TR soloing. You can drive pretty much right to the top of many of the routes, drop a line, and Mini-Trax until you don't feel like hand jamming ever again. Really nice granite crack climbing, and very convenient to get in a ton of climbing via TR solo. This would be a great option if you are time-limited or lacking partners.

Also, of course, Lander is only 2 hours away and the climbing is great. In addition to the famous sport climbing, a ton of bouldering has been developed there recently too. This guy ( lloydclimbingblog.blogspot.…) wrote a bouldering guidebook, and has a sweet blog too.

Sweetwater is halfway between Lander and Rawlins (1 hour from each) and has an absurd amount of granite. I've heard the claim that the Sweetwater range has more exposed rock than J-Tree. Not sure if this is true, but I could believe it. Some of the rock is quite good too. Lots of adventurous slab climbing, and again it sounds like there has been a ton of recent bouldering development. See the guidebook and blog mentioned above. This would be a reasonably close area to go bouldering near Rawlins.

Rawlins Uplift: Underworld
WY
Rawlins Uplift: Watchtowers
WY
Rawlins Uplift: Solar Sanctuary
WY
Rawlins Uplift: Boxcar Willie

and

Seminoe Mountains: Wyoming

All are on Mountainproject.com

Cranner Rock in the Sweetwater area is very close and has an easy approach.