This south-facing 250-foot crag is a perfect spot to spend a day in the sun. With great quality granite, Combat Rock offers an assortment of discontinuous cracks, friction on the slabs, and a few roofs to jug over. Combat Rock would also be a great place to combine in a trip to Lumpy or anywhere else in the RMNP, since it's located between Loveland and Estes Park just outside the Big Thompson Canyon. It's not far off of Hwy 34, has a short approach, and consists of mainly one and two-pitch climbs, so the crag can easily be hit in the morning or late afternoon for a few hours. You need to be creative with the protection here. Other than the bolted faces, the flaring cracks can be difficult to get a good piece in. You will only need a small rack, consisting mainly of wired stoppers, CAMP tri-cams, and small cams up to a #1 camalot or #2 friend. There are a couple of routes, such as the second pitch of Diagonal, that you will need a couple of #2 camalots for the fist jams. It's also a good idea to bring two ropes, as most of the rappels are around 150 feet if you continue past the first pitch. There is walk-off descent, but it's definitely a hassle and takes longer than a couple back-to-back rappels.
Getting There
From Denver - Take I-25 north to the Loveland exit. Head west on US 34 (Eisenhower Blvd in Loveland) for about 17 miles through the Big Thompson Canyon. Exit at the intersection of Drake and take a right onto Devil's Gulch Road. After a half mile, take another right onto Cedar Park Rd which is labeled "Forest Access." Follow the dirt road through some steep switchbacks for about a mile until Combat Rock is very apparent across the gulch. There's plenty of parking at a pulloff on the north side of the road. From the road, follow a path down into the gulch and up the other side directly to the base of the crag. Only about a 10-minute approach.
From Boulder - Take the Diagonal CO Hwy 119 to Longmont and head north on Main St, which turns into US Hwy 287. The Hwy will make an abrupt 90-degree right turn to the east at the Carter Lake turnoff in the town of Berthoud. I think the easiest way is to take your first left at the light and head north on Country Rd 7. This heads straight into Loveland where you can take your left on Eisenhower Dr (US 34) and follow into the mountains.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Combat Rock:
This route is the most popular on Combat and is the easiest to find. When you reach the base via the trail, you will most likely be right at Diagonal or just below it. It is the left-facing corner with the crack going up diagonally. You will need TWO ROPES to rappel from either belay station. This route can be done in either two or three pitches.Pitch 1: Follow the left leaning crack through some great finger jams and sketchy foot moves. Th...[more]Browse More Classics in CO
By Mike Morley Administrator From: Oakland, CA Jun 20, 2003
Does anyone know who put up the route "DMZ"? I would like to get permission to re-bolt the route with modern hardware, as the current 1/4" Leepers are in bad shape. Thanks in advance.
Craig Luebben probably put it up. If not, he'll know who did. He lives in Golden. I believe and can probably be reached through the Colorado Mountain School, the AMGA, or Climbing Magazine.
Cheers, John
By Mike Morley Administrator From: Oakland, CA Aug 19, 2003
Just rebolt it..... I am sure whoever first put up the route will not be too worried about it, since you are making the route a bit safer with updated hardware.
Does anyone know anything about the ridge of rock across the road and up hill from the parking area? There are some bolted routes there and I have top roped some stuff as well as some boulder problems. Some of it looks good Also, The [slabby] face with the severe over hangs south across the gully has an old bolt in it on a route and I put up a route there back in 1994. We always called it [Pacifist Rock] in contrast to [Combat Rock]. It has some potential. Lastly, the slabs at the bottom of the gully as you approach combat provide some fun top ropine, everything from 5.6 to a tricky 5.11 slick slate start.
Within the last year I've noticed that an increasing number of carcasses and entrails have been dumped at or near the parking area for Combat rock. What is up with this, anyone?
Bring very small cams w/ you when you climb here. I found several cracks where I could have placed a nice blue or black Alien (Metolius: #00 or #0, or C3: #0, #00). Too bad I didn't have any - DOH!!
Also, this is an excellent place to climb during warm winter spells (~50 deg F), as it is South Facing.
There are apparantly 3 new routes on the far upper right side of Combat, just right of Monkey Lust. I put in an anchor 6 weeks ago with the intent on placing some bolts on a new route. When I went back last week to finish the project, a new bolted line was in place left of my imagined line as well as two crack climbs, one right and one left. There are two new sets of anchors half way up the two crack lines. I pulled my mid face anchor that was 20 feet above one of the new anchors feeling that bolting my line at this point would seem contrived. I did (prior to discovering the new lines) place a two bolt anchor at the very top (160 feet) near a tree with slings on it. I have left it in place as an alternate rappel. The new routes look nice and I cant wait to jump on them. Anyone want to own up to them, name them, and rate them??? Allen
Allen - not sure who installed the anchors and bolted route, though I top roped a line that followed cracks for the most part in that sector of the cliff several years ago, and cleaned out a few cracks in the process. I never felt compelled to return to do the work necessary to transform it into an attractive route.
New anchors at the top of Arkansas Patriot - There's also a new set of anchors just to the left of the Arkansas Patriot anchors. New trad line?? Anybody know anything?
Allen, To your comment about the slab just off of the creek - do you know which lines are rated what? I took a picture if you wanted to draw lines on it. I saw a 2-bolt anchor at the top and wondered if all routes ended there. You said you toproped a few - does the rock not take gear well?
Depends on what part of the slab you are on. Been 3 or 4 years since I TR'd the rock, but I remember the harder routes (mostly center and right center) had very spotty gear.
Left of 'Patriot' there's a really cool lieback crack that runs up to a small roof and then traverses right along a large flake to 'Patriots' anchor. It's a fun route and I'd guess it went about 5.8. Anyone know the name/rating of this?
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