No vehicle access, but open to foot traffic MORE INFO >>>
Washington Climbers Coalition's permittee status under the landowner's easement with Washington State DNR has been revoked due to liability concerns and increased traffic. Vehicular access beyond the gate is currently not allowed. Gold Bar is still open to foot traffic. WCC and Access Fund are actively working with the landowner and DNR to find a solution. Stay posted at www.washingtonclimbers.org.
This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund,
and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates.
Probably the best bouldering near seattle. I think there may currently be access issues, or maybe the road is just closed. Great angular cut granite boulders with excellent friction.
I dont know the history, but chances are all of the problems have been done years ago, but have grown over with moss over time.
Getting There
Take Hwy 2 east past gold bar, then turn left onto Reiter road. Take this until the road makes a very sharp turn to the left, but go straight instead of turning. There is an obvious 4X4 road on the left after a few miles. It is distinguishable by its giant mud puddle about 30 feet off the road. This road leads up into the clear cut with lots of boulders everywhere.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Gold Bar Boulders:
Long, tall, lip traverse (moving right to left) up the north side of the boulder. Problem starts on excellent holds along the lip and moves up across edges, crimps and pinches. Very sequence dependent. Gain the apex and make a scary mantle up over the lip on good holds. Fantastic Problem....[more]Browse More Classics in WA
The turnoff is 2.1 miles from the Highway 2/Reiter road intersection.
The 5 star boulder pullout is on Reiter road a bit further up. It's about a 10 minute walk from the car and is really a world-class boulder.
There is an effort to resolve access issues before they become real problems, and to preserve this great bouldering area. For info, check out the Washington Climbers Coalition, washingtonclimbers.org/
Now, who wants to post beta about specific problems? Specifically, what are all the problems on the 5 star? Where is Doja?
Kelly Sheridan has a guide book for Gold Bar that is coming out soon. Check your local climbing stores. His guide book has a ton of Gold Bar problems that are not listed on this site, plus it covers Index and Leavenworth. Click on Kelly's name to contact him and get a guide directly from him.
Central Washington Bouldering: Leavenworth and Gold Bar has finally been released! The book contains over 500 problems in Leavenworth and roughly 150 in Gold Bar. The easiest way to get the guide is to purchase it directly from the publisher at their site: www.sharpendbooks.com/prod.php?t=1&q=WA
Be respectful when climbing at Serene and the beach as those are on private property. The land owner for Serene is a nice guy but protecting his land and family are important to him (ran into him today and had a nice chat). Pack out what you pack in and there will be no problems.
To clarify, after a roughly 5 minute walk down the 4x4 road, you will pass under some power lines, and then the road will fork. Go RIGHT. Without knowing that, I went left yesterday on a hunch, and all it does is lead to the river after 10-15 more minutes. Hope that helps.
Going to be in Seattle the first week in April. I am flying in and cant bring my pads. Any clue on anyone that rents crash pads? How are conditions at Gold Bar around that time? Any info will greatly be appreciated. Thanks
www.seattleboulderingproject.com/location_hours_rates.html For crash pad rentals. The only ones who rent crash pads in the area as far as I know. As far as weather, early April could go either way. Leavenworth is typically drier if Gold Bar is wet.
Don't want to piss anyone off... But the mountain project routes for gold bar boulders are a shit show... Not well mapped and don't match Kelly Sheridan's "Central Washington Bouldering" at all. Would definitely recommend getting the book instead of going off the MP for this site. That being said Gold Bar is awesome climbing if you can be bothered to walk for an hour up the closed road!
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