All Locations > New Mexico > Las Cruces Area… > Organ Mountains > Needle & Squaretops

Minerva's Temple Rock Climbing

Climbing Area Map

Routes in Minerva's Temple

L › R R › L A › Z

	East Buttress T 5.12- 7a+ 25 VIII+ 25 E5 6a
	North Face / East Ridge T 5.12b 7b 26 VIII+ 26 E5 6b
	West Ridge T 5.7+ 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b

Order Wrong? Sort Routes

Explore this area in 3D

Use onX Backcountry to explore the terrain in 3D, view recent satellite imagery, and more. Now available in onX Backcountry Mobile apps! For more information see this post.

Elevation:	7,700 ft
GPS:	32.3459, -106.5571 Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views:	7,548 total · 43/month
Shared By:	Aaron Hobson on Oct 25, 2009
Admins:	Jason Halladay, Mike Hoskins, Anna Brown Page Updates (admin only)

See Weather Forecast

Access Issue: Power drilling is prohibited in the Organ Mountains Wilderness. Details

Description

Minerva's Temple is a lower summit east of the Organ Needle. When viewed from the Organ Needle summit, it appears as a sharp east-west ridge, separated from the "retaining wall" (the fin of rock on the south side of dark canyon) by a prominent gap. As viewed from the east either from Aguirre Springs or the White Sands Missile Range, Minerva's temple appears to be it's own distinct peak, with a massive and steep Southern and Eastern faces.

The regular route is reportedly the first ascent of the peak, being accomplished by the Yale Mountaineers club in some un-specified time in the past. More recent route development has occurred in the 2000's, with a few technical and ambitious lines which tackle the huge Southern and Eastern faces of the mountain.

Getting There

Routes on the impressive South and East faces are best approached from Aguirre Springs. There are no established trails for these approaches, but one recommended option is to use the Indian Hollow trail (the same approach trail as for Sugarloaf). Keep following the trail past Sugarloaf and all the way to it's end at a nice camp-ground. From here bush-whack your way up the ridge directly towards Minerva's Temple.

The West Ridge route and other shorter summiting routes can be approached from the West via Filmore Canyon or using the same approach as for Organ Needle regular routes. The maple-filled canyon between Minerva's Temple and Organ Needle is absolutely sublime when in fall foliage.