Welcome to the New Mexico section of Mountain Project!
The contributions that are made to this site are greatly appreciated; this site is made up of an awesome community of users that make the site what it is.
Although there is very little information regarding “rules” for submitting climbing areas and routes to this site, the New Mexico Administers all agree that the following guidelines may be helpful to truly make this site go “Beyond the Guidebook”.
1) Don’t be a jerk (this one states the obvious). 2) Route and area submissions should truly be helpful to those out climbing. Before posting, you should have some first hand experience actually climbing the route. This always results in a much more useful description. 3) Please, please, please… Don’t copy route descriptions directly out of guidebooks, online publications, etc. This is plagiarism! Remember, BEYOND the guidebook! 4) Please use the spell check and make an effort to use correct grammar.
Again, the Mountainproject community truly appreciates the efforts taken to make good route descriptions. If you feel that a route or area description is not up to standard, a brief email to one of the area admins for suggestions on improvement will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time to make the New Mexico section of Mountain Project quality! We look forward to seeing you out there!
Description
A two-pitch tower along I-40, that has a classic route on it. It has appeared on the cover of numerous general travel guides to NM.
Getting There
The best way to access the base of Churchrock is from Red Rock State Park, in the town of Churchrock just off I-40 east of Gallup. Leave the interstate at exit 26 (if coming from the west) or exit 33 (if coming from the east) and follow the frontage road and signs to Red Rock State Park. The trail starts from the Post Office in the park (not the Pyramid Trail). Park your car at the Post Office and walk north towards the redrock; you'll see the trail sign. The trail is marked along its length with LARGE cairns (thanks to Gallup YCC) and winds generally north through the gullies. After about a mile, the main trail bends east and heads away from Churchrock, following a prominent bench of pink rimrock. There is a small side trail marked with a small cairn that splits off at this point to head directly towards Churchrock. Follow this trail; it dissolves into a maze of animal tracks, but will eventually lead you past the west side of Churchrock. Circle around and scramble up easy slickrock (2nd class max) on the north side to access the tower. This approach takes maybe 30-40 mins if you don't get lost. It also allows you to stay on public land rather than traipsing through private property, so PLEASE go this way. (Per comment below from Alex Nees)
By Anthony Stout Administrator From: Albuquerque, NM Jun 22, 2007
Quite a vague description for the location posted here. I am assuming that there is probably good reason for that. For more detailed information on how to get to this tower one can look at the Gallup Guide.
Yeah, Anthony. Sorry about that. I was in the back of a pickup and couldn't tell where, exactly, we were going. The access was up (north) a road east of the Church Rock area, then we drove back down south and west to reach it. About the best I can do. Apologies. I remember it being a really fun route, though.
The best way to access the base of Churchrock is from Red Rock State Park, in the town of Churchrock just off I-40 east of Gallup. Leave the interstate at exit 26 (if coming from the west) or exit 33 (if coming from the east) and follow the frontage road and signs to Red Rock State Park. The trail starts from the Post Office in the park (not the Pyramid Trail). Park your car at the Post Office and walk north towards the redrock; you'll see the trail sign. The trail is marked along its length with LARGE cairns (thanks to Gallup YCC) and winds generally north through the gullies. After about a mile, the main trail bends east and heads away from Churchrock, following a prominent bench of pink rimrock. There is a small side trail marked with a small cairn that splits off at this point to head directly towards Churchrock. Follow this trail; it dissolves into a maze of animal tracks, but will eventually lead you past the west side of Churchrock. Circle around and scramble up easy slickrock (2nd class max) on the north side to access the tower. This approach takes maybe 30-40 mins if you don't get lost. It also allows you to stay on public land rather than traipsing through private property, so PLEASE go this way.
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