Shady and cool in the summer. Good traverse wall with a number of individual boulders and a couple of short/easy sport routes. Great for playing "add on" or just building endurance through the traverse. Great place to just hang out and do some moderate level bouldering (V0-V5).
Getting There
From Dillon: Follow US Highway 6 towards Keystone, turning right onto Swan Mountain Road at Summit Cove. Follow Swan Mountain Road for 2.0 miles to the Prospector/Windy Point Campground entrance. Park just before the gate.
From Breckenridge: Travel North on CO Highway 9 to Farmer's Korner and take a right at the intersection with Swan Mountain Road. Follow the road up and past Sapphire Point, and turn left into the Prospector/Windy Point Campground entrance after 2.8 miles.
From the parking lot, take obvious trail. Traverse Wall will come into view with in 5-8 minutes of walking, the rest of the boulders can be found by exploring the area.
The lone chunk of rock separated from the Traverse Wall. I could only choose one rating, so I went with the V0. That describes most of the problems here. There are a few harder problems. A traverse to the left starting between The Island and the Main Wall all the way around includes some V2 moves.Good, easy, high ball on the downhill side, and some nice, crimpy climbs on the uphill side, easy walk down on the north side makes this a great rock....[more]Browse More Classics in CO
Swan Mtn is really fun bouldering in a great setting. In addition to the traverse, numerous problems top out, giving sort of a mini-soloing experience since the landings aren't the greatest.... Regarding the sport climb comment, it would be pathetic if someone actually bolted these boulder problems. I know in the past, bolts placed for top-rope anchors never lasted long... would expect the same for any lead bolts....
I learned to climb on these boulders, it's a great place!!! Went back this past weekend and found rotting mattresses under some of the overhangs, and aspens knocked down. Don't want to get all high and mighty, but come on people, that sucks....
Can the description of the Location be changed, Please?? The parking for this is really at the entrance to the Prospector campground not the Lowry Campground. After looking for the Crag for an hour by the Lowry campground, I talked to a ranger and he said that all the guide books are wrong on the location as is the description here of the location. As stated above the parking is by the gate for the Prospector campground.
The description confused me a bit as the Lowry campground is on the left of the road and the parking for the Crag on the right when coming from Keystone. Just thought I'd try and eliminate some confusion in the future for others.
Great climbing for beginners. I had a gaggle of 7-13 year olds and a few adults that all had not climbed before.
By John McNamee Administrator From: Littleton, CO Jul 31, 2007
I fixed up the description and added a few pics. Fun place and definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.
A small tree at the entrance to the wall has been spray painted orange. Not sure who did this or why b/c it is one of the easiest places to find. Also saw a bunch of cigarette butts on the ground at the base of the wall. Let's try and keep this place clean as many of us use this wall.
Took the kids (4 and 6) there in early Nov. and it looked cleaned up (mattress was there still in Oct - thanks whoever cleaned it). Great place for kids, with lots of short scrambly routes on the boulders downhill from the traverse wall (and one cool 4th class chimney perfect for kids). If you drop by on a ski trip, it would be a great way to break up the visit for the kids.
May 30, 2009 - it appears as though all but one of the bolts on top of the 5.6s are missing - - (edited 6/9/2009)
they are gone, closer inspection reveals they were pulled out. The one left is spinning, so it needs to be pulled as well. I didn't have tools with me, but next time I go, if it's still there, I'll pull it.
Is there any need to replace these? Does anyone care?
The times they are a changin'.... Swans traverse is as it always is. The Onion and The Orb are what they are. The 5.6 TR is now a VB highball. That spinning hanger is still there, and I freesoloed while some kids were TR'ing off that one spinner. They called me unsafe... and now, bumdidabum. The new shit. Swan has five different areas. The traverse. The former toprope area (the 5.8-10 boulder is still TR bolted, and the 5.12 is still bolted) Right next to the 5.6 is a boulder field, and on the other side of that is a nice wall, taller than traverse, but not as long. More Rifle-like climbing here, real highball and one solo block (this is closer to the 5.6). From this wall, there is another maybe hundred yards down. Descent: keep following the cliffband, it goes back underground for a bit then comes to a corner and has several good blocks, really traditional bouldering. Slightly overhung, not scary high but a bit harder than the cake walks at the first two walls. Still more boulders can be found as you wander further. I've done a loop hike past all these areas and down to the lakes edge on the cover inlet. Climb on.
I went to this crag for the first time today. It was great, I worked in the traverse area for a while and really enjoyed it. There was some trash around, but not too much. I'll definitely be going back to work more problems and check out the 5.6 TR area.
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