Thank You - Staunton Park Developers!

I just wanted to give a huge shout out to Mike Morin, Dave MOntgomery and Jason Haas (and everyone else who has been involved) in getting the climbing development going at Staunton Park. Went out there yesterday and had a great day! The climber's trail construction is fantastic (very nice rock steps) and the free Fixed Pin guidebook was super helpful.

The approach is not bad (a little over 2 miles on what is basically a groomed path, but next time we might mountain bike in to save time. It was a nice hike nonetheless.

We did the 3 pitch climb (Hey Ranger) up Parkview Dome - which was very reminiscent of Flatirons climbing with better gear - super enjoyable, easy climbing with incredible views. If you do climb this, be aware the descent gully is pretty heinous - steep, loose rock and filled with brambles. My husband opted to do a bouldering traverse on the base of the cliff the entire way down, which was probably easier than battling the rock and thorns like I did - will be even more interesting when the shrubbery leafs out. The rap off the tree (cord, webbing and locking biner) to get into the gully also has a lot of loose blocks, so be careful.

We also did the 5.fun easy climbs on the Whistle Pig (nice to have super easy sport routes that aren't just ledge fests) and finished up in the Tan Corrider (the friction is incredible and the routes are cleaning up).

Thank you for establishing the ethic in this area - not overbolted, lots of natural gear. I cannot wait to do more exploring up there.

I concur. Those guys did an AWESOME job!!!!

So is park view dome open? Went to the park the other day and was told it and a few other areas are closed for raptor nesting???

We had not heard or seen anything about closures on Parkview Dome. Another climber later that day told us it had been closed the week before, which was a bit upsetting to us since we would not knowingly go into a closed area. The entrance station was closed when we left, but we looked for signage/announcements and all we could find was information on construction trial closures, so we thought the closure had been lifted.

I hope we weren't climbing in a closed area - we did not see any raptors, so hopefully we did not disturb any birds if we were off limits. There were other parties on the dome that day also. If it is closed, it needs to be posted on the bulletin board at the entrance so people know. Where did you see/get the information about the closure? Thanks.

Yes, Parkview Dome and Ranch Hand are closed, we checked with the rangers at the entrance station on Monday. There is a note about the seasonal closures on page 4 of the Fixed Pin guide and here on Mtn. Proj., granted it's on the Parkview and Ranch Hand pages and not the main page.
mountainproject.com/v/park-…
mountainproject.com/v/the-r…

Thanks to everyone involved in getting the park and climbs established, and a very special thanks to Frances H. Staunton and her family, what an amazing piece of land to have in the public domain!

yep, great work. way to give back.

Prior to park opening I suggested to park management that they really needed to post signage on site regarding the closure of Lion's Head, Parkview, and Ranch Hand. They didn't and now we have a bunch of well intentioned folks finding themselves technically in violation of a closure. Quite frustrating.

Last I heard from park management Parkview and Ranch Hand are closed to climbing, though the trail below it is open. I've emailed park management reasserting that they need to post signage if they intend to keep the formations closed to climbing.

Just for your peace of mind Erika, it's unlikely that you disturbed any nesting birds on your climb. The formations fell under a closure due to an encounter with some angry falcons last June when we were climbing the Ranch Hand. There was a fledgling resting on the summit and we were climbing towards it. The site was monitored and they found no evidence of nesting activity. The same has been the case this year. With a little patience I think we can work through some climbing management growing pains at the park.

To the original intent of your post, thanks! We've received very positive feedback from the climbing community up to this point and it's great to hear that folks are enjoying the climbing at the park. It truly was a special and unique opportunity that wasn't lost on any of us. I'm really excited that the park is now open and a new climbing resource is now available on the Front Range.

Sorry wasn't trying to single you out for climbing it hope you didn't take it that way. I tried to call many times with no answer so we drove out. One ranger at the station didn't know but the other did and informed us it was indeed closed. Now back on topic. I have not climbed at the park yet but still a big thanks goes out to all involved with pointing and development of any and all climbing areas!

Park View and Ranch Hand opened today.

Huge thanks to the Staunton family for donating the land and to everyone involved in creating the park and the climbing routes. We've spent one day hiking there and another climbing and I'm sure we'll be back many times.

Mike Morin wrote:Park View and Ranch Hand opened today.

Climbed there today...........

Yawn...........

We understood possibly why more routes were not put up......

That's fair Jim. I suspect Staunton will become known for 2 star climbing in a 4 star location. I will say that going back and climbing some of the routes that I climbed last year, that there are definitely more than few cases of inflated quality ratings. There was a lot of psych about the park when we first got in there and that's definitely exhibited in the guide book with my star ratings.

Edit to add: Exception to the above statement being the Tan Corridor. I think the climbing in there is pretty damn good.

Just want to echo what everyone else said; climbed here yesterday and had a freaking blast. Thank you to the developers, and to fixed pin for the sweet guidebook!

Jim Amidon wrote:Climbed there today........... Yawn........... We understood possibly why more routes were not put up......