The walls across the creek from the Trailside Wall...
Description
A trailside crag with easy access, 15 great sport routes and a few decent trad lines, and evening shade to escape summertime heat. Although new and relatively limited in scope, this has quickly become a favored venue with the local climbers.
There are walls lining both sides of the creek, with the only developed walls being adjacent to the trail (and just up the hill) just past the diversion dam.
Getting There
Driving Directions: Drive to the small mountain town of Story, which is about equidistant from both Sheridan and Buffalo. Set your odometer here and follow these directions carefully; it's a bit confusing navigating through Story for the first time. 0 miles: Chuckwagon gas station in Story. Turn right onto 194. .6 miles: The junction with 340 on the right (large wooden signboard). Continue straight in 194. 2.6 miles: There is a park/playground on the right. 194 makes a 90 degree turn around the park before continuing a short distance to the Fish Hatchery. Instead of following 194 around the 90 degree turn, continue straight ahead onto Thorne Rider Road (graded dirt), which is marked by the green sign-Youth Camp. 3.3 miles: Thorne Rider Road ends in a gate with the sign-Authorized Vehicles Only. Park here. Approach Directions: Walk past the gate and continue up the relatively flat roadbed until the Forest Service boundary is reached after about 1/2 mile. Shortly after the boundary, the trail passes between the creek on the left and the cliffs on the right. The first routes are found about 100m past the diversion dam on the creek. Hiking time is approximately 10 minutes from your car.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Piney Creek Canyon:
This is the bolted layback crack in a very steep, arching, right-facing dihedral on the left side of the wall (sorry trad purists...but the gear options were too poor and the climbing too good). It is surmounted via underclinging, laybacking, and precise pasting of your feet on the smooth righthand wall. Pumpy and excellent, an area classic!...[more]Browse More Classics in WY
A new cragging guidebook to the eastern Bighorns is due out in spring of '09 and will provide comprehensive coverage to Piney Creek Canyon as well as all of the other major crags in the area. Look for it locally at the Sports Lure in Buffalo, Backcountry Bicycles in Sheridan, and Rendezvous Trading Co. in Ranchester or regionally in various climbing shops.
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