Climbing Near Santa Clara, Utah

A fun cragging area with most walls being in a tight canyon. Cove Wash is sandstone much like the Green Valley Gap, its mostly great rock and has a variety of grades. The routes are short but you can get a bunch of routes done in a day. Because of the fact that you are in a canyon shade or sun can be found making this a year round crag. As of now there are four areas that have climbing all withing the canyon and around 14 routes and growing. There was a few TR anchors found on three routes and a small amount of chalk on some of the boulders, so im guessing that people have been climbing in here for some time. Locals do love shooting out here and dumping their garbage, so trash clean up has been an ongoing project here. A few of us have cleaned up many trash bags of busted clay pigeons and shotgun shells ect ect.. If you feel like it bring a bag with you and help a bit, I hope that the presents of climbers here will help to clean up this area. Turn onto Gates lane in Santa Clara (right if coming from Ivins or left from Saint George). Drive to the end of the paved road and continue up the gravel hill. Continue past the cove wash trail head sign, do not take the hairpin right turn at it. Immediately after passing the turn stay left at the split. Here the road turns to rough 2WD but is passable in a low clearance car if you straddle the ruts. At the second fork stay left again. There are then two clearings with fire pits, drive a bit past the first one and park at the second. Park here and walk 50 yards down the road and up the wash.

This is the first area you will come to walking up the wash, and the tightest part of the canyon. There is some pretty good potential for FAs in this part of the canyon... Have at it! The hardest climbs in Cove Wash will be found here, as well as one open project that I expect to be in the 12 range. The Sandstone here is all varnished black and totally bomber. With the shady nature of the canyon climbers should wait two days after rains for the rock to dry. From the parking area walk 50 yards into the wash to the mouth of the canyon and you are there.

A really fun area with a good collection of moderates, a few hard climbs and a few trad climbs. The canyon here is a bit wider than the lower area and a fun place to hang out. Again most of the rock here is really bomber but still has some small suspect nubs and flakes so be aware. All anchors can be accessed on the rim, making TRing easy. Most first bolts are high and a stick clip might be a good idea. From the parking area there are two options, you can follow the wash up past the "Bad Ethics" are and over a chock-stone. After the chock-stone the walls of the canyon are short enough to boulder on. continue upstream until the obvious climbing area is reached. Or you can walk the rim of the canyon a few hundred yards to and do an easy 4th class down climb into the canyon.