Huachuca Mountains possible climbs

Just checking to see if anyone has done any scouting of this cliff band? It can be seen looking north/northwest from Carr peak. The cliff itself faces south/southwest. I would find it hard to believe that no one has made any attempts but the long hikes are probably a little discouraging.

From what I can see in this pic it seems broken and unstable. But what the hell do I know? It looks rad though.

Limestone often looks bad when it isn't. These walls look amazing. How long a hike is it Levie?

I forgot to mention bees seem to love south facing limestone so take care if you head in and check this stuff out.

Sounds rad. Hadn't even concidered the nature of limestone. I've been avoiding the mustangs due to the bees. Guess I'll have to sack up and get out there on a cool day.

I've hiked out there many times over the years and always scrutinized the cliffs when possible, taken pics, etc. I have to admit, most of the rock appeared relatively junky. Also, I know some climbing has been established in the Huachucas, then later closed (waterfall area? something like that?).

I was tracking Carr Falls from the Az Backcountry climbers guide. Thank you for the responses. The hike from the end of Carr Canyon Rd is about 1.8 miles but from Ft Huachuca it is about 3 miles. The hike from Ft Huachuca looks a little less steep and a little less testing on your land navigation skills. Thank you for mentioning the bees as it has not even crossed my mind. I will post pictures back to this thread and provide a synopsis of the rock quality when I make it out there in a few weeks.

Never judge limestone from a pic. (I don't think limestone is necessarily alone in that category, add volcanics, conglomerates, etc...)
You have to touch it and then you have some idea of the nature of the rock.
You can find junk next to solid rock on the same band.

Eric, has Carr been closed to climbing?

Paul Davidson wrote:Never judge limestone from a pic. (I don't think limestone is necessarily alone in that category, add volcanics, conglomerates, etc...) You have to touch it and then you have some idea of the nature of the rock. You can find junk next to solid rock on the same band. Eric, has Carr been closed to climbing?

Hey Paul, it was closed at one time but I believe it is open at this point based on a conversation with Daryl Kling. I told him to add bolts as he saw fit if they climbed there. It was a pretty grungy place when I put up 8 or ten routes with George Smith. The rock itself was pretty good but the lichen and dirt in the cracks was a bummer.

Totally agree with PD. Drop a rope down everything. I can't tell you how many things have turned out to be good once you are on them. Some things, like many routes at southern Arizona limestone areas have taken a bit of cleaning.

whoa...I wouldn't be surprised if it was really good. The Dry is nothing special to look at, but has great climbing.

I can't tell exactly where this is but a lot of the Huachuca's north of Carr lie within the military base. Climbing is illegal within the base. This looks like it may be up Garden Canyon which has some amazing limestone but again it is within base boundaries.

^^^NO!!!!

I'm thinking (and hoping) it is withing the Miller Canyon Recreation area and/or the Coronado National Forest. Based off the info above, it looks like it is within the CNF boundaries to me.

I hiked up to a wall on Ft Huachuca in the mid-90's that looked like it would be awesome climbing, but turned out to be choss. I'm not sure if this is it, seems like I remember there was some type of fire break road just below the wall I looked at.

Also, I never dropped a rope down anything. Back then I figured if everything I touched broke off in my hands the place was worthless.

The southeastern boundary of Ft Huachuca touches the beginning of the cliff line (that points north) which is not visible in the picture. I have been all over the fort looking for climbing but most of it is all choss. I have found some nice rock (limestone) but it has been featureless and it was high up in Garden Canyon with a no rock climbing sign next to it.

Levie, keep in mind that is illegal for recreation climbing inside the fort boundaries.

I am aware of the rules on post and I have a great relationship with the guys down at range control. Its funny for climbing at their tower you virtually need no qualifications but it is a different story if you rappel off of it. The rappel certifications are out of this world to get now because most training funds have been cut off due to fiscal uncertainty. I also would never break any rules on post or off because uncle sam owns me and he frowns dearly upon me getting in any trouble whatsoever.

The entire cliff line falls outside of the boundaries I was just using the southern border of it as a reference. I can use post to access it with no issues.

Late response, but I've climbed car falls several times, the entire area is either pre-cambian granite, or shale.

A lot of it is discolored because of the minerals. You can climb anywhere outside the southern border of Fort Huachuca, which includes Ramsey canyon, Carr canyon, Miller peak, etc.

Carr falls was one of my favorites, it's just over 280 ft of sheer limestone, with paths on the left and right of the water fall itself. There are some anchors on the right (north) side, but they are spread about 20 to 35 ft apart.