Blythe, CA climbing?

Hey everyone. Pondering a move for work and was just wondering what the prospects are near Blythe, CA? I know that centrally it is located near a bunch of great major destinations (J-tree, Tahquitz, Vegas, Flagstaff, etc..) but are there any lesser known sport crags close to the town that could keep someone busy for day or evening trips? Thanks for your help.

Check out New Jack City. Off highway 243, just outside of Barstow

Hey Dan, Barstow is actually further from Blythe (over 3 hours) than many great crags in AZ. Looking for info on stuff 1 hour or less. Thanks though, will check it out.

Blythe.... let me think.

If you go back west on the 10 there is some climbing at Chichiro Summit. (sp?)this is about 100 miles away.

Head down south near Yuma and go east on the 8 you will see some crags east of town... I have herd tales of some good winter action there, but never been there.

North of Blythe, in the turtle mts, right next to the road, is a limestone crag with pretty sound stone but no climbs on it.

East of the turtle Mt, in AZ are some pretty impressive towers that can be viewed from "Parker, AZ"

You up for becoming a developer?

What type of work?

I have customers who work in Blythe during "the season", who close their businesses down in the summer and head north to Nevada Mts.

I just looked around on the GPS function. Looks like there is the interstate 10 crag about an hour west of Blythe just below J Tree. I have no idea about if it's any good. That seemed like the closest established area on the Project though. Lot of rock around Blythe on the satellite.

Not much that I've heard of within an hour of Blythe.

You might want to check this out, I've never been...
courthouse rock

Wow, thanks everyone. I've been in the area before and there is a lot of rock. I'm bringing the drill so hopefully will find something interesting. I am doing biology work for solar developments. Could be there for over a year.

more ?info bits?

I climbed at Chiriaco Summit in 2010, and I don't remember evidence of the closure mentioned in the link from the previous post. The bolts could use upgrading, so take your drill.

The stuff NORTH of the 10 is closed.... aqueduct property. Its marked ....

South of the 10... its wide open.

Thanks for the links to courthouse .... I now know that one can climb up that thing.

I was on the north side, although I won't insist that it wasn't, or isn't, closed. It didn't look closed. We walked across where the aqueduct is buried, then hiked up the hill to reach the area described in the Rock & Ice Guide to Chiriaco Summit, #59, p.73.

George, Hi.... maybe more stuff. Do you have a link to R&I guides???

Just a side note.... If your hanging around the I10, the south entrance to Josh, go to the George Patton Museum, forgot the exit name, but its the only one with services..... besides cool Tanks, Trucks,and War stuff on display there is a huge 3D relief map of the So-Cal desert.... It was made by Cal-Teck so they could figure the best way for water projects routes. Its way old school, from the 30's and shows you just how difficult it must have been to visualize our landscape..... Well worth the price of admission. $5 ....

Oh yea.... If you go into Josh NP via the south entrance.... there are tons of new Bouldering spots and some OLD climbs.....in the canyons along the road.

Hi Guy – I have no knowledge of such links. You could try rockandice.com.

Hey Earl.....check out Christmas Tree Pass, just west of Laughlin, NV. Two hours due north of Blythe, CA.

There's some very good climbing between Bullhead City and Kingman. I think you can find info on the inter webs, though the locals try and keep it quiet, but if you look on the road between you'll find it using some logic. I did. It was quite good with potential for a ton more. While I say it's good, it's also not in danger of becoming a destination. As a local, there would be a lot of fun to be had for sure. Both clip and go and multi pitch.

Couple of buddies of mine were super stoked on limestone near Parker in the early 90s. I'm not sure how many routes they finished but they got distracted and went elsewhere before doing much because it was too far for them. I saw pics, and it looks pretty good. I doubt it's too hard to find, since they did without satellite images or anything.

I saw some rock near town coming out of the river. Didn't check it out, and it looked fairly short, but if it's solid at all it may provide some training.

Check out the KOFA's south of Quartsite.

Stainless .... thanks for the info. Always wondered... now Ill go look for stuff to climb.

There is a big pinnacle that you can see ..... Glen Dawson and crew went and tried to climb it in like 1940, but the stone was a little to dicey for them, didn't go down till like 1957/58 by some boys from Stoney Point... they know crap stone and how to nail it.

I soloed one of those towers off the highway in AZ years ago. I remember the rock being decent. Of course, I learned to climb at Stoney Point so many chossy things seem spectacular, but I'm also a wuss at soloing so it must have been somewhat solid. I recall, and my memory could be off, quite a few towers out there. They weren't exactly as inviting as Castleton but if I lived out there I'd definitely check them out. Climbable rock for sure.