PRINT: Rock Climb Tree Route, Southern Sierra - The Needles, Kern River, Domelands, etc.

Tree Route

5.6, Trad, 500 ft (152 m), 4 pitches, Grade II,

Avg: 3.6 from 273 votes
FA: unknown
California > Southern-Wester… > Southern Sierra… > Dome Rock

Description

The Tree Route is the true "trade route" of Dome Rock--expect to wait in line.

P1 (5.5, ~110 ft.): follow an obvious hand crack that heads right and then diagonals left to a large yellow pine. An excellent hand jam between the giant conifer and the rock allows you to pull past the tree and onto a generous ledge. From the ledge, climb a slab past intermittent cracks to the belay stance on a triangle-shaped cutout, where a second, smaller pine tree used to live. Belay takes 1/2" to 3/4"

P2 (5.6, 120 feet): truly classic for the grade! Jam and lieback an obvious handcrack. Look for excellent foot holds on the face to the left. The first 80 feet or so is sustained 1/2-3/4". Either carry extra gear of this size or leap-frog your gear up the crack with you. When this crack tapers and disappears, step left and follow intermittent thin cracks (TCUs helpful) to an obvious triangle shaped ledge/basin. Belay here (belay takes 2.5" to 3.5"--I often use two #3 camalots).

P3 (5.5, 110 feet): follow a large (4 to 5") crack, which eventually tapers and turns to a shallow, right-facing corner. Belay on an obvious ledge with three bolts.

P4 (5.6, 180 feet): the technical crux and truly memorable! Step off the belay ledge onto a delicate 5.6 slab. Clip a bolt and hope your feet stick. The slab eases and then gives way to a two-foot "roof" (protected by a bomber 2" piece). From here, the technical difficulties are over. A 3rd class slab leads for over a hundred feet to an obvious horizontal crack. Belay here (belay takes 1/2" to 1-1/2"").

Location

Hike down the northern slope of Dome Rock until the obvious pine trees come into view. The approach takes about 10 minutes.

Protection

Small to 3.5", especially 1/2" to 3/4"

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Starting up pitch one of the Tree Route.

Beginning of the tree route Jul 14, 2017

Matt Grieger nears the anchor atop pitch 3 of "Tree Route" as the Needles loom in the distance.

Marisa Fienup nears the top of P2 on the Tree Route.

Tree route
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Sylva cruising on smiles

Tree route Sylva cruising on smiles

A look down Pitch 3 of "Tree Route"

Nate Conroy enjoys outstanding jams and liebacking on the second pitch of "Tree Route."

Nathan Scherneck and Sheila Romane on the first pitch.

The tree is completely dead. No more green.

Scott Perry of Santa Barbara leads the first pitch of Tree Route, at Dome Rock.

Sadly, the signature tree appears to be dead.

Casting off on the stellar second pitch of Tree Route, at Dome Rock

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Steve Powell

fun. the last pitch is excellent Dec 21, 2006

Dirty Gri Gri, or is it GiGi?
Vegas

On a weekday we were lucky to have this fun little romp all to ourselves. Very friendly rock, and straightforward with easy routefinding. Description above is great. Feet stuck like glue to this rock. I felt like this was a soft 5.6. ie; definitely not like a slippery, "I want to go back home to Red Rock" Eldo 5.6, or a "You've got to be kidding" J-Tree 5.6, or like a "No f-ing way" Tahquitz 5.6. The Tree Route made me so happy that I was almost a Tree Hugger for a split second.

It was a perfect climb to finish off our nice rafting trip.
Thanks Matthew F. for posting this on M.P.! : ) Jul 21, 2007

AndrewinLyons

What fun! This is the most fun easy route I have ever encountered. Not much to say other than GO CLIMB IT. Nice views of the Needles, too. Stick the tree-handjam. Very unique! Jun 13, 2008

Isaac Tait
Oakdale, CT

5.5

when facing the top of the dome (from the parking lot) hike off to the left it is much faster this way. I went right and found the motorcycle remains and a few sweet looking boulders but the approach took more like 30 minutes! Jun 23, 2008

Carl A
brooklyn, ny

One million stars! Nov 8, 2008

ttriche
Grand Rapids, MI

This is also a fun solo. Very secure and you won't be in anyone's way. Nov 24, 2008

Greg Gavin
SLC, UT

ANTS everywhere in the bottom of the first pitch crack. 4/29/09 Jun 11, 2009

Matthew Fienup
Santa Rosa Valley, CA

5.6

I was able to link the first and second pitches by doing 30-40 feet of simul-climbing. Does anyone know if a 70m rope is long enough to connect these two pitches? Aug 11, 2009

IanBarrett
Glenwood Springs, CO

Great barefoot route! (If you are into that!??) Minus a flat tire leaving the parking lot. It was a great evening route to bring a red delicious on if camping at the needles. Feb 22, 2010

The Gray Tradster

Thee BEST!

5.6 in the southern half of the state.

The definition of fun climbing.

No matter what level I was climbing at we always ran up this one on the way out of the Needles.

I've lost track of the number of times I've done it.

One of the trees is now dead though.

Gone like an old friend. Jul 30, 2010

Jay Eggleston
Denver

Fun and easy. Ants at the tree and first belay. Best to do the route in two pitches by linking one and two and three and four. Jun 14, 2011

Mark Roth
Boulder

Yes, a 70 reaches for the first 2 pitches. Make sure to go around the right side of the tree so your rope doesn't "bother" it... Such a great beginner's route. Varied climbing with slab and crack moves on great rock with great protection. Jun 15, 2011

Ken Noyce
Layton, UT

5.5

Super fun route. First pitch follows an ant filled crack and is quite enjoyable as long as you don't pay attention to all of the ants that are everywhere. The second pitch is absoutely classic, I don't know the last time I had that much fun on something this easy! Make sure to bring a couple of number 3 camalots for the third pitch, the first 30 feet of the third pitch along with the belay atop the second pitch are perfect #3 size (I only brought one and had to use #2 camalots for the belay which made it a bit low for comfort). The fourth pitch was the least memorable of the climb, it consists of a single 5.5 or 5.4 move off of the belay ledge to gain great holds that take you to the bolt, after the bolt the rock gets even more slabby and is more like 4th class up to the "roof" which gives you one more 5.supereasy move before it mellows to third class for the rest of the pitch Aug 8, 2011

Greg Gavin
SLC, UT

the small tree at the first belay is dead as a doornail, and waiting to come off. I tried to pry it out the other day, but it only sways side to side just enough to freak you out, but not enough to be removed from the crack so be careful everyone! May 29, 2012

Brian Chastain

Why on gods green earth, in this case brown, would you try to remove the tree Greg C? Is that something you do in Utah because as far as I know, we don't do that around here. Jun 26, 2012

Justin Tomlinson
Monrovia, CA

On the fourth pitch, going up and right on a series of small but easy ledges leads to the dihedral. Go this way for technically easier climbing than going to the bolt.

From what I've been told, that is The Tree Route. The bolt is on a different climb. Aug 22, 2012

Ted Sumers

Fight for the second pitch! Jun 3, 2013

Matthew Fienup
Santa Rosa Valley, CA

5.6

Have to agree with Ted. You're a chump if you don't get to lead the 2nd pitch. If swinging leads, this also sets you up for the fourth (crux) pitch! Jun 11, 2013

Mark Fletcher
Clovis, CA

The small tree shown in the photograph and mentioned at the end of the first pitch (not the huge yellow pine tree along the first pitch) was not there when I climbed this route last weekend. The climb is four pitches as described, but if you belay partway up the crack, you can do the entire climb in three 180' pitches to the very top. The slab above the bolt looks fairly blank, but is easy friction due to the low angle. You can also traverse right to a dihedral, which can be followed for about 20' and then traverse back to the left. Nov 5, 2013

Melissa W.
CA

Climbed Tree Route this weekend in 3 pitches. Fun climb! Watch out the flakes on the final slab pitch. The large, thin bottom flake might look tempting to grab onto after being on nothing but friction, but it is LOOSE and moved when I touched it! Jul 5, 2016

Fat Dad
Los Angeles, CA

I did this climb last weekend and, with the small tree gone on the first pitch, had complete dementia as where you normally belay. This was compounded by a set of belay bolts that someone recently installed that are down and right of where the tree used to be. Avoid these, obviously. Once past the big tree, head up and right toward the small stump sticking out of the crack, which is where lots of folks used to belay. Nowadays, I'd recommend climbing a few feet past it to reach a small, triangular ledge that you can't really see until you're just below it. It's a nice stance and you can get bomber 1/2-3/4" cams for anchors. Just make sure to bring additional 3/4" gear for the next pitch since, as the route description makes clear, the crack remains that size for the next 80'. Having no other 1/2-3/4" pieces, I was barely able to cram a .75 C4 part way up, but that was my only piece in 80'. Good thing it's easy. Some might want to bring a #4 C4 for pitch 3. Contrary to what someone has written here, blue C4s will not fit, and you'll probably have used them for the pitch 3 belay anyways. Jul 15, 2016

Matthew Fienup
Santa Rosa Valley, CA

5.6

For many years, there has been a set of belay bolts located down and right of the (now missing) tree at the end of the first pitch of Tree Route. The bolts are on the first pitch of the route Last Homely House.

When I was guiding in the area back in the 90s, I would often lead the first pitch of Tree Route and then climb right, clipping one bolt on the route Arwen to reach this anchor. The first pitch of Last Homely House is a nice top-rope for beginners. As I recall, there is even a second top-rope anchor located above this one, on the right (on the face just left of the Last Line).

I second your opinion that it is VERY disorienting to not have the small tree at the top of Tree Route's first pitch. The triangle that you refer to is actually where the tree used to be:
mountainproject.com/images/…> Aug 2, 2016

Hal Aljibury
San Diego, CA

The middle bolt at the top of P3 has a loose hanger, but more worryingly the bolt itself seems to be loose - it wiggles a bit. May 30, 2017

climberkalen
kern county, CA

Matt has it right...Those bolts out to the right are on two different climbs. The third pitch belay has had a loose bolt since I've climbed it, it will not tighten up I've tried many times. But off to the left there's a bomber set of fixe double rings perfect for anti-jello, is also good for tree routes first belay...Be sure to have some micros to protect the traverse up into the crack. Jun 7, 2017

Matthew Fienup
Santa Rosa Valley, CA

5.6

The titular tree has died. Very sadly, it seems it's only a matter of time until the wind brings the tree down. The route will never be the same.

It's like losing a member of the family. (Dome Rock, California)

Oct 31, 2017

M.A. Sarad
Bakersville, OH

When you get old, your fingers ache, your shoulder hurts, and you haven’t climbed in years, the Tree Route is still worth the drive. I climbed it in the 80s with Arwen and Anti Jello, the 90s with Last Dihedral, and so many times since I lost count. Time to go back. Sep 16, 2019

Ross Goldberg
El Segundo

A completely unnecessary second bolt has been placed above the first on P4, just a few feet away from some gear placements and in a spot where the slab is so low angle; that slipping off is damn near impossible. Jul 21, 2020

Johnny K
California

CAUTION : The large semi-detached flake(s)above the slab on the last pitch are creaking in the wind. Literally. DO NOT USE ANY OF THESE FLAKES. Avoid all the the flakes by going slightly left utilizing the easy slab to the bomber hand crack. The flake system is in direct line of the 3 bolt belay.

A 70m rope is good for linking the route in 2 pitches. May 19, 2021

Christopher Czaplicki
Coarsegold, CA

Such a great little route, looking forward to repeating in the years to come. Trip report: themtsarecalling.com/treero… Jun 11, 2021

Blake Kelly

Climbed it with my wife last weekend and had it all to ourselves! Beautiful flow on the cracks and the exposure on pitch three is as close as you'll come to big wall climbing if you only climb 5.7. Very fun route! Jul 29, 2022

Kristian Solem
Monrovia, CA

"On the fourth pitch, going up and right on a series of small but easy ledges leads to the dihedral. Go this way for technically easier climbing than going to the bolt.

From what I've been told, that is The Tree Route. The bolt is on a different climb. Aug 22, 2012"

Justin is correct. Apr 6, 2024

Eric Sauber
Bakersfield, CA

Two things I wish I knew before I did this climb:

1) You're going to want two #3's, and maybe even a #4 at a minimum. I only have one #3 and #4 and used them both at the anchor at the top of P2. This left me with nothing to protect the 30ft off wide crack section in P3.

2) On P1, after getting past the tree go right. There are two obvious cracks above you, choose the one on the right. Also there is a bolted anchor to the left after the tree that seems very tempting, that is off route and not the way you wanna go. Also, "From the ledge, climb a slab past intermittent cracks to the belay stance on a triangle-shaped cutout, where a second, smaller pine tree used to live. Belay takes 1/2" to 3/4" " - I could not find this second smaller pine, which left me a bit confused on P1. Dec 19, 2024