PRINT: Rock Climb Regular Route, Central Coast

Regular Route

5.6, Trad, 90 ft (27 m),

Avg: 2 from 8 votes
FA: Tom Rixon, Jack Arnold, Fred Kelly 11/1940
California > Central Coast > Pinnacles NP > W Side > Elephant Rock

Access Issue: Seasonal Raptor Closures Details

Always check this web page before you visit for current conditions and nesting closures:

Current Raptor Advisories for Pinnacles National Park nps.gov/pinn/planyourvisit/…
and
pinnacles.org/climbing_info…
Closures effective as of the day after Martin Luther King Day- July 3. Check closure website for details on closed areas.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Condors have been establishing nests at the Pinnacles National Monument. Since condors develop to fledgling more slowly than raptors and vultures closures due to condor nesting is extended past the usual Martin Luther King Day to July 3rd. Again, please check the "Current Raptor Advisory" section of the NPS website and/or the Friends of Pinnacles website for current closures.

As of July 2024 there are three active Condor nests at Pinnacles National Park.

The Machete Ridge area is closed from Pigeon Crack on west face then west around the south side to The Hideout including the popular Old Original.

All climbing routes at Crowley Towers are closed.

All routes on the Yaks and Yaks Wall plus Marauder.

Description

3rd class to a gully leads you to the base of the route: an easy maybe 5.4 chimney. Exit left to some face/crack climbing that tops out on an exposed ridge. Traverse left to another section of face/OW crack climbing. Top out to the left. The hardest move is transitioning into the final section of crack without pulling too hard on the every questionable Pinnacle's rock. Bolts and chains at the top for the 80' rappel back to the base.

Location

On the east face of Elephant Rock.

Protection

Two bolts (one before the traverse and one before the final moves). We placed a BD .75 in the thinner first crack and BD 1 right before the second crack.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

getting to the start of the regular route can be confusing, aim for the grassy knoll smack dab in the middle of this picture (kinda looks like a bush in this thing). Getting to that spot required a…

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Floyd Hayes

5.6

The approach is easy: just follow the signs! There's an alternate start that transforms Elephant Rock into a two-pitch climb. Continue uphill on the trail past the standard class 3 approach until it turns left toward two large pines. Between the pines there is a bolt on the 15' wall to the left, which protects a short and rotten 5.8 face climb with a double-bolt anchor and single rappel ring at the top. Clip the anchor and waltz across the class 3 ridge to the start of the Regular Route on Elephant Rock. You can wrap a double runner around a very big knob for a belay anchor. The follower can drag a second rope and quickly set up a rappel above the 5.8 face, which will save you time later.

I thought the crux (psychologically if not physically) of the Regular Route was the first few unprotected moves up the rotten chimney. There are two poorly placed bolts. The first is at the top of the ridge, just before you traverse left, far right of where it should be (I missed it the first time), so use a double runner on it (or just skip it). The second is after the traverse at the base of the final headwall, but it's much lower than it should be. Leave behind your big cams, they won't do you any good. Aug 29, 2013

pakoR R

Great short climb: chimney, face climb, traverse, cracks. Placed
• BD 0.5 at the 1stcrack after exiting the chimney
• BD 0.75 at the 2nd crack, before moving from the ridge to the crack May 28, 2019