Good Beginner-friendly locations on the West Coast
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My boyfriend and I have just introduced ourselves to bouldering, and are really enjoying it so far. We are planning a road trip down the West Coast (Vancouver - Los Angeles) early this summer and are wondering where to find some good places that have some fairly easy problems - neither of us have finished a V3 yet at the centre we use at home, although hopefully by summertime we will have improved! Thanks! |
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will you be coming down the coast or down I-5? |
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How long are you looking to take, and when over the summer? The coast might be worth spending a day on, Goat rock has some cool stuff, the North coast supposedly does as well, but I'd make it a quick trip. |
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If you're coming down 101 in the LA area, I would recommend stopping in either Santa Barbara |
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You need to drive directly to Stoney Point!!! |
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Having done the 'roadtrip' a few times, the first 2 questions to ask oneself, "what do i want to see" and is camping free, cheap or $$ California state parks are anywhere from $23 (most) to $40+ PER NIGHT! Oregon is somewhat less. SO finding a place to throw down for <$$ is often a priority. |
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If you don't mind traveling a tad further south / east, Palm Springs Tramway is amazing during the summer and has great density of v-easy to v-hard. It's worth spending a couple days there if you have the time. Plus you get to ride the 360* rotating tram to the top of the mountain!. |
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There's a few good well established boulders in San Luis Obispo. Santa Barbara area has a bunch of famous boulders. Too bad you're stopping in LA, because San Diego county has a lot of bouldering. |
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Definitely spend a few days at the lost boulders, California Oregon border. Camp fro free in red woods national park, whatever the back-country camping (1/4 mile from parking) is and boulders on the beach. Check the weather on the way through, also if you take the 5 instead of the 1 the nut tree boulders are a quick and easy exscursion, super beautiful and lots of easy problems. |
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Oh wow, so many suggestions! Thank you, everyone! We're going to be taking the #1 on the coast for the most part - trying to keep the drive scenic and off of major highways - for two weeks during late June and early July, so I'm really hoping we'll be able to check out a lot of these locations. We've already decided to spend at least a few days between San Francisco and LA (surfing), so we'll make a point to head to Castle Rock State Park, and I really like the "hidden gem" sound of Pine Mountain -- google says it's about 2 hours NE of Santa Barbara, is that correct? |