The Mace is maybe the most well-known climbing formation in Sedona and probably the most climbed as well, at least by technical means. Back in the 1950's when famous California climbers Bob Kamps and Dave Rearick came to town, the Mace was one of the first formations that got their attention.
Getting There
The Mace is sort of in the middle of the Cathedral Rocks mesa, off the east side. Looks like a 400 foot mace (the weapon). Park at Back O' Beyond trailhead and follow the tourist trail marked with trashcan cairns of rock up to the east side and traverse over to the Mace from there.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for The Mace:
Original Route 5.9+ Trad, 5 pitches, 400 feet, Grade III
The Mace is a classic Sedona route, and one of the "must do" lines in the area. If you're used to Moab area towers, this is a bit of a disappointment in terms of rock quality, but the adventure itself is wonderful.Approach from a small trailhead off of Back O' Beyond Road in Sedona. The hike is 15-20 minutes at a leisurely pace.P1: Climb up chimney or face to the right (runout) to crack going through limestone band. Pull the small roof and gain ...[more]Browse More Classics in AZ
The Mace was a great climb. We didn't have any offwidth or chimney experience so this made our experience on the Mace even more fun. We learned technique as we went. Each pitch was a full body slog, we grunted, squeezed and chicken armed our way up the offwidths.
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