Bat Cave Area 

Please note that this area is very new. The trails are not well established, take your time getting on the correct trail to limit erosion, it will also save you a bunch of time getting to the crag.

LOOSE ROCK The bolts maybe in but a lot of the route may or may not be cleaned yet due to the amount of work involved in bolting on lead. The goal of the people out bolting to this point has been to get to the top of the cliff so that other routes can go in top down, so many of the route have not had a good cleaning and have not been climbed on.

Also please respect the opportunity of those bolting the routes to climb them. There is plenty of rock that has not been touched, if you need to get an FA just do a little walking or go up one of the routes to access the top and put in another line.

I been looking at that cave every time I drive by... for years... what's the approach time ?

At this time it is hard to guess the true approach time as everyone that is walking in, every time is carrying a drill a bag of bolts and extra batteries. That said I think it is taking a little over 1/2 an hour from the end of the road and in the future when we are not hauling loads it will be a little under. This is for the Bat Cave itself, the Grey Wall will be a bit longer. I have not done the hike to Gotham City but Bryan said the approach was pretty short, it looks like it may be in the 15-20 minute range. If you can't make it to the end of the road you will need to add up to a mile of steep hiking on the 4x4 section.

With all the driving on dirt roads this is pretty out of the way to check out on your way by. It would be better to bring a drill and just commit to a day up there and help contribute to the cause.

So is this land legal? I only ask because I don't carry a firearm and was hoping to go check this out this weekend, but if its that sketchy I think I'll pass until its a bit more traveled.

I have gone down several times with no gun and it seems fine I think you should be very respectful of the mining claims and locals but I think it seems fine.

A map for the driving directions can be found on Beverly Mountain Guide's webpage:
www.beverlymountainguides.com/file_download/13/bat_cave_beve>>>
It doesn't show mining claims or anything like that though.

I wanted to call vista verde gotham city but it got turned into vista verde, which is the name of the hiking trail/overlook below the crag. Great theme for NM. Lots of bats in the cracks and pockets. Siiick looking area.

I finally got a chance to go out there a few times in the last month or so. Hats off to those developing this area!!! It is certainly an amazing setting with an unbelievable amount of rock and beautiful views. The cave itself is mind blowing and the potential for development on surrounding walls is astounding. Once again Hats Off!!!

As a side note, we have not had any encounters with miners (or anyone else for that matter) but we're still a little cautious about the locale. It is very apparent that there has, at one point, been fair amount of mining activity in this area.

Comments from a spirited discussion regarding the development of this area have been moved to this forum thread - www.mountainproject.com/v/bat-cave-area/107962855

One weekend in February, 2011, we were exploring the canyon to the south east of where you park and encountered two miners bringing a load of dynamite to their claim. We were not aware that we were on their claim and were told to leave. They said that whole canyon is full of active claims and shouldn't be trespassed on. It did not take a lot of convincing because they each had assault rifles with scopes and a sidearm. We were told the bat cave is currently an inactive claim so it is fine to be on, but other exploring should be researched first.

The previous comments regarding carrying a firearm refer to my initial post that one may want to consider carrying in this area. That would be my reaction, but it is debatable whether this would be the best course of action for anyone or everyone. In any case, I was in no way trying to deter people from area, but to let people know who the other user group is and how they view the area.