Hidden Valley Campground Bouldering

Steven Powers on stem gem, photo Kevin Calvert

Description 

Hidden Valley Campground (HVCG) is the heart and soul of Joshua Tree and conveniently offers a large number of high-quality boulder problems with little to no approach. Some problems are handily located within a campsite, so please ask the occupants for permission before climbing those problems.

Classics of the area include Stem Gem (V4) a unique palming/stemming problem that captures the essence of Josh bouldering, Scatterbrain (V6) a tricky overhanging arete,Caveman (V7) a line of (mostly) good holds out the underside of a large boulder and Orange Julius (V7) big moves up a thin orange dike.

Getting There 

Hidden Valley Campground is located 8.9 miles from the west entrance and 1.7 miles from the Cap Rock turnoff. Day use parking is available in the large lot situated along the east side of Intersection Rock as well as within the Campground itself near the bulletin board. Those lucky enough to secure a campsite will be able to access all of the problems in this area without driving.

The Classics

Featured Route For Hidden Valley Campground Bouldering

Stem Gem V4  CA : Joshua Tree National Park : ... : Stem Gem Boulder

Located in a small group of campsites on the Southern end of the Blob formation. Please ask permission for bouldering in occupied campsites.Stem Gem is the Quintessencial JTree boulder problem, embodying the essence of Joshua Tree climbing: Highly technical and often times perplexing movement across extremely friction dependant, featurless granite. Indeed, this problem has nary a hold on it, the only thing making it climbable is its coarse fricti...[more]   Browse More Classics in CA

Photos of Hidden Valley Campground Bouldering Slideshow

Add Photo

The Loop boulder