Playhouse Rock sits near and to the south of Hemingway Buttress. It faces east and is one of the more popular formations in the park with numerous routes of varying difficulty on the east side. There are at least two sets of rappel anchors on top and down climbing is easy off the southeast end. It's an excellent formation for working with novice climbers: A 5.4, a couple of sixes and numerous sevens; good quality rock; most routes are easily protected and all the routes are one pitch. Further, there are excellent eights and nines. A couple of the nines, I believe, are underrated by a point.
Getting There
Playhouse sits a short distance to the south of Hemingway Buttress. You can now park at the lot used for Hemingway or the pullout a few yards further up the road. The approach is no more than ten minutes.
I agree whole-heartedly with the initial description of Playhouse Rock as a good place for beginners. I had a very enjoyable guided trip to Playhouse Rock as a beginner (thanks Mark Joliff "speedy Mark"), and then a couple of fun, self-guided, trips. Next time to JTree, I'll take photos of various routes and get them into the system.
the anchors on top no more! The anchors that I think were placed by a local Climbing School for convienence no longer exist. They have been removed and patched decently at least.
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