The North Area of the Devil’s Punchbowl spreads out before your eyes as you look from the parking lot to the north. You’ll see several bands of low angle sandstone, hiding the high angles of their climbs. It is the nature of these vertical and overhanging walls that dispels any possibility of easy climbs; the North Area is home to many 5.11’s and 5.12’s with very little below 5.10. Although the quality of the sandstone in this area is quite good, there is much more aggregate to be found in the North Area (as opposed to the South) and some of it is quite chossy. Most of the climbs get morning sun and afternoon shade, as the walls tend to be east by northeast-facing. The climbs tend to be well-protected and feature modern bolts and hangers.
Getting There
From the parking lot, head east into the main park grounds and continue past the welcome center on your left. Just past this, look for a major trail, lined with a wooden fence, heading off to the northeast. Follow this trail to a right hand U-turn. At this point, hop the low stone wall and follow the trail to the north. Where the trail seems to fork, to the right of a large pine tree, take the left fork. Continue north out of the scrub. At this point you can clearly see Little Attitude wall directly to the north; Attitude wall is the large formation to the northeast. Allow about 10 minutes of hiking on relatively flat territory. More northern walls (Hidden wall, Gorilla Face, Whatever wall) will require more time hiking.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for North area:
Printer Friendly View
RSS Feed
Slideshow
