Muffins, The

Description 

The Muffins are numerous large boulders approximately 35 feet in height, surrounded by smaller rocks with fun, powerful boulder problems on them.Mid-Muffin is a smallish but somewhat intimidating blob, with several slightly overhanging routes. Three of these are topropes (5.13b to 5.11d), while "Muff Diver" (5.10b) on the right hand side makes for a zesty 2-bolt lead.The Lower Muffins are a group of three similar-sized rocks, with chimneys separating them, and are host to three sport routes in the 5.10-5.11 range. There is also one sport climb (and unknown trad climbs?) on the upper muffin, though I know nothing about the difficulty of this climb.

Getting There 

Estimated hike in: 15 minutes.Distance: .8 miles

Starting from the main area parking lot, head into the main park using the Saratoga Gap trail. This will wind down a canyon crossing the creek for quite some time. At the second Fork in the road, travel accross the bridge and continue down to the observation area. The path that leads to this and other climbing areas in the area (the Muffins and Shady rock) is found by walking down the steep bank to the creek right to the left of a "dangerous cliffs" caution sign about 75 feet before the observation deck.Wind down this path about 50 feet and then head uphill to the left of the cliff band. After about 400 feet of moderately steep path, you will come to a wide rocky and leafy gully ono the right side. The muffins can be seen ahead on the trail at this point. Walk straight ahead and you're at the Lower Muffins. To access the Mid-Muffin, go past the Lower Muffins and find a trail to the right heading up. The bolted route on the upper muffin can be seen easily from the base of Mid-Muffin.

Featured Route For Muffins, The

The Sticky Green Traverse V6  CA : SF Bay Area : Castle Rock State Park

Stand start on a good "old" V3(?) pocket problem on the right side of the face and do the first couple "hard" moves up the V3 then instead of topping it out traverse left all the way to the moss before the tree and then pull onto the slab to finish - classic slopers and pockets! ...[more]