Unlike the larger Castle Rock bouldering areas, Panther Beach isbeachside and on a nice ocean day, the setting is awesome.
Though smaller in area, this area is gorgeous. There is a largeboulderable arch, and many many beachside climbing sections, mostin a fairly tight area. Landings are in sand, which is excellentfor highball problems.
Climbing ranges in difficulties from really easy, to terrifyinglytough sections that can put you over 25 feet in the air. Somesections are slabby, some sections are severly overhung. Onething that is for certain is that all of the rock is softsandstone, and most of the rock in the area can pull off. After arainstorm, this is not a good place to be for your safety, andthe potential for damage to the rock itself.
You can't legally camp on Panther Beach, but I'm told that it hasbeen done by climbers and non-climbers alike.
Getting There
Located about 8 miles north of Santa Cruz, and 2 miles south ofDavenport, this unmarked beach can be tough to find.
From the North: Take highway 1 south approximately 2 miles southof Davenport, which is located about 1/2 an hour south of HalfMoon Bay.
From the South: Head north out of Santa Cruz on highway 1. Theparking lot is about 6.1 miles north of the milage sign just outof Santa Cruz.
The parking lot is large, and parallels the highway, though issits considerably higher than the highway. Once you see a widedriveway on the beach side of 1 at approximately those milages,you should pull in. The parking lot itself is about 300 yardswide, with the trail to the beach on the north end. Several ofthe sections of the parking lot are quite rough on a 2wd vehicle,so choose your path carefully!
There are a few more things worth mentioning about Panther beach.
1) No. Not all the rock is sandstone. The best bouldering is on your typical gray rock (i think its called 'Wacke') and there's are big streaks of it around the area. Its been weathered into rounded off slopers and makes for some great climbing.
2) High tide will affect some of the routes. We were there at ~5ft tide and the best bouldering was getting wet during the biggest sets.
3) Aron failed to mention that the cliffs get up to ~60 feet hight and the climbing continues to entice, just figuring out how to top rope (no bolts in the sandstone!) will require some creativity.
Panther has long been a local secrete and we don't usually tell a lot of people about it. Since you have already spilled the beans, I would like to request that visitors respect the local tradition and boulder barefoot. The waves wash the chalk off the walls every night and we get to climb on beautiful clean rock everyday. Unfortunately climbing rubber is not so easy to wash off and seems to scar the rock. We have been climbing there for a long time and have been able to keep a low profile. Please help by respecting the local customs. Since you are going to respect the shoe ban I will let you in on a couple of local tips.
1. In the summer the beach sands are usually too high to access the good stuff. Panther is best in the winter when storms wash as much as ten feet of sand from the beach overnight.
2. As the full moon builds the tides get higher and wash more sand off the beach. If there is a swell from the north during the full moon the exposures can be epic.
3. Don't drive down here thinking that you'll be able to use the rock during high tide! Get a tide chart.
4. The locals get bummed if you use climbing shoes.
By Aron Quiter Administrator From: Berkeley, CA Jun 17, 2003
Note the mileage change, I just went and checked myself, and I was off by a bit.
i just went to panther beach for the first time yesterday -it was the only bouldering spot in the bay area i had never been to. now i know why!.. -IT SUCKS ASS!- don't waste your time unless your in the area and are very bored and want to hang out at a beautiful beach more than actually climb (i will say that it is a very pretty beach with a neat arch to look at) i wouldn't recommend climbing there at all actually. the rock is some of the worst quality sandy, crumbly choss i have ever heard of people trying to climb on (if you can call clinging on to a few lumps of loose, wet, sand covered dirt/rock for about 5 or 10 moves before jumping or falling off "climbing")
i heard this was where sharma climbed when he lived in santa cruz- so i figured the bouldering must have been pretty good to have helped create such a strong climber -wrong- now i think that if he did (or anyone could) learn anything from these chossy climbs it's how to appreciate good rock when you get it and how to climb with bad feet (wet, sandy, and loose) and bad hands (wet, sandy and loose) but with a no stress landing (soft sand)..? !
By Aron Quiter Administrator From: Berkeley, CA Oct 9, 2004
Hmmm... I guess reading drunkenmaster's comment made me realize that I made a mistake in my introduction: If I had three words to describe the climbing at Panther Beach "It sucks ass" would definately suffice.
It's a nice beach, but is part of what Obe Carron described as the "vortex" known as Santa Cruz.. Don't go here thinking you're going to spend more than about 5 minutes working on problems. Bring a frisbee and beer (I bring beer to the crags everywehere, but this time it's mandatory), lots of beer.
Panther Beach
Printer Friendly View
RSS Feed