Five and Dime Boulders

In the boulders at the bottom of the Five and Dime...

Description 

Mainly a collection of bouldering North of the Grocery Store Wall. Some excellent boulders line the hillside and the cliff hosts a good variety of climbing--highballs, traverses, trad, toprope, and best of all, seclusion. Not many people venture to this area of the park because, technically it's outside of the boundary of the park. Sssshhhhhhh...

Because the area doesn't see much traffic, the wildlife seems to be more concentrated. I've seen a nesting raccoon, praire rattlers, and more all in one day!

Getting There 

Enter the park from the North entrance and park in the Homestead lot (first parking lot on the left just past the ranger station). Hike across the road South of the ranger station and head West and slighty South up the hill in a gully to the cliff. Several large boulders with severe overhangs are low to the right, and a large slabby boulder with a big North face is low on the left. (A V2 ascends the black lichen streak up the r-center of this face, a V0 traverse goes across the entire face, and a V3 highball with a not so good landing takes the NE arete).

The other bouldering starts along the cliff at the top of the hill. Once you find a significant cliff (about 25-30ft high), continue North along the cliff bottom until you see a highball arete (V0+) with a shorter slab to its right. Keep hiking North and you'll see a North-facing arete/face (V5 sds) and a constricting passage with problems on either side (V1 left, V0 right). Once again, hike around the corner to the NW and you'll end up in a much larger tunnel. The overhanging face is a V1 traverse, and the arete at the N end is a V3.