A high and lonely 600' cliff in the Park that provides beautiful views, excellent climbing on perfect granite, and near certain solitude. Well worth the longer approach, especially if you do a couple of routes. Descent: head east from the top, then bushwhack down.
Getting There
2 ways-- 1) park at the Deer Ridge junction trailhead on Trail Ridge Road, follow the Deer Mountain trail for about 1 and 1/2 miles to where it touches the south side of the moutain, then contour around past a smaller buttress to the base of the cliff. Alternatively, Richard Rossiter (in The Crag Areas) describes the confusing parking arrangements that plant you at the base of a vertical bushwhack (count on an hour) up to the north-facing cliff.
Seasonal Closures
Often, this crag is closed Mar 3 - July 31 for raptor nesting. Check the notices closely.
Nice rock and beautiful area with excellent views, stays nice and shady for much of the day. I haven't read Rossiter's approach description from the north, but found a very mellow approach based on the Gillett description. We parked at the Aspen Glen campground, headed down a faint trail east from the SE end of the campground, then went south as soon as you get past the ridge... from there, just head straight up the hill to the bottom of the north face. It took 1 hour at a very moderate pace and could be done in 45 or 50 minutes at a quick pace. Very little to almost no bushwacking, very pleasant approach.
The quality of the rock here is surprisingly good - very "Lumpy-like".
We approached via the trailhead at Deer Mtn Junction. It wasn't bad at all. After taking the trail all the way up to the 2nd right-hand switchback, strike off thru the woods (to the north) at a level grade - neither gain nor give up altitude. After traversing around to the north side of Deer Mountain (thru mostly open forest - easy walking), encounter a few hundred yards of blow-downs and bushwhacking as the prow of the rock formation starts to be discernable thru the trees. Emerge from the woods onto the talus field at the base of the NW face.
We approached via the Deer Mtn Junction trailhead. Took a left at the 2nd right-hand switchback and traversed around to the north side of Deer Mtn. Only the last couple hundred yards before the talus field was anything close to being a bushwhack.
We used the Deer Mtn Junction trail as well. We did not leave any gear at the base, so when we topped out, we just hiked southwestish through the woods for 5 or 10 mins till we met back up with the trail. This was a great way to descend.
Deer Ridge Buttress
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