The Long Walk Wall is a backcountry crag at around 9500’ with excellent rock, beautiful crack lines, great views and a lengthy approach. Anyone who’s done a route on the right side of Sundance, or come down the gully descent from Sundance, has seen this small, steep wall off to the East. It’s located directly above (North of) the Parish, and below and right (Southeast) of The Sundance Needle. As visible as it is by Sundance climbers, we found no evidence of previous activity. The Long Walk Wall faces Northwest. The sun doesn’t hit it until almost 2:00, making it a good late spring and summer destination, although early spring and fall afternoons are well within reason. There are currently eleven routes on the wall with room for a couple more independent lines and a few variations. The routes are between 60 and 100 feet in length and range from 5.8+ to 5 .11+. Walking this far for a single pitch crag is not going to be everyone's cop of tea but, if you make the effort, you will be rewarded. Splitter cracks on excellent, and unique, Lumpy granite in a secluded setting.
Getting There
It's difficult to give specific approach directions, but with the following info and an adventurous mindset you should be able to find it. The Parish is the first major formation East of Sundance Buttress. The Long Walk Wall is directly above the West side of the Parish. Leave the Black Canyon Trail a few hundred yards before the Sundance approach trail and head directly uphill. Whenever possible, keep your bearings on The Parish and aim for its left side. You want to hike steeply up along the West wall of the Parish until the cliff peters out and there is a saddle on your right. At this point, you'll see an unimpressive looking formation up above this saddle. The Long Walk Wall is the Northwest face of this formation, accessed by continuing uphill left of it. It's not visible until you round the corner to your right. The total hiking time, from the new parking lot (2007), is about an hour and 20 min. After you leave the Black Canyon Trail, the hiking will be steep and rugged.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for The Long Walk Wall:
Start in the lower of two rectangular recesses near the base of the left side of the cliff. Move up and right into the higher one and pull out its right side into the shallow, right-facing dihedral. Follow the corner as it arches out right, then cast off onto the beautiful face above, passing two bolts, before reaching a left-facing flake system that leads to the top. Traverse right a few feet to the two-bolt lower off anchor on top of [[Last Daz...[more]Browse More Classics in CO
The Long Walk Wall does NOT fall within the raptor closure area. March through September are the best months to go to the Long Walk Wall, and rest assured that you will be breaking no laws.
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