Little Scraggy Dome is another place for some great Platte slab climbing. The scenery is outstanding, it is quiet, and it feels remote. It is West facing making it ideal for mornings on hot summer days or afternoons in the Spring, Fall and Winter. The difficulty currently ranges from 5.7 to 5.11 and is home to perhaps one of the best 5.10a slab routes in the Platte area. Over the past few years there has been new route activity and some excellent well protected slab routes have been put up. I am not sure who is behind the new route activity but whomever it is should be commended for excellent work.
Getting There
From 285 take 126 South and go 4.3 miles past Buffalo Creek to Forest Service Road #550. Go right on #550 and follow the road for 2.2 miles to a little pullout on the left hand side of the road. Follow an access trail (an old 4x4 road) through a field and then along a very small stream until it connects with the Colorado Trail. Take a left on the Colorado Trail and in about 250-400 yards you will be standing below Little Scraggy Dome. Another few minutes of scrambling are required to reach the base.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Little Scraggy Dome:
Two Jews Blues 5.10a Sport, 3 pitches, 400 feet, Grade II
This route is towards the climbers left of the rock formation and to the right of the climbs "5.10+" and "Let Me Cry". I stumbled on to this climb a couple years ago and still can not get it out of my mind. Look for a never ending line of shiny bolts that lead up to and through a headwall feature about halfway up.The climb consists of three pitches of very well protected slab climbing on beautiful granite. No route finding required.P1: Step up ...[more]Browse More Classics in CO
The approach instructions above are very good. Here are a few more details: We missed the parking pullout the first time. I believe it was exactly at 2.2 miles as stated above, but it looked just like the many (very nice) camp sites that preceded it. The pullout is on the outside of a right-hand downhill bend. Look sharply back and left, and you will see a gate across the access road.
The approach is delightful, especially at this time of year with all the flowers. The 4x4 road is very obvious as it crosses the meadow and continues through the woods, very gently uphill. The Colorado Trail is also very obvious, and seems to be very popular with mountain bikers.
Almost immediately after turning left on the Colorado Trail you will see a small meadow on the right below the crag. Beyond the meadow are huge boulders. We did not see a climbers trail to the base of the crag, but it is easy to bypass the boulders by aiming for the far left of the meadow, angling left and up along a pine needle path between some boulders, back right across a slab, then up and left again on easy ground. This brings you right to the base of Two Jews Blues near the left side of the crag.
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