Deville Rocks are on the north side of Twin Sisters. A set of gneiss rocks in a beautiful location. 20-25 minute walk from the Cheley Camp, where you sign in for permission to cross their land, brings you to a beautiful set of crags. Angle off NE from the 7th switchback. This even gets sun in late October. Walk off descents.
While there is certainly loose rock in the area, some of the classics like Kor's Deville 3, Parallel Universe, & Xenomorph are probably worth the effort.
There has been some new additions in the Petit Deville area.
Getting There
South of Estes Park, just north of Twin Sister. You go east on Fish Lake Rd to the Cheley Camp. Stop in at the office and sign in. They will tell you where you can park.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Deville Rocks:
Start with the first pitch of Xenomorph or the 5.5-7R face arcing out to the right. In either case, your destination is the top of the pillar. Start by setting a nut high in the finger crack and proceed straight up. There are 6 good bolts on the pitch, with the crux coming at the 5th....[more]Browse More Classics in CO
Access to Deville seems ok as long as you sign in at Cheley Camp office. They open at 830am. Talked with Laura there, and they said they do it regularly in the summer months for climbers. Cheley Camp phone is 970-586-4244. Cheers.
Checked out Deville Rocks last weekend....I think my partner's comment mid-way up Wind Song captures our opinion: "This is a huge choss pile held together with lichen." We were not impressed. The entire crag is covered with lichen, moss, and shrubbery and the rock is very poor quality. Gear placements required creativity. There was nothing aesthetic about any of the lines we checked out. Rossiter's guidebook listed 5-6 starred routes - we couldn't figure out why you would star any of them. The only positive note is that we had the place all to ourself the entire day. My guess is that one trip to the Deville Rocks is enough for most people - it certainly was for us.
A bit premature Matt, considering you haven't tried either of the two most classic/popular lines. "Deville Three" and "Xenomorph" are both excellent, 2-3 star climbs with good rock and fantastic exposure; I've done them both multiple times--check 'em out! Xenomorph climbs a spectacular overhanging corner followed by an airy arete on pitch two, with beautiful face/thin crack on pitch three--a very aesthetic line. Deville Three is about as steep as 5.7 gets. Sure there is plenty of choss on some routes, but I've also never talked to anyone who has done Wind Song. There's plenty of choss in Lumpy or Eldo on obscure routes (and even some popular ones!) as well.
As for pro--well, none of these lines are terribly well protected, but that doesn't mean the climbing is bad.
The Daver and I skipped over to Deville rocks from our secret Estes bivy spot in the summer of 2002 to check em' out. I would tender the Komitoesque that these rocks are the compressed kitty litter/rye crisp of granite? A pretty place, however, and you get considerable more warning of impending apocalyptic storms than across the valley. If you are interested in these rocks, may I suggest a June attempt, so that if you don't find the climbs appealing, you can still count the day as training for the high peaks.
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