Mountain Project: Climbing Sierra Eastside

The intriguing Druid Stones sit about two thousand feet above Bishop in the foothills of the Sierras, just southwest of town. The approach is anywhere between 25 and 45 minutes up a fairly steep hillside, thus filtering out the crowds you'd see at the nearby Buttermilks or Happy Boulders, making it an ideal location on busy weekends and holidays.

Home to hundreds of boulder problems in the greater area, it's an area definitely worth checking out, with lots of potential higher on the hillside and to the south in a seemingly endless sea of granite boulders and outcroppings. Large boulders are found everywhere in the area and alongside the trail during the hike in. It'll be tempting to stop in many places and drop pad during the approach, but keep truckin' and you'll soon find a highly concentrated 'grove' of boulders with an abundance of classics surrounding the dominant and centralized Druid Stone. The rock is a coarse monzonite granite, the same as that found at the Buttermilks, so bring fresh tips and tape. Visitors will find that the view from the boulderfield alone is worth the hike, but since there are hundreds of massive granite boulders at your fingertips, you might as well have a go at some of them while you're there.

Getting There

From US 395 (Main St. in Bishop) take W. Line St. west towards the Sierras. After a mile or so, take a left at the light onto Barlow Lane (south) and after about 1.5 miles bear right at the fork. The road curves west at this point. Make a left after you pass under the 3rd powerline onto a dirt road. Take your first right and after maybe a mile or so park at the oval where the road ends. The trailhead is here. Take the obvious trail as it goes back into the wash then switchbacks left up around the hillside. Keep hiking, after 25-45 minutes, when the trail finally flattens out on the crest, look for the boulders on your left. There is a side trail into the boulders off the main trail marked by a small rock 'V' at the fork (please use this trail).

The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Druid Stones:

Jormungand V0+ R Boulder, 20 feet Blood Kin Stone

There Is No Party (Right) V1 Boulder, 15 feet The Otherworld

You Can Cry If You Want To V1 Boulder, 15 feet The Otherworld

Blood Kin V1 Boulder, 18 feet Blood Kin Stone

Head Butt V1 Boulder The Otherworld

Pretty In Pink V2 Boulder, 12 feet The Otherworld

Thunder V3 Boulder, 11 feet Thunder Wall Area

Fear of the Unknown (Stand) V3 PG13 Boulder, 17 feet Sacrificial Boulder

Kredulf V4 Boulder, 12 feet Thunder Wall Area

Arch Drude V4-5 Boulder, 18 feet Arch Drude Boulder

Prostrate to the Higher Mind V5- Boulder, 12 feet Thunder Wall Area

Fear of the Unknown (Sit) V5 PG13 Boulder, 17 feet Sacrificial Boulder

Hook Line and Sinker V5 Boulder, 12 feet Wave Boulder

Natural Philosophy V6 Boulder, 10 feet Thunder Wall Area

Denton's Diversion V6 Boulder Thunder Wall Area

Skye Dance V6 Boulder, 18 feet Skye Stone

Cayla V7 Boulder, 16 feet Skye Stone

All Fired Up V7 Boulder, 13 feet Thunder Wall Area

Golden Child V9 Boulder, 15 feet Druid Stone Area

Denton Calhoun V11 Boulder, 20 feet Thunder Wall Area

Photos of Druid Stones

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THE Druid Stone	The magical and mysterious Druid Stones	BETA PHOTO: Looking south at the Druid Stones, visible on the ...
Jeremy Freeman bustin' it on a steep, unnamed prob...	Hiking out	Kipp Schorr at the Druid Stones
Don't forget to look around for new stuff while yo...	Wandering up the giant west face of the Merlin Blo...	Moon over a trailside tree
Evan with some air under his feet on the west face...	The Druid Stones, on the horizon, seen from a ways...	The Druid Stone and Golden Child, V9 on the left.
Hall of the Mountain Queens	Jason, Brian and someone I can't remember hiking b...	approach trail with Basin Mtn & Mt Tom in the back...
Druid Stone with ~10" of snow	lovely patina	snowy Dec day at the Druids

Comments on Druid Stones

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By adam brink
From: Boulder, CO
Apr 21, 2011

Is it too hot at the Druid Stones to boulder in summer? I've bouldered here in April and it was getting warm. Thanks!

By Adam Winters
Administrator
From: the Shire
Apr 28, 2011

It's hot for sure, and it's actually at a lower elevation than the Buttermilks. It's possible, but I'd head into the high country if I were you...

By Drrob95
Oct 27, 2011

Hi: I just want to make a comment. I know that the bouldering community has named this are the Druid Stones, but since and least the mid 1800's locals knew the area by the Paiute Word "Eganobe" (loosely translated, means place to eat-or more literal, soup house). The trail by Eganobe was for years a livestock trail, starting with horses, and then cattle, and before that a tribal trail into the area and Coyote Valley. My family was the last to take cattle up there in 1984, we drove 360 head for summer grazing in Coyote. We went the first part of July, and yes it was hot then too. My family first took livestock up the trail in 1876, the name Eganobe was told to my grandfather A.A. Brierly by Paiute cowboys that worked for him. There are many tribal home sites and arch sites just beyond Eganobe. It is too bad the bouldering community didn't learn the local name for the place that has been used for generations. I started going in with cattle when I was 12. Last time I went I was 28. Often in the summer we rode up the trail to check cattle sometimes once a week, in later years we hauled our horses up the Coyote Road to make cattle check. Right near spot Eganobe is where we would let the cattle drift after the first day of the drive, we spent the night on the trail and early next morning followed the straglers on into Coyote. Later, after the trap was built at the foot of the hill, the cattle would be put in there for the night, and the next day we drove the cattle in all the way to Coyote. I have written a couple articles in the Inyo Register about the Eganobe area. It is one of my favorite spots, and has lots of memories.

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Druid Stones

Description

Getting There

The Classics