Mountain Project: Climbing Devil's Lake > East Bluff

The East Rampart is the most popular climbing area at Devil's Lake. It is a quarter-mile long cliff band containing the highest concentration of climbs at the park. This may or may not be a good thing, depending on how many people you like around you when you climb. The area undoubtedly contains some of the finest climbs at the Lake, and the climbs are generally long (some over 100 feet) and exposed. You are apt to find that no matter how early you've come to climb that famous route someone else has already claimed it. But rest assured, there are plenty of other classics to choose from in the event you arrived a little too late. You'd be crazy to avoid the area solely because of the crowds. This is, after all, the most popular climbing area at the park for a reason.

The areas included here in the East Rampart, from East to West (right to left), are:

No Sweat

Guillotine Wall
Guillotine
The Monster

D'Arcy's Buttress (Cemetary Wall to Darkness at Noon)
Pedestal Buttress (incl. Sometime, Campus Wall) (Sometime Right Side to Lethe)
Gill's Buttress (Twin Cracks to Boy Scout)
Brinton's Buttress (Rubber Man to Puff'n'Grunt Chimney)
Two Pines Buttress (incl. Mouse Wall) (The Rack to Hypoglycemia)
Many Pines (Buttress (incl. Peter's, Flatus) (Anemia to Algae)
V8 Tower
Moldy Buttress (incl. Minus Wall) (Lichen to Roofus)
Bill's Buttress (Dogleg to The Outhouse)
Rainy Wednesday Tower
Green Bulge (Out of the Woods to Hirsute)
Bedroom Wall (Cerebration to Foreplay)

Four Brothers

Leaning Tower
Tombstone Wall

Pseudo Hawks Nest (Wild Horses to Anchor's Away)
Balshazzar's Feast
Hawk's Nest (Renal Exam to Land's End)

Getting There

To get to the East Rampart park at the CCC parking lot and cross the road to pick up the CCC hiking trail. The trail consists of rock steps that climb through the woods and up the talus field for a good 15-30 minute hike. When you get to "The Monster", a 20 foot wall, take a left at the "T" in the trail until you get to the "Pedestal Buttress". At this point, you can turn right and around D'Arcy's Buttress to access the top of the cliff (and many access gullies) or you can go left to access the bottom of the cliff. Go right only if your climb is located at "Many Pines Buttress" or east. If your climb is west of there, take the upper trail and descend to the base of the climb via the "Leaning Tower" gully.

The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for East Bluff - East Rampart:

Coatimundi Crack 5.6 Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 125 feet Bill's Buttress

Brinton's Crack 5.6 Trad Brinton's Buttress

Peter's Project 5.7 Trad, TR Many Pines Buttress

Orgasm 5.8 Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 80 feet Rainy Wednesday Tower

Brinton's Direct 5.8 Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 90 feet Brinton's Buttress

Birch Tree Crack 5.8 Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 50 feet Pedestal Buttress

Upper Diagonal 5.9 Trad, TR Pedestal Buttress

The Stretcher 5.9+ TR, 1 pitch, 40 feet Pedestal Buttress

Sometime Crack 5.10a Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 50 feet Pedestal Buttress

Congratulations 5.10a Trad, TR Pedestal Buttress

Mouse's Misery 5.10a R Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 80 feet Two Pines Buttress

Cheatah 5.10b Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 120 feet Bill's Buttress

Sometime Direct 5.10d R Trad, 60 feet Pedestal Buttress

Alpha Centauri 5.10d Trad, 100 feet Hawk's Nest

Flake Route 5.10d PG13 Trad, TR Pedestal Buttress

Thoroughfare 5.11a Trad Two Pines Buttress

D.L.F.A 5.11 Trad, 29 pitches, 290 feet, Grade VI Pedestal Buttress

Gill's Nose 5.11c TR Gill's Buttress

Acid Rock 5.12a TR, 1 pitch, 40 feet Gill's Buttress

Bagatelle 5.12c/d R Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 50 feet Pseudo Hawk's Nest

Photos of East Bluff - East Rampart

Slideshow

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Kristi taking a breather after the hike up the CCC...	Ripples in stone	Our friend the woodchuck
Spiderwort and Baraboo Quartzite	Fall sunset from the East Bluff trail. October '08...	Looking down from the base of Brinton's Buttress 2...
Bob Horan on The Little Flatiron, Devil's Lake, WI...	Birdfoot Violet (Viola pedata) is an unusual littl...	Jeff Vogtschaller cruises the CCC trail to the Eas...
From the CCC trail looking toward Madison.	The start of the CCC trail to the East Bluff.	Devil's Lake Hardcore 1-16-2010
Best seat in the house	East Bluff boulderfield under snow, 2011	Best Belay Seat Ever at Devil's Lake. One day (ea...
View from the top of Chicago.	How to be rude	The cool weather has been good to these guys!

Comments on East Bluff - East Rampart

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By Anonymous
Mar 14, 2002

not to be nit-picky... but it is only, at most, a 15min hike to the top (even with that aid rack and portaledge you're bringing to practice with).

By Tom Anderson-Brown
From: Madison, WI
Mar 15, 2002

You're right. I was going for worst-case (spare tire) scenario. But you are definitely correct.

By Stephen D. Schaefgen
Apr 13, 2002

Hey! I resent...er...uh...resemble that remark! Some of you may be better hikers than others, but let us not offend them! It all depends. Just give a distance and altitude gain and and average time. It isn't an easy hike, then again, neither were the mountains I summited! Let us not pick on the other people. Some of us DO climb with a spare tire.

Steve

By Anonymous
Apr 24, 2002

I used to think this hike was long and hard until I moved to Colorado. Tom - Great work on the site. I learned to climb at the lake and have moved on to bigger things, but I'll be back some day and will use the site often then. Keep it up! Mark Morehouse

p.s. Check ClimibingBoulder.com if you're going anywhere in Colorado, it's stacked with beta!

By Brian Milhaupt
From: Golden, CO
May 5, 2002

When they first started the sister sites to this one they were pretty useless. There was alot of negativity surrounding how people would use or abuse it, and how benefitial it would really be. Now they have become a very useful tool for front range climbers. Just keep things positive, and a picture is worth a thousand words.

By Steve Sangdahl
From: eldo sprngs,co
Mar 31, 2005

this area is one of the best places to climb at dl as proven by it having been worked to death by decades of midwest climbers.it is a great place to pull down whether you top-rope or lead.there are scores of 3 star routes to climb. lets be careful out there!

By mike suarez
Oct 3, 2005

i am new to aiding and I was wondering if some of you could recommend some good beginner aid(clean) routes around southern wisco. thanks-ms

By Peter Beck
Nov 19, 2012

I had to bail late in the day on October 27th and left an entire top rope setup on Birch Tree Crack. All the hardware is marked with blue and yellow tape.

3 Camalot's each with a bright orange BD hoodwire biner
2 Omega Pacific pear shaped lockers
Blue/red/purple cordalette
Purpe 1 inch webbing

I'm a teacher and climbing coach in the area. Please contact me if you recovered the gear.
avoiceof@gmail.com

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East Bluff - East Rampart

Description

Getting There

The Classics