This tiny crags hosts some of the best short, steep, and perfect limestone in Colorado Springs with routes from 5.7 to 5.12d! With a south-facing amphitheatre and all day sun, this crag is perfect year round and can be a nice afternoon workout area for locals.
Most routes are between 15 and 20 feet tall, and a handful of them have been soloed or bouldered. Bring 8 draws and you should be able to do everything there. Try for the crown and send all the routes in a day, where the prize back in the '90s used to be a six pack of beer. Routes are listed from right to left, as encountered on the trail down from the top:
R->L: A. Springs View, 10a, 1p. B. Short Crack, 9, 1p. C. Chickens at Risk, 7, 1p, 20', bolts. D. Common Misconception, 11c, 1p. E. The CHCA, 10d, 1p, bolts. F. Edolecence, 11a, 1p, 18', bolts. G. Damage I Have Done, 12c, 1p, bolts. H. Project, 13+, 1p, 3 bolts.
I wrote the names and ratings on the bottoms of most of the routes....
A few routes on the right side of the wall may be missing hangers due to some pathetic loser stealing them in the mid '90s, I have made an effort to replace almost all of the stolen hangers, but if you want to chip in that would be great! Have fun....
Getting There
Head in the west entrance to the Garden of the Gods and drive past the Balanced Rock to enter Rampart Range Road on your next left. From here, drive 4.9 miles up the washboarded and rutty road until you get to a sharp right handed turn. There is a ten foot tall, ripped up juniper tree there, as well as a cairn with a blue mirror on the left side of the road, and this is where you should park(not a real parking area, just a small pullout). Follow a climbers trail that starts by hopping over a tree and following the cairns and logs down the hill into a small wooded valley, which trends east and brings you to the top of a hill. Follow the trail east across the hill and head down past more cairns until the rocks begin to turn Verdon Gorge blue and grey. The trail should deposit you at the top of the cliff, overlooking a small valley as well as colorado springs to the east, and Cedar Heights directly south. walk down the left side of the cliff, where you will encounter the first route (Springs View 5.11a).
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Ed Rock:
Start up the crack and over the bulge. End at the anchors at the top on the right hand side above the loose rocks wedged in the crack. The first couple hangers twist a bit making the sharp end seem a bit more intense, but hey... what's climbing without the risk?Also, this is a great warm up problem. You can set up a top rope for "Common Misconception" from the anchors, walk off, or rap down....[more]Browse More Classics in CO
Climbed here five or six years ago, and it was surprisingly fun considering how short the cliff is.
I always thought these routes made great top-rope problems, so it's nice that you're replacing the hangers but people should try this area out even if there are missing hangers.
By Jared LaVacque Administrator From: Anchorage Dec 23, 2008
Before the hangers were removed, the routes(not enhancement) were put up by Mark VanHorn and Eric Christiansen and Ed. I helped with developing the base(landing area) and trail work. Ian Spencer-Green and myself are responsible for a few or the routes(which we bouldered, on the left side of the wall), but did not name.
I thought I was on Ed Rock today, but I think I was in William's Canyon. I asked this guy where to go and he happened to be the guy in charge of trails and stuff who directed me to this cool cliff nowhere near where Ben S was telling me, and it had a lot more routes.
After some wandering around, Phil and I finally found this. Some of those 2 finger pockets were absolutely perfect. We felt like the routes were sandbagged a little, as we could not send Chica which was labeled 11a on the crag.
The rock is pretty sweet here. There's about 7 climbs and a few boulder problems. Unfortunately, Springs View (10a) and Short Crack (5.9+) have been chopped. Anyone know why? Is this due to the vandals in the '90s you spoke of? It'd be nice to have a few more moderates to warm up on. Plus, one day I want to win the alleged six pack for climbing all the climbs in one outing. I'd be happy to pitch in for the hardware if someone will rebolt them.
William's Canyon is definitely worth checking out. My dad, Stewart Green and I bolted 20+ routes there and they are excellent. It may not be the best limestone on the planet, but it is the closest limestone to the Springs, and there is tons of potential. Just pretend you are climbing in American Fork or Rifle when they were being developed. Routes range from 5.8 to 5.13 and I'll be happy to email anyone interested a topo. Check it out!
By Dan G0D5H411 From: Colorado Springs, CO Jan 24, 2010
I spent about a whole day trying to find exactly where this rock is...at my last attempt I somehow found the trail. On my car, the mileage was more like 5.1 or 5.2 miles up Rampart Range. You will go around a large turn to the right with a 90 degree left turn 50 yards up the road. I parked at the left turn where this is also a pine on the right side of the road that looks like it was pushed over but still living. If you reach a chain fence on the left and the radio tower on the right, you have gone too far! Turn back around and go back 0.3 or 0.4 miles. At the parking area (fits 1 -2 cars), walk back down the road for 50 yards. On the right hand side of the road (left as you were driving up), look south to find a faint trail leaving the road. The trail starts immediately right of a pine that has had a lot of it's middle branches cut off that face the road. 10 yards down the trail you should see a juniper growing around/engulfing the trunk of a pine. 10 more yards and you should see a large dead pine that has fallen on the trail. Once you have found the trail, it is easy cruising from there. It is a nice singletrack climber's trail with cairns every 20 yards. If you are bushwacking, hiking loose trails, hiking old 4-wheel trails or find yourself in Williams Canyon, you are on the wrong trail! That being said...the rock here is of exceptional quality even though very short. If only Williams was the same!
Dan, thanks for taking an interest in this area; however, I always assumed that the directions were left intentionally bad due to this areas proximity to private property.
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