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Mt. Graham climbing areas?

Original Post
Fuzzy Climber · · Tucson, Arizona · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 0

Is there any climbing areas or routes on Mt. Graham/Pinalenos Mts?

Paul Davidson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 607

yep...

I believe Kerry's guide lists some of them.

Joe G · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 0

Hey man, I'm also looking for information on climbing at mt. Graham. I made a trip to Safford last week and did some hiking around and found there to be a lot of good granite. Like Paul said right now the best info is in the Backcountry guide, it is free to view online. I have some local connections im going to be pursuing and will gladly share any info I find. There is way to much secracy in backcountry climbing , it is my opinion that all info should be shared climber to climber and if there is access issues then no one should go. Not saying everything should be thrown online. I will contact you soon and I'm going to hit google earth and topos looking for remote domes . We saw one nearly the size of rock fellows that has a very rough road getting with in a coule miles of the rock.

Catherine Conner · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Aug 2007 · Points: 230

Went up there once, almost made it to "White Man's Burden", but went too early in Sept, was hot, and the descriptions are to be taken with a grain of salt-no trail (or barely, it was a "connect the dots" affair), and the hike in was further (longer) than we thought (or it was so hot it seemed that way)...

we were within a 1/2 mile of the formation/the approach is kind of remisniscient of the approach to the acropolis in the supes/though possibly steeper? (there is a great, flat, beautiful tree spot about 1 mile from the climb that you could bivy at if you wanted to break up the hike from the climb (I estimate the hike to be 5 to 7 miles, all uphill, lots of cactus, wear good hiking shoes (no mesh) and long pants for sure.

I've always wanted to get back to it and get it done... we didn't make it (the plan was to do it all in a day), but did get close and were on the right track~we only saw the formation from 1/2 mile away... it was a lot more than we thought... The guys I went with were very good with topo maps, and had four wheel drive so we were able to get in a bit further (we went in from the bottom, obviously) ~ weather is probably getting much better for the endeavor.

Marcy - · · Tucson/DMR · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 1,190

Catherine, I'd love to go back with you sometime...maybe the J-team, you, I and Geir could plan a few days and use the bivy spot you mention.

Dj telle · · Mexico City , Tucson, AZ · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 1,879

The approach and route finding for this place can be very hard but some of the climbs are very high quality. I did this approach in a foot of snow and it was one of the most intense I've done.. Amazing place but probably only going back if I fly a jetpack out.

Used 2climb · · Far North · Joined Mar 2013 · Points: 0

I am going to bump this because I spend a lot of time around Mt Graham. Any info would be amazing.

Scott M. McNamara · · Presidio San Augustine Del… · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 55
Allen Sanderson · · On the road to perdition · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 1,203

Just watch out for the Mt. Graham Red Squirrel. They may be endangered but those squirrel's have got nuts!!

Brandon Gottung · · CO Western Slope · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 1,613

I will throw my hat (helmet) into this ring. I would be happy to climb around Mt Graham with solid partners. I'm based out of Las Cruces so it's fairly close.

Dj telle · · Mexico City , Tucson, AZ · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 1,879

I was there a few years ago and have forgotten how hard the approach is so I can probably make another trip back. My partner and I had an unplanned Bivy in the woods after going out the wrong gully.  
If there was an actual trail out there it would be much easier to go in and out in a day, but better to backpack in for a couple days imo.
I posted a route on the site and it is significantly harder than what is in the Kerry guide. (Only 5.10 and under listed in the guidebook.) 
There is a lot of good granite in the Hells Hole canyon as well as the nearby domes.  Maybe a gps would be nice

Used 2climb · · Far North · Joined Mar 2013 · Points: 0

I am going out there this weekend just for a running/hiking trip, I may be able to squeeze in a visit to Far away faces or at least see how far I can get. If I get back in I will be grabbing a GPS track for sure. 

Andy Bennett · · Tucson, AZ · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 676

I've always wanted to check these areas out, just never mustered the gumption. I wonder what the big fire last year did for/against access and routes, would be interested to hear about your experience up there Jon.

Brandon Gottung · · CO Western Slope · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 1,613

Definitely backpacking in would be sweet if water was available. I know nothing about that yet. Probably good in fall only if it's been raining. In spring, I imagine water is fairly abundant.

Troyswank · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 0

Howdy. I'm currently in Alpine but routinely have 6 days off work - to spend wondering around mt graham w/ a rack! Savvy with rescue rigging and rope access. Dm me let's go!

There's fantastic climbing areas up around where I'm at this summer in alpine and reserve ... XD

Jon Schwinger · · Tucson, AZ · Joined Mar 2017 · Points: 5

There are 3-4 5.7 to 5.9ish sport routes a few minutes up creek from the Wet Canyon trailhead, and another 10-12 sport/trad routes near soldier creek on the way to Riggs lake (there are 1/2 dozen granite domes on the south slope, with the closest just a few feet from the road); pm if you want better directions

Used 2climb · · Far North · Joined Mar 2013 · Points: 0
Jon Schwinger wrote: There are 3-4 5.7 to 5.9ish sport routes a few minutes up creek from the Wet Canyon trailhead, and another 10-12 sport/trad routes near soldier creek on the way to Riggs lake (there are 1/2 dozen granite domes on the south slope, with the closest just a few feet from the road); pm if you want better directions

I pulled off and looked at those this weekend, I told my gf i thought I could see bolts up there. Also I would say access to all these areas is going to be rough.... I tried to figure out where far away faces started and its rough looking. Basically lots of downed trees, lots of unstable terrain and lots of underbrush. The undergrowth is over head high in places making orientation very difficult. Good news is it is not hard underbrush to move through, the worst is berry bushes. 

Jon Schwinger · · Tucson, AZ · Joined Mar 2017 · Points: 5

Had a couple requests so I'll just put directions out there..
From the wet canyon picnic area (easily found on google maps) walk 10-15 minutes on a faint trail up creek...routes are on R side at first obvious bluff you come to, maybe 20 yards from the creek. A few routes, under 5.9, with one route set up as a 2 pitch.  The other routes are near the peak on the way to Riggs lake...there will be a sizeable 30' tall granite dome on the left side of the road (20' from the road edge)...it'll be obvious, it's the only granite outcropping that close to the road on the way to the lake. Park there and walk to the back/downhill side of the dome, you'll see several more domes a 5-10 minute walk downhill (south?) through an old burn scar, and another one to the west of that...there are a couple easy trad routes and a bolted route on the (east?) face, with more sport lines on the south face (slab routes to 100'). There are two more bolted routes on the east face of the dome to the west. I'll try to get gps coordinates when I have time. The wet canyon routes are mostly shaded, and the other routes are high elevation, doable in summer.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Arizona & New Mexico
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