San Rafael Swell  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Lat, Long:  38.8525, -110.701 Map Page Views:  782,551. Good page?    Administrators:  Andrew Gram, Perin Blanchard, grk10vq, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Andrew Gram on Jan 19, 2006 Make this area a Favorite What's New  Printer View Add Area  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event  Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon 79° | 50° 77° | 48° 81° | 50° 75° | 48° 84° | 48°

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Description 

The San Rafael Swell is a huge area in the center of Utah, with few people and fewer services. It is the area roughly bordered by Price in the north, Green River to the east, Capitol Reef to the south, and the mountains to the west. I-70 divides the swell into two parts, and is the only paved road within the swell. US 6, Utah highways 10 and 24, and the Moore cutoff road travel around the edges of the swell, and there are many dirt roads - some are good, some are very bad, and all can be difficult to travel during big storms.

The climbing in the swell is tremendously varied, and lies on the adventurous end of the spectrum. Buckhorn Wash is the most popular area, and hosts a high concentration of excellent Wingate crack climbing, as well as towers and bouldering. The San Rafael Reef, AKA the Sandstone Alps, have extremely long slab routes on mostly good rock with very significant runouts. Other areas are less popular, but the climbing is very good for those who are interested in exploring.

Eric Bjornstad's Desert Rock II is the main printed guide to the swell, but it is out of print and only has a small percentage of the routes that have been done. Cam Burns Selected Climbs of the Desert Southwest has a few routes, as does the Falcon Rock Climbing Utah guidebook. New routes are going in constantly, and at this point mountainproject supplemented by Desert Rock II is the best source of information, though it is far from complete.

In addition to rock climbing, the San Rafael Swell is home to impressive rock art, many slot canyons, mountain biking, mellow flatwater canoe trips, class III slot canyon duckie floats, and wild class V kayaking. Crowds are minimal compared to the Moab area, though so are any kind of developed services.

There are no towns or services in the San Rafael Swell aside from a rest area on I70 and a few outhouses along the Buckhorn Wash Road. The closest places for food or gas are Green River, Price, Castledale, Hanksville, or Salina depending on where in the swell you are. Cell phones get no reception except for a few spots along I70. There is great camping pretty much everywhere in the swell, but bring all of your food, water, and firewood.

The swell is all BLM land, and has little regulation aside from the wilderness study areas. The downside to this is that the area gets trashed sometimes, especially by OHVers who visit the area in large numbers. Practice leave no trace, clean up after others as much as you can, and consider using wag bags if you can't make it to one of the outhouses.

Getting There 

This is a vast area in the center of Utah split by I-70. The most popular areas are accessed by the Buckhorn Wash Road. Most of the main roads in this area are good dirt roads, and you can usually at least get close in a 2WD. The road conditions can change quickly since they don't see much traffic, and the remote parts of the swell are not a good place to have car trouble. Visitors should always come to the swell with a full tank of gas, a spare tire in good condition, and extra food and water just in case.

The Classics

Featured Route For San Rafael Swell

Rabid Muslim 5.11  UT : San Rafael Swell : ... : Pine Canyon

This is a right facing dihedral with an obvious roof about 25 feet up, left of Old Bushmills and right of Lite Not Solid. Scramble up large boulder close to the start of Bushmills and belay from block at the base of the climb. Climb 25 ft of good hands to roof. Traverse to lip, pull past lip and enjoy tight hands and off fingers for 60 ft. after 60 feet the dihedral throws a tightening bulge for about ten feet(crux). Once past the bulge keep it together for the varied climbing to the anchor...[more]   Browse More Classics in UT

Photos of San Rafael Swell Slideshow

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Middle Sister Photo by: Frosty Weller	Thin Man Pinnacle Photo by: Frosty Weller	Thin Man Pinnacle Photo by: Frosty Weller
Thin Man Pinnacle Photo by: Frosty Weller	BETA PHOTO: Looking down the southern end of the Eastern Reef ...	BETA PHOTO: Looking up the northern section of the Eastern Ree...
The Weasel and Pinnacle formations.. Northern Swel...	Dawn from the Eastern Reef Slabs looking towards t...	The Hollow Men ..A climb out of Three Finger Canyo...
A perfect December day on the Eastern Reef	Summer in Three Fingers Canyon	Sunrise on the Triple Buttress... Eastern Reef
Evening camp site at The Reef	The summits ....	The San Rafael. Photo by Blitzo.
Driving down to the Eastern Reef, from east to wes...	FA "The Rooster". Weasel Formation Northern Swell....	Wild Burros near Three Finger Canyon . Crockett
One of the many awesome campsites located througho...	There's more to the Swell than climbing! Eddie sli...	Little Grand Canyon Overlook