Shipyard is a large mass of rock with some of the only two pitch routes at the Rushmore areas. A very popular route, Waves, runs up the north face of it. This rock is often crowded. Many safe, easy to moderate variations of Waves exist, and also some hard, fun routes like Nutra-sweet are also on this rock. A definite must stop at rock while in the South Seas.
Getting There
From the South Seas parking area, follow the trail to the South Seas sign-in post. From here, two large masses of rock are straight ahead. The one on the left is Hornet's Nest, and on the right is Shipyard Rock. Most routes start on the opposite face as the entrance here, so follow trails around to the other face to do Waves and its variations, etc.
Waves is one of the best easy routes at Rushmore. Begin on the left side of a ledge on the face furthest from the highway. The first 20 feet of thin climbing up a dyke is the crux. The route can be done as one pitch with a 60 meter rope, but there is an excellent belay ledge halfway up that makes for a good introduction to multipitch climbing. The second pitch is fun steep 5.7 on jugs.A double rope rap from the summit reaches the ground. Thi...[more]
Print a Mini-Guide - Includes Routes!
RSS Feed
