St. Vrain Canyons  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Page Views:  60,562. Good page?    Administrators:  Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Leo Paik on Oct 13, 2012 Make this area a Favorite What's New  Printer View Add Area  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event  Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu 86° | 50° 86° | 54° 81° | 50° 77° | 50° 75° | 46°

Todd Pett puzzles over the crux of Remission.

Description 

This is a set of 3 canyons that are the drainages of the South, Middle, and North forks of the St. Vrain River. The greatest bulk of the climbing to date is in the South Fork. The rock is granitic and at times on the coarser side. There are a variety of routes here, some traditional, some sport, even some ice/mixed. Most of the routes are shorter here, maybe up to 5 pitches in length. There is still a decent amount of rock to explore here. While there is some friable rock in places, the bulk is good quality. Poison ivy does tend to flourish in spots here, so the sensitive should be aware.

Getting There 

Most will drive up US 36 or CO 66 west to Lyons. From there, the forks diverge. The South and Middle Forks are accessed off of CO 7. The North Fork is accessed off of US 36.

Overview 

With the help and prompting of John Marsella, we'll list these crags going uphill from CO 7 & US 36.

SouthSt. Vrain
Mile 3.1 North: Scout Rock | Scout Slab
Mile 3.5 South: Guard House | Guardian Rock
Mile 3.6 North: Dance Hall of the Dead | Turd World Country | The Shrine of Vanity | Atoll, The | Deadman's Gulch | Deadman's Gulch Boulder
Mile 3.8 South: Mushroom Massif
Mile 3.9 South: Area 51 | Desdimona
Mile 4.2 North: Kids' Wall
Mile 4.3 North: Backstage Wall | December Wall
Mile 4.4 South: The Cliffs of Insanity
Mile 4.4 North: P. Mosh Wall
Mile 4.5 North: The Thinker
Mile 4.5 South: The Sentinel
Mile 4.6 North: Roadside Rock
Mile 4.9 South: Sweat Loaf aka Big Dogs
Mile 5.0 South: The Throne
Mile 5.1 North: Observatory Rock | Upper Infirmary Slabs | Lower Infirmary Slabs | Left Infirmary Slab
Mile 5.3 North: North Narrows Slabs
Mile 5.5 North: Vrain Dead
Mile 5.5 South: Mechanical Man | Swift Rock
Mile 5.6 South: Rapids Rock
Mile 6.0 South: The Spire
Mile 6.5 North: The Monkey Skull
Mile 7.0 South: The Acrophile | Mystery Rock
Mile 7.0 North: The Hobo Car
Mile 7.2 South: Trojan Bunny Buttress
Mile 7.7 South: Arch of Titus | The Coliseum
Mile 8.1 North: Drill Affair, 5.8
Mile 9.1 South: The Fang
Mile 10.4 South: The Watchtower

Middle Fork of St. Vrain - off of CO 72 going south from CO 7
Mile ~14 south on CO 72: Piz Cengalo
Mile 14.4, south on CO 72 -> "a few miles" East: Piz Badille


North St. Vrain off of US 36

Lyons Area
Buttonrock
Tomato Rock

Pinewood Area
Pinewood Boulders
Pinewood Rock

Big Meadows Area
Raven's Roost
Coulson Gulch - 2.9 mile hike from Johnny Park off CO 66.
Pierson Point - approached from CO 7.

The Classics

Featured Route For St. Vrain Canyons

Lost in Time 5.10b  CO : Lyons : ... : The Coliseum

The second pitch of Lost in Time is one of the best of its grade for the caynon. The quality is on par with "Upside the Cranium" and "Panic in the Gray Room".P1: The first pitch starts on the blunt arete to the right of the obvious large tree about 80 feet up the wall. Place a small cam at the start and clip two bolts along the arete. Low angle climbing and one bolt leads to the tree belay. Let your partner lead this one. (5.9, 80 feet)P2: The money pitch.... Follow...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO