Home - Destinations - iPhone/Android - Gyms - Partners - Forum - Photos - Deals - What's New
 ADVANCED
The Grotto
Giro Pivot Cycling Glove

$69.99 25% off

$52.49

at AlsSports

53    more...
CAMP USA Rox Plus Bag - 2750cu

$99.90 50% off

$49.95

at DeptOfGoods

187    more...
Snow Peak Snow Miner Headlamp

$55.95 25% off

$41.96

at Backcountry

5    more...
Edelweiss Element II Rope 10.2mm

$149.99 30% off

$104.99

at AlsSports

11    more...
Evolv Bandit Climbing Shoe

$119.95 20% off

$95.96

at Backcountry

3    more...
CAMP Ball Nut # 5

$39.95 20% off

$31.96

at EMS

2    more...
Gibbon Slacklines Classic Slackline

$70.00 30% off

$49.00

at Backcountry

2    more...
 more Dirtbag Deals

Select Route:
AC Devil Dog 
Bandito 
Chicken Ranch Bingo 
Flight Simulator 
Go with the Flow 
Granted 
Gyro Gearloose 
Hole in the Wall 
Journey to Find the Sun 
Men's Crisis Center 
Moss Critique 
Prime Directive 
Rawhide 
Snake Bite 
Squealer 
Table Manners 
Table Manners - Left 
Three Fingered Jack 
To Pin or Not To Be 

The Grotto 


Photos: Recent | Best | Popular
Lat, Long: 37.926, -120.4635 Map
Page Views: 24,349. Good page?   
Administrators: M.Morley, Sam Vanderhyden, Tom Erickson
Submitted By: Brian Quiter on Jun 22, 2002

Make this area a Favorite
What's New
  Print a Mini-Guide with routes

Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event 

Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed
Clear
81° | 50°
Partly Cloudy
79° | 50°
Chance of Rain
70° | 54°
Partly Cloudy
73° | 52°
Partly Cloudy
75° | 46°
Open, with restrictions: private property MORE INFO >>>


The Grotto

Description 

The Grotto is one of the most alien places I've ever seen (alongside Joshua Tree)! You're in a 30-foot deep pit, surrounded by climbing. The main wall is columnar basalt until it gets to the surrounding ground level, then becomes more featured and very overhung above ground.The area is also a lot cooler due to its location, and doesn't see much sun. The lower part of the wall has mainly trad climbs, though a few bolted routes like the classic AC Devil Dog are present too. The upper wall is all sport and is mostly very difficult. It can only be reached by climbing the lower routes first.


Getting There 

Approach time: 20 - 25 minutes.

From the Welcome Wall, simply continue left another 2 minutes on the trail. You'll go down a steep trail between some rocks, and you will see the columnar Grotto in front of you on the right, the Ort Wall on the left, and The Cave Routes ahead and left.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for The Grotto:
Bandito   5.8     Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Table Manners   5.8     Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
Granted   5.9     Trad, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
Go with the Flow   5.9     Trad, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Hole in the Wall   5.10a     Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
Chicken Ranch Bingo   5.10b     Sport, 1 pitch, 80 feet   
Three Fingered Jack   5.10b     Trad, 1 pitch, 60 feet   
AC Devil Dog   5.10d     Sport, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Rawhide   5.10d     Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
Table Manners - Left   5.11a     Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
To Pin or Not To Be   5.11a     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Snake Bite   5.11b     Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
Squealer   5.11c     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 120 feet   
Men's Crisis Center   5.12a     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Flight Simulator   5.12b     Sport, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Browse More Classics in The Grotto

Featured Route For The Grotto
thin fingers

Rawhide 5.10d  CA : Sonora Pass (Hwy 108) : ... : The Grotto
Rawhide is the most obvious finger crack left of AC Devil Dog on the lower portion of the Grotto's main wall. It is a fun and difficult route with a distinct crux section near the middle of the route.Stemming right decreases the difficulty.In the photo below, Rawhide is the crack that starts on the bottom left....[more]   Browse More Classics in CA


Comments on The Grotto Add Comment
Show which comments
By Simon Hatfield
From: Los Angeles, CA
Sep 23, 2011

Although the climbing is excellent, it is worth noting that the grotto reeks of (rodent? bat?) excrement, and is mobbed on weekends.

By Colonel Mustard
From: Reno, NV
Nov 28, 2012

Better (sport) climbing is to be had at the nearby Gold Wall. You catch a trail closer to the final entrance gate and then bear left on the trail at the fork to gain the base of the crag. Follow the crowds, you can't go wrong ;). But the dumb asses pretending there isn't a weekend gang bang of the area in effect already still don't want this info published?

Too bad, community discussion of the area and appropriate behavior would be more helpful since only those who need a new set of glasses can't see the cat has been out of the bag on that high quality 5.10-13 sport area for about a decade now. Watch your step if you go, you will literally be tripping over hordes of people on the weekend while visiting the worst kept "secret" in NorCal.

At this point, the private property argument holds no water since you literally couldn't fit more people into this area. Everybody who would go there, does already. I will leave it to admins to remove this comment if they deem it necessary, since I will not.