The quarry is now private land. This area may be in the guidebook, but the relative difficulty in finding the area (no climber trails, no obvious routes) should be an indication: THIS AREA IS OFF LIMITS.
[Hide Photo] The infamous Bishop Peak Quarry. The Red arrow shows the most likely location for the property line. It appears the quarry is nearly to completely on private land.
[Hide Photo] Not quite at the quarry, a little more around the hill toward shadow rock and higher up. Bushwhacking from the summit is the only approach becasue of the private property. Clean Jams
[Hide Photo] Can't climb at the quarry any longer, but here's a photo of what you're missing: munge, trees, and runouts!
[Hide Comment] I'm convinced that the back quarry is not actually on private land. However, it's darn near impossible to get there without crossing private land. The adjacent private land owners patrol this area diligently and are not keen on people crossing their land. I was personally escorted off by a "nice" gentlemen w/a rifle and an ATV. My initial reaction is that we're better off avoiding the quarry. Although it may be public, controversy over access to this area (raised by neighbors), could spread to broader access questions at Bishop's. However, it does have good climbs and a sunny exposure. Would love to hear others thoughts on this matter!
Jan 24, 2004
[Hide Comment] This place is a total choss pile. ive never had any problems with the land managers the two times i have gone there. wouldent recomend any of the climbs ive done there.
Jan 27, 2004
[Hide Comment] Looked into it further, c/o Neil Havlik and the city of San Luis Obispo:
This quarry was once served by a railroad spur is possibly on public land, but there is no legal accessthere. Land in that area was dedicated to the State by the Gnesa family about 12 years ago, and includes all land above the 800 foot elevation. That is roughly the brush line on the mountain in that area, so if you are walking in the grassland, you are likely to be trespassing. This would require some research to determine property lines, and whether the old quarry is inside or outside of the Reserve.
Editorial: This research isn't being conducted anytime soon. Probably not worth the effort.
Jan 27, 2004
[Hide Comment] I had the surveyors at my office do some additional research into the location of the property lines relative to the quarry (see aerial photo). As Kristin mentioned, the property line is at the 800' elevation. Byron Foster owns the large, 104 acre parcel adjacent to the quarry. Using the USGS topo, we've overlaid the property line onto the parcel map & aerial. It appears (best case), that the property line goes right through the quarry. Essentially, your belayer would be on private property while you climb in the BP Reserve. Worst case, the private property includes the entire quarry and a bit of the slope above it. On top of that, there is no good/legal way to access the quarry without either busting through the brush from the summit trail or crossing Mr. Foster's property. In any case, to "foster" good neighbor relations, I recommend that climbers stay away from the quarry. The land owners and local land managers would certainly concur. Besides, there's lots better, and more convenient climbing out there.
Jan 30, 2004
[Hide Comment] The climbs from Edges Ledges all the way to Sarah's Breakdown (with the exception of Slippery Air roof) are good quality. The climbs on the extreme left and right sides are loose and not very good. This rock is worth fighting for. Any loss is a big loss.
From the West Summit Block it would be very possible to walk down to the upper ledge of Sycamore Tree wall. But I wouldn't want to be there if someone didn't want me there. But if we're not on private land, then I say go for it. Long hike, probably not worth it unless you are going to spend a half day there at least.
Mar 17, 2005
[Hide Comment] Omegaman is very worth the effort. So are some of the other climbs by the roof. But very few will ever know. Last time I went I hiked down from the summit with Klis and we had a blast. If I remember correctly, we traversed out, climber's right.
May 26, 2019
[Hide Comment] There was a time not that long ago when you could walk around the entire mountain and there were no fences, no nothing. The only partial fence was at the top of Highland. It was difficult to watch the whole area get fenced, developed etc. I guess at 55 I'm old enough to be able to say "I remember when."
Jul 3, 2026
Access Issue: Closed, no access.
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Sedona
SLO, CA
This quarry was once served by a railroad spur is possibly on public land, but there is no legal accessthere. Land in that area was dedicated to the State by the Gnesa family about 12 years ago, and includes all land above the 800 foot elevation. That is roughly the brush line on the mountain in that area, so if you are walking in the grassland, you are likely to be trespassing. This would require some research to determine property lines, and whether the old quarry is inside or outside of the Reserve.
Editorial: This research isn't being conducted anytime soon. Probably not worth the effort. Jan 27, 2004
Sedona
SLO, CA
From the West Summit Block it would be very possible to walk down to the upper ledge of Sycamore Tree wall. But I wouldn't want to be there if someone didn't want me there. But if we're not on private land, then I say go for it. Long hike, probably not worth it unless you are going to spend a half day there at least. Mar 17, 2005
So are some of the other climbs by the roof.
But very few will ever know.
Last time I went I hiked down from the summit with Klis and we had a blast.
If I remember correctly, we traversed out, climber's right. May 26, 2019
It was difficult to watch the whole area get fenced, developed etc. I guess at 55 I'm old enough to be able to say "I remember when." Jul 3, 2026