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| Elevation: | 5,765 ft |
| GPS: | 39.754, -105.24 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
| Page Views: | 1,552,526 total · 7,365/month |
| Shared By: | Quinn Stevens on Dec 31, 2000 |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac |
Access Issue: Seasonal Raptor Closures
Details
Raptor Closures Effective February 1-July 31
Visit: jeffco.us/open-space/news/2…
Tunnel 1 closure
For more details visit: jeffco.us/open-space/alerts…
The two areas Jefferson County Open Space intends to close in Clear Creek Canyon, shown on the attached maps, encompass the active eagle nests. If the Clear Creek eagles continue to nest in the active nests, these areas will remain closed from February 1 through July 31. If the eagles choose different nesting sites, the closures will be adjusted accordingly to protect those eagles during their breeding season.
Currently, rock climbing areas that fall inside of the seasonal raptor closures include:
Blonde Formation
Bumbling Stock
Evil Area
Ghost Crag
Highlander
Skinny Legs
Stumbling Block
Tetanus Garden
Description
Clear Creek Canyon (CCC) is aptly situated along Clear Creek, just west of Golden. The canyon is most well known for its accesible wealth of sport climbs, with some trad climbs interspersed. The rock varies here from gneiss & schist to a sandy granite, relatively solid but much different and perhaps more unique than the gray sweeps of Boulder Canyon.
While the individual areas here tend to be specialized with regard to the route type and difficulty, the canyon as a whole has a variety of ratings. Beginners should look into the High Wire Crag, Catslab - note it is apparently open, Little Eiger, Red Slab, and The Canal Zone while excellent difficult routes abound from the Primo Wall, Wall of the Nineties, Anarchy Wall, The River Wall, and New River formation. Clear Creek also offers some nice winter climbing options such as the Red Slab and the Dog House.
As always, be attentive of the traffic and remove valuables from your car.
While the individual areas here tend to be specialized with regard to the route type and difficulty, the canyon as a whole has a variety of ratings. Beginners should look into the High Wire Crag, Catslab - note it is apparently open, Little Eiger, Red Slab, and The Canal Zone while excellent difficult routes abound from the Primo Wall, Wall of the Nineties, Anarchy Wall, The River Wall, and New River formation. Clear Creek also offers some nice winter climbing options such as the Red Slab and the Dog House.
As always, be attentive of the traffic and remove valuables from your car.
Getting There
From Denver, head out on 6th Ave. and exit into Golden. Turn left on US 6 into the canyon. From Boulder, the best way to reach Clear Creek Canyon is to take CO Highway 93 (Broadway) straight south for about 25 minutes into Golden. Then take a right, heading west on US 6 into Clear Creek Canyon. Pullouts can be found along the highway, and most approaches are about 5-10 minutes. Sometimes tyroleans exist but cannot always be trusted.
Ropes
Note, many routes are not descendable with a single rope, be it 45m or 50m or 60m or 70m. Please, carefully lower when not certain of route length. Please!
Guidebooks
There have been at least 4-5 guidebooks including Clear Creek Canyon. Peter Hubbel put out Front Range Crags. Mark Rolofson has put out a 1995 Boulder Sport Climbing Guide, a 1999 Clear Creek Canyon Sport Climber's Guide, a more recent Clear Creek Canyon Sport Climber's Guide, and most recently, Darren Mabe has put out a Clear Creek Canyon guidebook. Most recently, Kevin Capps put out a second edition to his 2014 guidebook in 2017.
Speed Limits/Tickets
FYI, CO State Patrol has been put on notice by their head person due to too many complaints for those who drive US 6 through CCC. So, they have up to 4 patrollers ticketing speeders at a time. The speed limit is 40 mph through the entire canyon!
Tickets for 55 mph cost 4 points and $170.
Tickets for 55 mph cost 4 points and $170.
Crags (downstream to upstream)
This is a work in progress...finally, eh? Thanks for your patience.
South vs. North is relative to the road.
CO 93 & US 6 intersection
large bridge / parking area
South (across CC) - The Canal Zone | The Twilight Zone
North - Labyrinth
South - East Side of Tunnel 1
Tunnel 1
North - New Hipster Rock
South - The Sports Wall
South - AAA Crag
metal bridge
South - Ghost Crag
North (MM 270) - The Blonde Formation
North (MM 270) - The Stumbling Block | Bumbling Stock
North - Postcolonial Crag | Fault Caves
North - Skinny Legs Formation
?North? (MM 268) - Bouldering (mile marker 268) | 268 Wall
Bridge - ~3.5 miles
North - The Red Slab
South - Piledriver | Rainy Day Rock | Little Eiger | Aftermath
South - The Garden Wall
North - Point Break | The New River Wall | The Highlands aka Highlander | Twitch Rock | Rapids Rock | Highwire North
South - Tetanus Cave | Evil Cave | River Wall
South - Wall of Justice | Low Spark of High Wire Crag | Low Wire | High Wire Crag | Higher Wire | Left Wire
Tunnel 2 - ~4.9 miles
metal tyrolean
South (across CC) - Punk Rock | Irok | Wanna Be Wall | The Mission Wall
South - Flood Wall | Back of the Nineties | Wall of the '90s
North - The Monkey House | Death Rock
South - Capitalist Crag | Upper Capitalist Crag | Lower Capitalist Crag
Tunnel 3 - ~5.1 miles
South - Independence Wall | Anarchy Wall
South (across CC) - Cool Thing Wall (aka Kool Krag) | New Crag
North - Elk Creek
South - Iron Buttress
North - Sex Cave (aka Pete's Wicked Cave) | Shark's Fin
North MM 264 - Rebel Wall
South - The Talon | New Economy Cliff | Bionic Crag
North - Nightworm Pinnacle | Prestige Worldwide Wall | Real Hidden Valley | Upper Wall
North - Prohibition Pinnacle
South - A Little Piece of South Dakota
North (MM 263) - Jerky Boulder (263)
South - High Profile Wall
Mayhem Gulch mountain biking trailhead
Intersection with CO 119
South - The Fiscal Cliff | The Graveyard | The Pearly Gates
Tunnel 5 - ~10.5 miles
South - Cats vs. Dogs Wall | The Catslab | Cat Slab Boulders | Rabbit Hole | Death Valley
North - The Dog House | Other Critters | The Safari | Live Action Wall | Stoked Bowl | Creek Side
North - Mourning Glory
tyrolean
South - The Bunker
Tunnel 6 ~11.3 miles
tyrolean
North (not across the creek) - Play Pen | | East Colfax
North across the creek - The Healing Center | The Conspiracy Crag | The Armory | The Crystal Tower | Seeing Squiggles Bloc | The Guppy | Waves Wall | Primo Wall | Nomad's Cave | Breakfast Cliff | Boulders Above Primo
South - Convenience Cliff | Project Wall
South vs. North is relative to the road.
CO 93 & US 6 intersection
large bridge / parking area
South (across CC) - The Canal Zone | The Twilight Zone
North - Labyrinth
South - East Side of Tunnel 1
Tunnel 1
North - New Hipster Rock
South - The Sports Wall
South - AAA Crag
metal bridge
South - Ghost Crag
North (MM 270) - The Blonde Formation
North (MM 270) - The Stumbling Block | Bumbling Stock
North - Postcolonial Crag | Fault Caves
North - Skinny Legs Formation
?North? (MM 268) - Bouldering (mile marker 268) | 268 Wall
Bridge - ~3.5 miles
North - The Red Slab
South - Piledriver | Rainy Day Rock | Little Eiger | Aftermath
South - The Garden Wall
North - Point Break | The New River Wall | The Highlands aka Highlander | Twitch Rock | Rapids Rock | Highwire North
South - Tetanus Cave | Evil Cave | River Wall
South - Wall of Justice | Low Spark of High Wire Crag | Low Wire | High Wire Crag | Higher Wire | Left Wire
Tunnel 2 - ~4.9 miles
metal tyrolean
South (across CC) - Punk Rock | Irok | Wanna Be Wall | The Mission Wall
South - Flood Wall | Back of the Nineties | Wall of the '90s
North - The Monkey House | Death Rock
South - Capitalist Crag | Upper Capitalist Crag | Lower Capitalist Crag
Tunnel 3 - ~5.1 miles
South - Independence Wall | Anarchy Wall
South (across CC) - Cool Thing Wall (aka Kool Krag) | New Crag
North - Elk Creek
South - Iron Buttress
North - Sex Cave (aka Pete's Wicked Cave) | Shark's Fin
North MM 264 - Rebel Wall
South - The Talon | New Economy Cliff | Bionic Crag
North - Nightworm Pinnacle | Prestige Worldwide Wall | Real Hidden Valley | Upper Wall
North - Prohibition Pinnacle
South - A Little Piece of South Dakota
North (MM 263) - Jerky Boulder (263)
South - High Profile Wall
Mayhem Gulch mountain biking trailhead
Intersection with CO 119
South - The Fiscal Cliff | The Graveyard | The Pearly Gates
Tunnel 5 - ~10.5 miles
South - Cats vs. Dogs Wall | The Catslab | Cat Slab Boulders | Rabbit Hole | Death Valley
North - The Dog House | Other Critters | The Safari | Live Action Wall | Stoked Bowl | Creek Side
North - Mourning Glory
tyrolean
South - The Bunker
Tunnel 6 ~11.3 miles
tyrolean
North (not across the creek) - Play Pen | | East Colfax
North across the creek - The Healing Center | The Conspiracy Crag | The Armory | The Crystal Tower | Seeing Squiggles Bloc | The Guppy | Waves Wall | Primo Wall | Nomad's Cave | Breakfast Cliff | Boulders Above Primo
South - Convenience Cliff | Project Wall
Peak-to-Plains Trail project
More info may be obtained from: p2ptrail@publicinfoteam.com. The Plains to Peaks Trail blog can be found here.
Webcams
You may find these webcams helpful for visual peeks at conditions: cotrip.org/roadConditions.htm. Click on the camera icons along US 6.
Raptor Nest Closures
The two areas Jefferson County Open Space intends to close in Clear Creek Canyon, shown on the attached maps, encompass the active eagle nests. If the Clear Creek eagles continue to nest in the active nests, these areas will remain closed from February 1 through July 31. If the eagles choose different nesting sites, the closures will be adjusted accordingly to protect those eagles during their breeding season.
Currently, rock climbing areas that fall inside of the seasonal raptor closures include:
Blonde Formation
Bumbling Stock
Evil Area
Ghost Crag
Highlander
Merlin
New River Wall
Point Break
Rapids Rock
Skinny Legs
Stumbling Block
Tetanus Garden.
Classic Climbing Routes at Clear Creek Canyon
Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
Weather Averages
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| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
Photos
90 Comments
More About Clear Creek Canyon
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Guidebooks (16)
Fixed Hardware Report (377)
Tucson, AZ
Westminster, Colorado
Golden, CO
Pullman,WA
Boulder, CO
-ag Sep 22, 2006
Arvada, CO
casey Sep 22, 2006
Sacramento, CA
?Oct 4, 2001? - Eldorado Canyon / Monument Direct
Oct 20, 2002 - Boulder Canyon / Castle Rock / Aid Roof
Apr 19, 2004 - Clear Creek Canyon / Wall of Justice / Slammer
?May 18, 2004? - Clear Creek Canyon / Anarchy Wall / Matriarch
Oct 19, 2004 - Boulder Canyon / Eagle Rock / Eagle Warrior
Apr 4, 2006 - Castlewood Canyon / Rim Job
Jun 1, 2006 - Eldorado Canyon / Supremacy Rock / The Web
Jun 29, 2006 - Keystone / House Rock / Crystal Ball
Perhaps, it's just better to remove your draws in high-traffic and/or high-visibility areas. Sep 26, 2006
You would take the draws too? Are you calling yourself a thief then? I'm pretty sure you just announced to everyone that you are.
Attention Colorado Climbers: Never climb with or around this guy! Sep 28, 2006
First, I'm not a fella, I'm a lady, and second, Nixon was a crook! It's pretty disturbing to have personal belongings stolen and this is not the first time. I try to have trust in my fellow climbers and people in general. I suppose that coming from the East your perspective on trusting others is very different. I'm surprised that you're surprised at how angry I was. (I've cooled down a bit now.) If you go to Anarchy Wall in CCC and look at a comment from 2004 regarding stolen draws, you'll realize that I actually kept my cool pretty good. Like I said, I learned the hard way. I definitely will not leave draws around anymore knowing that many people out there think it's OK to take anything left on the rock but chalk!
Jessica Sep 28, 2006
Flagstaff, AZ
darren Sep 29, 2006
Thanks a lot for your offer and generosity. I have a decent stash of draws, so I'll be set for a little while. Thanks again though! My project is almost completed at The Wall Of Justice.
Later,
Jess Sep 29, 2006
I fear that your generosity is now going to cause many other climbers to rush for that gear and claim if for themselves. I would be surprised if that has not happened already. What a bummer as these should be considered yours or for someone deserving (like Jess). Oct 2, 2006
Flagstaff, AZ
As Sharp End Publishing is closing in on finishing my new Clear Creek Canyon guidebook, they could still use a few more climbing action photos to supplement the ones I shot.
If you have any rad photos you would like to see in the new guide, get in touch with me. The guide will be full color. Decent resolution makes files too big for email, so I would rather want them burned onto CD.
I would also need to know the names of the routes, climbers, as well as the photographers.
Can reach me at darrenmabe@yahoo.com for more details.
thank you!
Darren Mabe Dec 8, 2006
Littleton, CO
Any news on the guidebook availability yet? I don't see anything on the publisher's site yet.
Cheers,
John Apr 11, 2007
Flagstaff, AZ
Thanks for your interest! I am anticipating for my book to be on the shelves in May. Keep fingers crossed! The folks at Sharpend are doing a kick ass job with the layout, graphics, etc.
Trust me, it will be well worth the wait!
-Darren Mabe Apr 12, 2007
Denver, CO
How's that guide coming? The samples I saw in Bent Gate look amazing... Jul 1, 2007
Lander, WY
Flagstaff, AZ
Books are on their way to the stores, for now there is a shop copy at Bent Gate and also at Neptune's.
-darren Feb 6, 2008
Littleton, CO
Denver, CO
It's slabby with hanging belays at the bottom.
Thanks! Jun 2, 2008
Golden, CO
Denver, CO.
Denver, CO.
Littleton, co
Thank
Tim Aug 7, 2008
Durango
mountainproject.com/v/color…
It's fantastic. Aug 7, 2008
Denver, CO.
taktent@yahoo.com Sep 19, 2008
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Thanks May 8, 2009
Santa Monica, Ca.
Also, is it possible to post a map that shows location of crags relative to tunnels and distance up the canyon? Jun 17, 2009
Flagstaff, AZ
DENVER!!!
Also: in the forementioned guidebook, there is a reference to the 'Maverick Boulders' does anyone know their location/ grades/ # of problems?
Jul 5, 2009
The bolt that I 1st checked out was so rusted and worn I had to beat it lose with a wrench and my wall hammer!!!! Rust fell out of the hole, people!!! Scary!!!!!
If the community would not mind, especially Pete... if you're out there, I would like to re-bolt the whole line. All bolts would be located in the same place as the old ones and holes patched. I would replace the existing bolts with 3/8 inch 3 inch stainless steel bolts and hangers. They will be bomber folks.
I believe such an old C.C.C. classic such as "Twitch" needs this kind of attention!! Because as of now.... the bolts on this line have become, large in part, scary!!! I also think the anchors need an update as well!!!
If there are any real objections, and I mean real objections!!!... to my proposal to re-bolt please speak up now!!! I want to re-bolt A.S.A.P., so please speak your peace soon, please.
I would really like Pete as well as the community to be fully behind my re-bolting of this classic line. Thanks to all that respond.
-Luke Childers Jan 7, 2010
Golden, CO
Fort Collins, CO
Arvada, CO
. . . then you could walk up to The Canal Zone. May 27, 2010
Longtuckity, CO
Thank you in advance. Jan 6, 2011
Golden, CO
Hope that helped. Jan 6, 2011
Longtuckity, CO
How is the crowd in the summer?
Is the park dog friendly? Are the hikes dangerous for the dogs?
Is there a park fee? May 30, 2011
Englewood, CO
Crowds: Weekends SUCK, not going to lie. Weekdays you will be fine.
Dogs: Be respectful of the other climbers. Keep them on a leash.
Hike: There are a couple Tyrols that would probably suck for a dog, but the rest are just fine. May 30, 2011
Mammoth lakes, CA
What is wrong with you? Seriously? Stealing someone's project draws? Really? I mean, stealing is bad enough, but stealing within our community of climbers who leave stuff up, in good faith, for anyone to use? Are you that poor? Or are you just that big a dick?
You deserve the absolute worst in life. I hope you get it. Jun 19, 2011
- What is the best guidebook for sport climbing?
- Where should we camp (preferably free & in the canyon)?
- Favorite routes in the 5.9 - 5.11 range?
Thanks. Jul 22, 2012
Los Angeles, CA
Anchorage, AK
Tucson, Arizona
Cheshire, UK
Fort Collins, CO
Lakewood, CO
Denver, CO
Flagstaff, AZ
jeffco.us/parks/recreation/… Feb 13, 2014
Glen, NH
The Peaks to Plains Trail construction team would like to alert all climbers to rockfall mitigation happening over the next 2-3 months near the Oxbow Parcel in Clear Creek Canyon (please see attached map for more specific locations and impacts). All mitigation work will be taking place in areas already designated as construction zones, but crews would like to remind climbers that these areas remain off limits for safety concerns. Mitigation work may wrap up sooner than expected depending on weather and scheduling. Please direct any questions or concerns to p2ptrail@publicinfoteam.com.
Thank you,
Peaks to Plains Trail Project Public Info Team
Thanks! May 12, 2014
Golden, CO
Golden, CO
The new Clear Creek Canyon guidebook is here! Purchase at these links denvermountainguiding.com/M… and fixedpin.com Aug 3, 2014
Aurora, CO
Little Rock, AR
The mitten
Denver
Did someone lose a guidebook this past Sunday? I'm going to guess they left it on top of their car and drove off, b/c it was found on the road getting trampled on by cars. Anyways, text me, and you might get it back. Let me know where you might have been climbing and around what time. I can eliminate those who are just trying to get a free book. FYI, there were some damage done on the book due to cars. 714-three Six Nine-5662, Kenny Sep 14, 2016
Denver, CO
If you own Darren Mabe's Clear Creek Canyon Climbs, you can upgrade to the new book for only $24 (including tax and shipping) by sending in a proof-of-purchsase. See below for more info:
sharpendbooks.homestead.com…
Fucken Zion
I'd wait for the 2nd edition Clear Creek Bible. Jan 29, 2017
Evergreen, CO
I subscribe. Feb 7, 2017
Fort Collins, CO
Reading, PA
Looking for a good area for some to toproping, somewhere we can hike up and use established bolts. Are there any spots like this in Clear Creek?
Thanks so much! Oct 14, 2017
Flagstaff, AZ
Westminster, Colorado
codot.gov/projects/us-6-cle… Mar 13, 2018