Helen's Dome Rock Climbing

From Denver, take US Hwy 285 south to Pine Junction. Turn left on CO Hwy 126 east towards Deckers. Turn right on Forest Road #211 (about 3 miles before Deckers, just past Wigwam Picnic/Campground). This turn is marked by a sign pointing towards Cheesman Reservoir, Molly Gulch Campground, and Lost Valley Ranch. [Note: Molly Gulch Campground has been closed since the Hayman fire. References may have been removed from signage.] Follow signs towards Molly Gulch and Goose Creek Campground. About 1 mile from the former Molly Gulch campground, park in a pullout on the left (sign indicates parking for Sheep Rock climbers). [Note: As of 2011, the sign was no longer there. The pullout is approximately 7.7 miles from the pavement.]
From the Sheep Rock parking area, head south towards the stream. Where the trail branches above the stream, go right towards the former campground. A large log crosses the creek below the former campground. Cross the log and follow the trail along the creek to the right for a few hundred feet and then up the steep hill to the left. The trail then trends right around the top of the ridge to end up at a drainage/valley at the eastern edge of private property (the Lost Valley Ranch). (Note that some branches in the trail go more directly up and over the hill to the same place.) Go left across the drainage and follow a faint trail straight up the hill to the lower right corner of Helen's Dome (as seen from the trail). The trail zigzags up the path of least resistance through a field of huge boulders. One short slab scramble and a chockstoned gully that is passed by climbing the short wall to the left are the only difficulties. At the base of the dome, head down left and across a couple of large rocks to the base of a short crack. Scramble up the crack and face (5.3?) about 30-40 feet to a large shelf with trees which serves as the base for the routes Buffalo Tears to Spree. The approach takes about 30 minutes. The drainage can be followed further east (left) and then up the hill (bushwhack, faint trail) to approach the routes on the left side of Helen's Dome (Moss Toss, etc.).

There are three options to approach Baby Helen's or Acid Rock: 1: climb a route on Helen's and continue to the top. 2: from the point where the trail reaches the base of Helen's Dome, go right up the trail to the base of a HUGE, right-facing corner/slab system with a big tree about 50 feet up the corner. (Locate a bolt about 15 feet up & right from the tree). This corner/slab can be climbed in 4 long pitches (entirely bolted - mostly easy, max 5.7-5.8) or simul-climbed in one LONG pitch as a warm up (bring lots of long runners). 3: continue past the corner to the right (follow 3-4 cairns heading right through a rockfall) and head up and left along a faint trail for several hundred feet. The trail tends to stay close to the Dome. Stray too far right and enter no-man's land. If followed correctly (lucky?), this trail ends up at the walk-off from the top of Helen's Dome. This takes about 45 minutes. This trail also serves as the walk down from Helen's Dome/Acid Rock/Baby Helen's.

Per John Peterson: to approach the right side of the dome (probably anything from Buffalo Tears and right) - hike down to the creek and go upstream - we crossed about 100' up from the spot where you meet the stream, about 18" deep at max. Once you get to the far side, go up until the horse trail. Go right (not up towards the rock). This will curl around left to a trail junction near a fence. Go left up a small stream, and look for a cairn leading up right - there's no real evidence of the trail at this point, but it gets better as you go up. If you get to a huge boulder, you missed by about 50'. Once you start up, there are plenty of cairns. To access routes to the left of Fractured Fairytales, you can climb its first pitch to the ledge where many of the routes start. We found this to be much easier than the trail approaching the left side.

Descent: 1: reverse the trail. Beware that the trail crosses rock which becomes extremely slippery when wet. Take EXTREME caution when descending in the rain. The trail zigzags through a huge boulder field with deep crevices/holes. Get off route and potentially get in BIG trouble. 2: rappel the simul-climb with double ropes (both 60m). I'm not sure if this is any faster. Last time down (in the rain), we walked down faster than a party of 3 who rapped the simul-climb.