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Lower Infirmary Slabs
Colorado
> Lyons
> St Vrain Canyons
> S Fork of St Vr…
> Infirmary Slabs
Access Issue: MM 23-29.5 - now ended daily CO 7 highway closure/delays
Details
Per Climbing Puerto Rico: the daily CO 7 highway closure/delay access issue is no longer a problem according to CDOT the construction finished as of Nov. 11, 2022.
From CDOT: Colorado Highway 7 is closed daily from MP 23-29.5. Motorists can only travel through the area between 6-8 am and 4-7 pm. During these timeframes, pilot cars will lead alternating one-way travel. Drivers should plan for delays, and this schedule will remain in place through Memorial Day 2022.
During the closure, motorists need to take US 36 to CO 7.
Access Issue: CLOSED - PRIVATE PROPERTY. This entire area is on private property and is closed.
Details
Per Matt B: this entire area (including Upper Infirmary Slabs) is on private property. Check USFS maps, and you'll see a rectangular chunk of private property just off the road at the beginning of Coffin Top Gulch. This unfortunately includes the beginning of the Coffintop Trail as well. As it stands, the landowner does not want climbers on his property, so these crags should be avoided.
Description
Lower Infirmary Slabs has mainly sport routes on a south-facing slab. It is a nice location during cooler months. There are several bolted face routes. The ratings in the climbing guides are way SANDBAGGED. These routes can be top roped or sport lead.
5.1 miles up the canyon, use pullout on the left (it is best to drive a little further and turn around at the turn off to the group of private cabins). Infirmary Slabs (Upper and Lower) are on the north side of the road. Hike up the steep trail to the right, and work your way up. Be careful of poison ivy as it is plentiful up here.
Per JF M: park at the mile marker 28 sign, walk downhill about 50 yards, cross the road, and follow a loose trail to the Lower Infirmary Slabs. Continue uphill around the left side of the slabs for TR access and a bit further for Short But Sweet. Be careful of poison ivy as it is plentiful both on the trail and around the belay area.
[Hide Comment] Just uphill the first level above the lower slabs, on the left side between two big blocks is a 12' finger crack that is short but sweet. It goes at 5.9- "Short but Sweet" done 7/21 by Bill Morris and Pebby Johns. To get to the crack, simply follow the trial around the left side of the slab and scramble up and to the left and you should see it.
Jul 29, 2001
[Hide Comment] Parking is on the south side of the canyon exactly at milepost 28. Ascent trail is about 100' downstream. Watch that poison ivy!
Jul 12, 2005
[Hide Comment] I spent a while hiking through the rocky slops by the "cabins" looking for the Infirmary Slabs with very little to reference where I was. The so-called "ranger cabins" are these obscure, abandoned buildings hidden in some brush behind a large fenced area that is on someone's private property just off the north side of the road before the pullout at 5.1 miles. These cabins are often referred to by guidebooks and others, but beware, there are no signs or anything to tell you those are the ranger cabins. So, set the gauge on your car. The mile post 28 pullout on the south side of the road is the best reference for the Infirmary area.
Oct 16, 2006
[Hide Comment] Brad, this entire area (including Upper Infirmary Slabs) is on private property. Check USFS maps, and you'll see a rectangular chunk of private property just off the road at the beginning of Coffin Top Gulch. This unfortunately includes the beginning of the Coffintop Trail as well. As it stands, the landowner does not want climbers on his property, so these crags should be avoided.
May 26, 2020
[Hide Comment] All of the Infirmary Slabs should be lumped under that name, and the best access for all of the outcrops is as Charles Danforth describes in his 2005 comment. The entry in mileage for crags should be relocated accordingly. This should keep people away from the private property located by the pullout at 5.1 miles. Most of the rocks aren’t on private property.
Sep 12, 2020
Access Issue: MM 23-29.5 - now ended daily CO 7 highway closure/delays
Details
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Pinewood Springs
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