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Palisade Mountain Rock Climbing
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| Elevation: | 7,408 ft | 2,258 m |
| GPS: |
40.43666, -105.31171 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
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| Page Views: | 125,102 total · 507/month | |
| Shared By: | allen simons on Jan 24, 2005 | |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC |
Access Issue: Access issue - Monastery, Cedar Park, Combat Rock, etc. - open since 2023
Details
Update: per Bruce Hildenbrand: the area has been open since 2023.
Per JF M: as of May 2022, there is no signage on-site, nor information on the USFS webpage for the Cameron Peak Fire (nor on their published map of closures) that indicates the area is closed.
Per Bruce Hildenbrand: it appears that the Forest Service has closed access to all the climbing areas accessed via Storm Mountain Road (Monastery, Cedar Park, Combat Rock, etc.) until they can clear all the dangerous dead trees from the Cameron Peak fire.
I worked this issue with Eric Murdock at the AF, and it looks like the Forest Service picked Devil's Gulch Road as the southern boundary even though all the climbing areas on MP.com were not burned.
Per JF M: as of May 2022, there is no signage on-site, nor information on the USFS webpage for the Cameron Peak Fire (nor on their published map of closures) that indicates the area is closed.
Per Bruce Hildenbrand: it appears that the Forest Service has closed access to all the climbing areas accessed via Storm Mountain Road (Monastery, Cedar Park, Combat Rock, etc.) until they can clear all the dangerous dead trees from the Cameron Peak fire.
I worked this issue with Eric Murdock at the AF, and it looks like the Forest Service picked Devil's Gulch Road as the southern boundary even though all the climbing areas on MP.com were not burned.
Description
Palisade Mountain is the same mountain that Nancy's Rock (a.k.a. Rio Bravo and Cyclop's Slab), Becker Wall, and Skull Rock are located on. This is a huge mountain with some established routes and possibilities for 100s of other routes. Many slabs and crack systems exist. With the exception of Nancy's Rock, everything requires steep approaches and navigating through difficult rock bands, pine needles, and vegetation. The rock here is however very solid and potential for multi-pitch routes exist. There are some brief descriptions in the Estes Park Valley Guide by Bernard Gillett, but locating these routes is difficult in reality and even more difficult to explain.
Getting There
Palisade Mountain is located on US Highway 34 west of Loveland. From the Beige Siphon tube in the Narrows it is 6 miles, just a mile short of the town of Drake. The mountain is the obvious rocky crag hundreds of feet up the north side of the road. Park in the paved lot at Nancy's Rock and start on that trail. After 100 feet break off right and trail blaze up and right. I recently discovered some quartz cairns midway marking a pseudo trail.
Classic Climbing Routes at Palisade Mountain
Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
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Photos
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Guidebooks (10)
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