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Diablo Canyon Rock Climbing

Climbing Area Map

Areas in Diablo Canyon

Big River Wall 2 / 52 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 54

Cockscomb Crag 8 / 28 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 36

Early Wall 8 / 34 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 42

Eden Canyon 7 / 64 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 71

Grotto, The 14 / 63 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 76

Lake Street 0 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1

Mordor 2 / 17 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 19

Shack, The 3 / 36 / 2 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 40

Solar Cave 0 / 28 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 28

Styx 6 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 6

Sun Devil Wall 2 / 8 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 10

Winter Wall 7 / 16 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 23

Explore this area in 3D

Use onX Backcountry to explore the terrain in 3D, view recent satellite imagery, and more. Now available in onX Backcountry Mobile apps! For more information see this post.

Elevation:	5,817 ft	1,773 m
GPS:	35.80518, -106.13898 Google Map · Climbing Area Map
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Shared By:	Anthony Stout on Feb 12, 2006 · Updates
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Access Issue: Access Issue for Areas in BLM Taos Field Office Lands Details

Per the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Taos Field Office's ( blm.gov/office/taos-field-o…) 2012 Taos Resource Management Plan (RMP) ( bit.ly/2Kab3HO), "Installation of new rock climbing routes or hardware will require pre-approval by the BLM." The RMP is the document that guides all the BLM management in a given field office. Climbers are asked to respect this guidance and not install new bolts or fixed hardware on Taos Field Office BLM land without pre-approval from the BLM. NM CRAG ( nmcrag.org/) is currently working with the BLM Taos Field Office to establish specific guidance for new route development in the district and they hope to have a formal process in the near future.

Diablo areas within the BLM Taos Field Office management area are: The Shack, Winter Wall, Solar Cave, Lake Street and Styx.

Description

Diablo Canyon is located outside of Santa Fe New Mexico, and offers fine climbing on basalt cliffs up to three hundred feet tall.

With over a hundred sport lines and many good crack lines, Diablo offers a wealth of climbing with easy, quick access from Santa Fe. Grades range from 5.8 to 5.13 and vary in steepness and exposure. Many routes are in the moderate 5.10 arena and, for 5.10-5.12 climbers, this is one of the best sport climbing areas in northern New Mexico. With the greatly increased popularity of Diablo Canyon, by now traffic has cleaned much of the loose rock from many of the more popular climbs, but some remains.

Climbing in Diablo can be found nearly year round, with shade in the summer and sun in the winter.

Approaches to the various crags can range from 5 to 30 minutes.

DANGER: Please wear a helmet while climbing at Diablo, rockfall is a significant risk here. South facing rock appears, and is, chossy and loose. This is due to the extreme fluctuations in temperatures during the winter, where the rock temperature can swing from over 100 to below 0 F in a 24 hour period. This freeze/thaw cycle is associated with tremendous thermal expansion and contraction, which can make rock that was solid yesterday become airborne today. Tread lightly while leading, belay from a spot out of the line of fire, and (if they have brains worth protecting) WEAR a HELMET.

NOTE: The majority beta text and photos are reprinted here from the website, losalamos.com/diablo/, by permission of Rick Bradshaw, who was kind enough to allow me to use his material here.

Free, undeveloped camping available in a few BLM developed campsites at the parking area.

A new pit toilet was installed at the campground in late fall of 2023. Please do your part to keep the toilet tidy and clean.

TRASH AT THE CAMPGROUND/PARKING AREA

The campground/parking area at Diablo Canyon is starting to see lots of climber/camper/hiker traffic, and as a result there is trash accumulating near the toilet and catching in the brush/weeds. There are no trash cans at the campground/parking area. PLEASE take a minute to do your part by picking up trash and take it with you.

Getting There

1) Get on the Santa Fe Bypass route (Veterans Memorial Hiway 599) either from I-25 south of Santa Fe or off of Saint Frances Drive NW of Santa Fe.

2) Exit onto Camino La Tierra heading west toward the Rio Grande, setting your odometer to 0 at the turnoff. After 4.7 miles, turn right on Old Buckman Road, which is a reasonably well-maintained dirt road. At 7.7 miles you'll pass a large blue/green colored frame (apparently used to be a windmill painted like a daisy) on your left as you follow the main Diablo wash toward the river. At 12.2 miles you should reach the first turn off into the Diablo parking area on your left. The canyon is clearly visible beyond. 2WD vehicles make it there all the time. They get stuck in the sand or mud on their way out at a somewhat less frequency.

Watch out for rattlesnakes basking and tarantulas looking for mates in the middle of the road. This is their home we're visiting, please give them the right of way.

Resources:

The guidebooks "Jemez Rock" and "Rock Climbing: New Mexico" both cover the area but are grossly outdated. There has been a huge amount of development in the Diablo Canyon area in the past decade. Using the MountainProject app is your best bet for current area and route information.

406 Total Climbs

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Classic Climbing Routes at Diablo Canyon

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.

5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a 268 ● Post Moderate Sport Winter Wall
5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a 115 ● Naked Lunch Sport Winter Wall
5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b 159 ● Grape Ape Sport Winter Wall
5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b 47 ● Evil Paradise Sport Grotto > Top of the Grotto (Oj…
5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c 82 ● Affirmative Action Sport Grotto > Grotto Left (E Side)
5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c 71 ● Blind Faith Sport Winter Wall
5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c 89 ● Top Gun Sport Early Wall > Runway (Lower Tier)
5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c PG13 45 ● Sun Devil Sport 3 pitches Sun Devil Wall
5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c 58 ● Bedeviled Sport Grotto > Grotto Left (E Side)
5.11+ 7a 24 VIII 24 E4 6a 101 ● Pale Face Sport Winter Wall
5.11+ 7a 24 VIII 24 E4 6a 38 ● Aerostar Sport Early Wall > Runway (Lower Tier)
5.11+ 7a 24 VIII 24 E4 6a 30 ● Astro Devil Sport 3 pitches Sun Devil Wall
5.12a 7a+ 25 VIII+ 25 E5 6a 44 ● Bush in a Blender Sport Grotto > Grotto Left (E Side)
5.12b 7b 26 VIII+ 26 E5 6b 56 ● Clovis Hunter Sport Solar Cave
5.12b 7b 26 VIII+ 26 E5 6b 27 ● The Book of Souls Sport Grotto > Grotto Left (E Side)