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Owens River Gorge Rock Climbing
| Elevation: | 4,527 ft |
| GPS: | 37.446, -118.572 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
| Page Views: | 837,275 total · 5,192/month |
| Shared By: | Tom Helvie on Jul 20, 2006 |
| Admins: |
Aron Quiter, Euan Cameron, AWinters, M. Morley, Adam Stackhouse, Salamanizer suchoski, Justin Johnsen, Vicki Schwantes
History (Admin Only):
Hunter R edited
"Description"
Oct 23, 2018
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Salamanizer suchoski handled an improvement for
this area
Dec 2, 2018
Salamanizer suchoski approved
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Dec 12, 2018
Euan Cameron approved
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Dec 19, 2018
Euan Cameron approved
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May 12, 2019
C Miller approved
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Sep 1, 2019
Vicki Schwantes edited
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Sep 9, 2019
Vicki Schwantes edited
this area
Sep 25, 2019
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Access Issue: Bridges Out! IMPORTANT LADWP NEGOTIATIONS!!
Details
Due to liability concerns, bridges are being removed in the Owens River Gorge at the request of LADWP. The Bishop Area Climbers Coalition and the Access Fund are currently in negotiations with LADWP to get this issue resolved. In the meantime, please continue to be good land stewards by respecting these bridge closures and finding alternate crossing points until this issue is resolved.
1) Never park or camp overnight at the access points.
2) Always park off the pavement, taking great care to avoid blocking the gates.
3) Clean up after your dogs. (Local climbers are finding abandoned doggie poop bags.)
4) Pack out all trash and TP, including picking up after others.
5) Use the outhouses if at all possible.
1) Never park or camp overnight at the access points.
2) Always park off the pavement, taking great care to avoid blocking the gates.
3) Clean up after your dogs. (Local climbers are finding abandoned doggie poop bags.)
4) Pack out all trash and TP, including picking up after others.
5) Use the outhouses if at all possible.
Description
The Owens River Gorge is California's most concentrated sport-climbing area. It is really a year-round crag, although summers can be a bit hot. There are many moderate sport climbs in the sub 5.10 range, but the best gorge climbs seem to be in the 5.10-5.11 range. The climbing is on volcanic tuff and features edges, pockets and cracks. Most of the climbing is close to vertical but there are some steep lines as well, namely at the Eldorado Roof and the Dilithium Crystal. Most climbs, whether face, crack, corner, even off-width and chimney, are fully sport bolted. There are some good trad lines, but sport climbing is why you're here. The gorge is often crowded but if you hike a little further you can usually find some solitude. The Warm Up Wall, the Pub, the Social Platform, the China Wall and the Dilithium Crystal are the most popular areas. Please buy Marty Lewis' "Owens River Gorge Climbs" if you are going to climb here. It's a great guide to the hundreds of climbs and you'll feel good supporting the guy who put up a huge percentage of the climbs and did a large amount of work (trails, research, bridges, talking with the LADWP that owns the gorge). It's a small price to pay for a great climbing area. You can find the 11th edition of the guidebook here.
Getting There
From Bishop go North on 395 to the Paradise Swall Meadows exit and turn right. Go approximately 1/2 mile and at the T intersection turn left (Gorge Rd). There are 3 parking areas to choose depending on where in the Gorge you wish to climb. The first parking area is 3.3 miles from the intersection of Gorge road and 395. Adjacent to the parking area you will go through a gate and follow the paved central gorge power station road for 1 mile down to the Central gorge power station. The second parking area also accesses the central gorge and ends just uphill from the central gorge power station. You will find a trail adjacent to the parking area that goes down a steep 2nd/3rd class loose gully. Be careful not to dislodge anything because there are climbs below the gully. This parking area is 4.8 miles up the Gorge road from the intersection of Gorge Road and 395. The last parking area is for the upper gorge. This parking area is 6.4 miles up Gorge Road from the intersection of Gorge Road and 395. You will park off the pavement and walk through a gate down the paved upper power plant road approximately 1/2 mile then drop into a 3rd class gully. There is a trail along the entire length of the bottom of the gorge so you can use any of the access points to access all climbs at Owens. There is an alternate way to get to the Gorge Road from the North. Approximately 1 mile south of Tom's Place there is a dirt road that goes East. This road starts at a sign on 395 that says Sherwin Pass 7000 feet (Beware you have to cut across a double yellow line to make the turn). Follow the road to the right heading east and follow the power lines. This road isn't well maintained, there are many rocks poking out of the road and decent size ruts in the road (not a great road for cars).
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One of the coolest things I have ever climbed!
Classic Climbing Routes at Owens River Gorge
Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
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