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Lizard Head

California > Lake Tahoe > Highway 50 Corr… > Phantom Spires

Description

Lizard Head is a free standing column about 60 - 85 ' tall depending on the side.  

Approach: 1/4 mile before the main Spires parking is a right fork up a steep old logging road. Park at the base (unless you have a proper 4 wheeling rig). Hike up the road a 100m. The formation is super obvious. No current trails. Head up the right side of the bushy drainage and then cut hard left about level with the formation. For Lounge Lizard and other routes on the south face, wrap around the formation counter clockwise. to the base. A cool and impressive piece of granite steep on all sides and excellent quality. 

Getting There

From the Upper Spire, walk east.

Routes from Left to Right

5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a
 4
● Dewlap
Sport
5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
 1
● The Zacharena
Trad
5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
 6
● Lounge Lizard
Trad
Route Name Location Star Rating Difficulty Date
● Dewlap
 4
5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a Sport
● The Zacharena
 1
5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b Trad
● Lounge Lizard
 6
5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b Trad

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Lizard Head. Dewlap starts on the left arête.
[Hide Photo] Lizard Head. Dewlap starts on the left arête.
south face
[Hide Photo] south face

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Paul Rezucha
Alameda
[Hide Comment] This is not an easy rock to find. We ended up bushwacking a lot. Anyone have better directions to get here? It is a very nice looking rock! Mar 21, 2009
Blitzo
[Hide Comment] I always found the rock to be pretty obvious. I'll try to improve the directions some day. Jul 29, 2010
Justin Johnsen
Sacramento, CA
[Hide Comment] Paul, you can also take (walk up) the steep uphill side road shortly before the main parking. Visually you'll see it points straight at the Lizard Head, and the trail goes virtually straight there. Mar 19, 2013
Peter Valchev
Truckee, CA
[Hide Comment] So is there a trail from the Upper Spire (as described in supertopo) or is it just "point towards it and bushwhack"?

We made a very brief attempt to get there late on Sunday afternoon, thinking it'll be a quick walk over... didn't find a trail and after a couple of hundred feet of sharp and prickly bushes with a lot more to go (do not wear chacos and shorts like we did!), we bailed. Would love to hear if we messed up finding the trail or if that's something to be expected... Apr 29, 2013
Tracy Kelly
[Hide Comment] The steep dirt road shortly before the main parking lot seems the best way to go. Some scampering over small boulders is probably required. We took the other route past upper spire on the way up and spent about an hour crawling through bushes and over rocks.

One of the bolts on the 5.10c anchor looks a little old, so bring some extra trad gear up for a backup. Cool rock though! Oct 13, 2020