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All Locations > Colorado > Buena Vista

Chocolate Tower Rock Climbing

Climbing Area Map Wrong Location?

Routes in Chocolate Tower

Chicken Runner S,TR 5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b
Chokin' the Chicken T,S 5.9- 5c 17 VI 16 HVS 4c
Jonesing For Crank S 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
Slingin' the Chicken S 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
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Elevation: 8,000 ft
GPS: 38.876, -106.146 Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views: 7,322 total · 60/month
Shared By: Lee Jenkins on Jul 1, 2008
Admins: Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac

Description [Suggest Change]

This tower faces west. It is a big time burn in the afternoon.

Per Thomas Cuthbert: this is a secluded crag right next to the train tracks overlooking the river with good rock. It has mainly sport routes.

Eds. This is a combination of submissions done to reduce confusion of redundant entries.

Getting There [Suggest Change]

Take CR 371 through the first set of tunnels, down along the railroad tracks, left of a small parking area.

Per Thomas Cuthbert: turn off US Highway 24 onto E. Main St., turn left onto N. Colorado Ave. which turns into County Road 371, continue on County Road 371 until you get to the tunnel, but don't go through the tunnel, park just left of the entrance. Head down on foot and walk north along the tracks.

4 Total Climbs

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Classic Climbing Routes at Chocolate Tower

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b
 30
● Chicken Runner
Sport, TR
5.9- 5c 17 VI 16 HVS 4c
 18
● Chokin' the Chicken
Trad, Sport
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
 30
● Slingin' the Chicken
Sport
5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
 10
● Jonesing For Crank
Sport
Route Name Location Star Rating Difficulty Date
● Chicken Runner
 30
5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b Sport, TR
● Chokin' the Chicken
 18
5.9- 5c 17 VI 16 HVS 4c Trad, Sport
● Slingin' the Chicken
 30
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a Sport
● Jonesing For Crank
 10
5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b Sport
More Classic Climbs in Chocolate Tower »

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Belaying by the tracks.
Belaying by the tracks.
 0

7 Comments

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sean31
sean31  
I was wondering if anyone has anymore information about locating this area. I suppose it is obvious but it isn't mentioned in the guide. Oct 25, 2008
bobbe belmont
bobbe belmont  
Looked high and low for the Cholate Tower today. Can anyone help with directions? Aug 8, 2010
ShaneL
Colorado Springs, Co
ShaneL   Colorado Springs, Co
Ok, if you don't know where you're going, this area is a little tricky to find. Heading north immediatly after you go through the tunnels, there are two pulloffs on the left side of the road, park at either of these. From there their is a trail that leads right to the rail road tracks follow tracks about 40-50yards and look left you will see the two routes with the bolts. Chicken runner is the 5.7 on the right, Slinging the Chicken is the 5.9 on the left (2 ring anchor is above the overhang. Mar 24, 2011
Steven Reneau
Steven Reneau  
As of today, the hangers are still missing from these routes, as noted by Ben Panter a few weeks ago. Jul 24, 2011
Kip Davis
Kip Davis  
I was at Chocolate Tower today and noticed that a few hangers have been removed from the new center mixed route which is 8+/9-. Someone has also changed out the anchor hangers as well. Anybody knows what's up? Thanks. Apr 22, 2012
James Bealer
James Bealer  
If you go in the morning, the shade is lovely. Aug 10, 2015
Caleb Gruber
Denver, CO
Caleb Gruber   Denver, CO
Just hit this area up a couple of days ago (June 4), pretty rad (if small) sport climbing spot near BV! The 3 "chicken" routes are all within a few feet of each other, and we did not find the 4th 10b pitch but didn't really look too hard. Both the route on the far left and the middle have some fun roof moves. I found the middle route to be harder than the 5.8+ as ranked here, but then again I lead at the end of the day and was more tired. These anchors can be set or cleaned from above with caution. The anchor on the far right is the most accessible for setting up toprope from above.

No issues with hangers or bolts, everything looked good. Pretty fun climbing near the tracks, pretty hot as well!
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