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Lucerne Limestone

California > High Desert > Lucerne Valley Area

Description

A line of what is mostly a SoCal anomally, aka Limestone. While there aren't any caves, the rock is featured with feldspar bands, blocky edges, and pockets. This area is off the beaten path, though easy to get to, and does not see a lot of traffic due to it's relative proximity to the nearby New Jack City. For those who don't like crowds, I would suggest stopping by to check the place out.

  • One of the, if not the, warmest area in the general So Cal High Desert area surrounding Barstow / Victorville. The cliff faces due south. It can be windy, but on cold days the areas is perfect.

Getting There

Drive east on Hwy 18 from Victorville, turn left onto Rabbit Springs Rd., turn left onto Kendall Rd., which immediately turns into Cove Rd., follow this till a "Y" and make a right hand turn. 

Follow the road till it curves left and you will see a dirt road heading straight towards a large dirt hill. Take the right fork onto the dirt road and drive straight to a parking area at the base of the hill. 

  • The climbing area is up on the hill directly above the limestone mine, about a 10 minute walk.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Spring Blooms
[Hide Photo] Spring Blooms
Panorama Area Shot
[Hide Photo] Panorama Area Shot
Jpg of PDF topo
[Hide Photo] Jpg of PDF topo
Felicia Terry starting up tongue Thai'd
[Hide Photo] Felicia Terry starting up tongue Thai'd
Looking south from midway up
[Hide Photo] Looking south from midway up
Looking up from parking to the right of cove road.
[Hide Photo] Looking up from parking to the right of cove road.
Iggy, one of three very fat Chuckwalla's seen sunnin' it.
[Hide Photo] Iggy, one of three very fat Chuckwalla's seen sunnin' it.
Parking Beta Shot
[Hide Photo] Parking Beta Shot
the bottom of the hill where you can park
[Hide Photo] the bottom of the hill where you can park

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Rough
[Hide Comment] Feel free to email me at Roughit3@aol.com for a free pdf topo of the entire area. Mar 1, 2009
mursick
[Hide Comment] I just spent the day climbing yesterday, and thought I'd mention the fact that people climbing here are doing a terrible job of cleaning up after themselves! We got there at about noon and someone just left the area, and it was a mess! So remember that most of us enjoy the outdoors for its natural beauty. So if you can't clean up after yourselves maybe this would be the perfect opportunity to invite your wife to go climbing. If she doesn't want to join you climbing at least she can clean up after you just like she does at home! Mar 26, 2009
adam paz
[Hide Comment] Here are the actual gps coordinates. 34.516570 -116.992649 the ones on this site are well how would you say not that acurate by a long shot Prob two miles off. And if you are a gadget person and use that frequently it can be frustrating when they don't work and it should get you within 30 feet Apr 14, 2012
susan peplow
Joshua Tree
[Hide Comment] Access from Hwy 247 aka Barstow Rd:

Take 247 north towards the town of Barstow from Hwy 18 split
Shortly after the school make a left-hand turn on a well marked paved road "Rabbit Springs"
Follow Rabbit Springs Rd, west until you dead-end at Kendall
Turn right (north) on Kendall and follow as it wanders around and turns into Cove
Continue on Cove until it makes a right hand turn onto a dirt road
Continue on Cove as it changes name into Vernada - follow until end

Parking Area
Apr 10, 2013
G Halsne
[Hide Comment] Came here today and had a great time! It would seem like some good parking beta might be to park past the boulder up the short dirt road to the left of the quarry gate. This puts you even closer ( farther up the hill as well) to the Moderate wall side of the crag and gets your rig off the road out of sight. We had an interesting encounter with a local that has property up the road in which he parked by our car, walked circles around it then stood there watching us for 30 minutes and messing with a part of the fence that climbers hop over. We ended up calling the sheriff just to be on the safe side. Desert folks can be curious?

Moderate wall is a great spot to warm in the sun if its a chilly morning. Had a lot of fun and will be back to tick the rest of the routes! Sep 16, 2015
Mongo Smash
[Hide Comment] Mongo was excited to get his meat mashers on some limestone!

Honestly not worth anyone's time to climb here. Ancient Chinese Secret is the only route worth climbing. Overall the majority of bolts and anchors at this area seem to be haphazardly placed and forced you away from the natural lines. Sometimes you just gotta let it go and walk away, but it seems to be the trend in the high desert that people bolt anything just to do so.

The most redeeming factor... You will have the place to yourself minus the screaming echos of trailer trash from below. Dec 31, 2019