Gandalf's Gorge Bouldering

Gandalf's Gorge and the boulders surrounding the River Boulder are a much closer option for those unwilling to trek the miles out to the Wilderness of Rocks. The approaches vary between five (River Boulder) and twenty (Gollum's) minutes from the parking lot. More bouldering in southern Arizona can be found at oldpueblobouldering.com/.

Color Code: The color code for the topos is as follows:

VB-V2: Green
V3-V5: Blue
V6-V9: Orange
V10-Above: Red
Project: Yellow

Stars: In contemplating the quality of these climbs, I’ve resorted to the (more) objective standards articulated by Brian Capps, Matt Wilder, & Jamie Emerson. Because the rock quality here tends to be crumbly and sharp, there are few climbs that get more than one star--—if even that. The 8B Boulder, Dragon’s Den, and Gollum’s are noteworthy exceptions.

Here are some of the determinative factors under the system used:
•Obvious start hold
•Landing
•Rock quality (Including chipping or gluing)
•Contrivance/Traverse
•Setting
•History (though an absence would never detract)

Here are some factors that are irrelevant under the system by way of their overly subjective nature:
•Movement
•Style
•Difficulty