PRINT: Climbing in Dolores Boulders, Four Corners Area

Dolores Boulders

Colorado > Four Corners Area

Description

There are a group of forested boulders with moderate difficulty. The sandstone is solid, but there is some choss prevalent. Some cleaning may be necessary.

This area does not receive a great amount of foot traffic though the trails should be obvious. There are boulders both on the uphill and downhill side of the road. Use caution while crossing, and park either on the single roadside access space or down by House Creek turnoff. Please be kind to the surrounding vegetation, and pick up after yourself.

Getting There

From I-45 in Dolores, turn on 11th Street, and continue through the 4 way stop. As you begin to incline, the hill 11th Street turns into Forest Service Road 526, which you will follow approximately 6 miles until you see the obvious boulders on the right side of a hill or the turn to House Creek (Forest Service Road 528).

Per Kevin Lichner: you'll follow approximately until you see the obvious boulders on the right side of a hill right at mile marker 7, or just a litter farther is the turn to House Creek (Forest Service Road 528) where you can park for easier access to the Meadow Boulder.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

A self-portrait on one of Dolores' hidden gems.
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http://mtangeman.com.

A self-portrait on one of Dolores' hidden gems. http://mtangeman.com.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Mychal M
Dolores, CO

There are some fun circuits up here and many more problems aside from what is currently here on MP. Some steep and sharp patina routes up above the main boulder, proud slab lines on the main face, and a lower zone below the road that houses some fun lines on smaller boulders. Cool place for the Dolorean! Sep 18, 2017

Jeff Rumble
Whittier, CA

This is not the Dolores Boulder I was looking for. Aug 31, 2019

Magnus von Koeller

We were here today, and everything was so overgrown it was largely impossible to even get to the boulders. Unless you bring a machete to clear a trail, I wouldn’t recommend this area. Pity, as it’s a pretty spot! Jul 20, 2020

Kevin Lichner
SW CO

Magnus von Koeller,

It sounds like you missed the social trail to the boulders as there is one for the upper and lower boulders. I put up cairns today that should help identify these faint social trails. To get to the Butternaut Boulder, there is quite some overgrowth on the trail, but a little bush in the face is worth it sometimes ;) Cheers Aug 13, 2020

Matthew Tangeman
SW Colorado

See individual areas for directions to individual boulders. This was originally posted to just cover the boulders at mile marker 7, but there's a lot more than that. Some areas are easy to access, some require a lot of bushwacking.

It probably goes without saying, but the usual soft sandstone ethics apply here: no wire brushing, give it time to dry after rain. There's some very cool holds, like at the Patina Boulder, that are also quite fragile. DO bring a soft-bristle brush. It'll go a long way to keeping things clean and in good friction. Oct 1, 2020