Patterson Bluff Rock Climbing

Sitting above the North Fork of the Kings River and the PG&E community of Balch Camp is this amazing cliff band. Patterson Bluff has always had a certain peculiarity to it. Maybe all the hydroelectric activity is responsible for this, or the long winding drive deep into the western slope of the Sierra, or the relatively low elevation that makes for particularly nasty and brushy approaches to the bottom of the bluff (though these tales ignore the top approach, unique in its own right). Perhaps it's the fact that such a mythical offwidth route "JCA's Wide World of Sports" on an even more fantastic flake of rock can possibly exist. I'm not sure, but the place is definitely speical. A real "hidden" jewel of the westside (easily seen from Fresno on a clear day). The area sits within Sierra National Forest.

The bluff can basically be divided into two parts by Patterson Falls. The left side is around 1000 ft. tall and has over a dozen routes, mostly all free and each around 10 pitches. The right side is shorter (~400ft.), good in the winter, more varied, and hosts THE Balch Camp Flake, a piece of granite architecture that is a sight to behold.

There are numerous smaller crags scattered throughout the area as well. Some of very high quality.

See Clint Cummins excellent collection of beta in his (now defunct) Supertopo online guide: http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/2106135/Patterson-Bluff-online-guide