Elephant's Graveyard Rock Climbing

This is a mostly class 2 hike which will fill your shoes with dirt. It is used to approach climbs on the Elephants Graveyard, but can also serve as a Elephant Rock approach for rugged individuals who think rapping in is too easy. Watch out for poison oak in the spring.

Park at a banked dirt turnout just past the Rostrum parking. As you follow the well-established trail to the summit, you want to turn right on a faint trail shortly before Elephant Rock comes into view. This trail heads east, skirting the rim, and becomes increasingly faint as you go. To the east of Elephant Rock is a large forested “bowl” which is lined with cliffs along the top (including the Elephant’s Graveyard). Your goal is to descend at the south-east corner of this bowl via a boulder-filled gully marked with a few cairns. This section is class 2/3 but if you are ever facing serious exposure then you are off route. Once in the forest, glissade down steep and loose dirt in the general direction of Elephant Rock. When you reach an open gully, start traversing more directly towards the base of your route.