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| Elevation: | 7,847 ft | 2,392 m |
| GPS: |
37.34204, -107.98078 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
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| Page Views: | 6,237 total · 202/month | |
| Shared By: | Micah May on May 30, 2022 | |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC |
Description
New Lightner is remote group of boulders on the west side of Lightner Creek newly developed in 2021-2022. These are more newly developed and more remote than the "Lightner Creek" Boulders, which are actually near Dry Fork, a tributary to Lightner Creek that lies a few miles to the west. The current access requires about a 4 mile (1.5 hour) hike, but those willing to make the trek will be rewarded by a dense cluster of very high quality boulders. As of the time of this post (May '22), about 40-50 routes have been developed, mostly be me (Micah May), by brother Jeremy May, and some of our friends including especially Dakota Woodie. The area was "discovered" by Malcolm Hillewaert. There is potential for hundreds of routes, so go check it out, put up an FA, and add it here!
New Lightner is very fresh, so bring your brushes, long pants (for some inevitable bushwhacking), some clippers or a small saw if you would like to contribute to improving trails and landings, and a sense of adventure. You won't be disappointed. The sandstone has a wide range of climbing including lots of steep faces with cool pockets, edges, and slopers. The rock is pretty easy on the skin - nothing sharp. It is wooded with lots of options for shade, so this area is good from late spring when the wildlife closure ends until fall.
Getting There
These instructions are provisional and will be updated with more detail as we continue to dial in the best trail:
- from DRO go west on US 160. Turn right on County Road 207, Lightner Creek Road. Turn right on County Road 208. 2 miles from the start of 208, take the left fork (at GPS coordinates 37.3205334, -107.9443609). Go another 0.2 miles. The road will end with a gate on your right and parking on the left. Park here at GPS coordinates: 37.322570, -107.947230.
- follow the trail west toward Barnroof Point until you reach the saddle (GPS coordinates 37.32239391600689, -107.96309910714626).
- at the saddle, turn right (North), and follow the trail that goes along the ridge and down to the NW. At some point as the trail bends to the NE, you will need to depart to the left (NW) and proceed downhill into the valley. Cross the small creek, and find another trail on the North side of the creek. Continue down the creek, heading west until you reach (GPS coordinates 37.3205334, -107.9443609).
- when you reach (GPS coordinates 37.3291579, -107.9685936), turn right (north), and head uphill to find an old road grade. The road grade leads up with and somewhat back to the NE. Eventually the road grade will becomes overgrown, and you will find an old ditch that traverses the hillside from east to west.
- if you go left (west) along the ditch, it will wrap around the hillside and meet an ATV road that parallels Lightner Creek and is easy hiking (relatively flat and no bushwhacking) straight to the boulders, BUT this crosses private property. To stay on public land, continue up the hillside to the ridge, go north along the ridge, then drop down off the west side of the ridge to meet the road on national forest land at (GPS coordinates 37.3373500, -107.9793704).
- from here, follow the road across Lightner Creek and about another 1/2 mile until the road becomes overgrown. You should see a cairn and some orange flagging where you leave the road to go uphill (west) to reach the boulders.
The boulder are around GPS coordinates: 37.3420325, -107.9809143.
We will try to update this with more info and a map.
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