The Enormodome Rock Climbing

A sprawling expanse of forested ridges and shallow ravines lies between the well-kept Forest Service Road 19 to the Hunter Creek Trailhead/Paradise Guest Ranch and the much-neglected Forest Service Road 391/Schoolhouse Park Road accessing the trailhead to the popular Lake Angeline. Myriad granite domes of all sizes speckle this landscape, many of which are readily accessible from the various Forest Service spur roads. These formations vary in scale, with most being quite small and unsuitable for climbing. However, the larger domes hold fine potential for generally short, but often steep lines on featured rock that can be quite clean.

The area was the scene of the Lost Fire in 1988, one of the largest recorded burns in the Big Horns. The aftermath of the blaze is a new-growth forest of diminutive pines generally less than 10’ tall and densely concentrated, and a match-stick mess of old blow-downs. Travel through the forested parts of the area can be trying, but developed crags will have cleared paths to ease access.

The Enormodome is a fin which was the first formation reconnoitered by the Domeland Security Task Force (DSTF) in June of 2015, and subsequently the first developed in October of 2015. Combining easy access, good sun/shade chasing options, and a nice concentration of short routes on its heavily featured flanks, it turned into a worthwhile crag in itself. It runs south-north, and the developed climbing lies on both the east and west faces. It is somewhat reminiscent of a stunted cousin to the Breadloaf formations of the City of Rocks. There is an access “staircase” in the middle of the west face, which allows a 3rd class scramble to the top and generally easy access to many of the anchors. Although not the area’s largest formation, we couldn’t help but tip our hats to Chris Kalous, whose podcast has fueled many drives between adventures.

Although short, these lines generally climb from bottom to top with no filler and offer very fun movement on generally great rock. Try to do them all in a day if you're really stoked, or spend a couple of days up here, taking advantage of the great campsite where you park. All hardware is stainless steel with biners for lowering off. If a biner seems worn out, replace it with one of yours.