South East Corner
5.7,
Trad, 600 ft (182 m), 6 pitches, Grade II,
Avg: 3.1 from 204
votes
FA: John Orenshall, Gene Todd 1954
Washington
> South-W & Tacoma
> Columbia Gorge
> Beacon Rock
> S Face
Access Issue: CLOSURES: South and East Faces (NW & W Faces Remain Open)
Details
The South Face and access trail is closed from Feb. 1st through July 15th, depending on peregrine falcon nesting. Portland Area Climbers Coalition, Washington Climbers Coalition, and the Access Fund are coordinating on this issue. Disregarding this closure will harm their efforts to adjust it and their relationship with land managers.
The east face is closed to climbing year-round due to possible sensitive/endangered plant species.
The NW face and West face routes remain open.
See Closure section below for more details.
Description
Airy views of the Columbia gorge, good rock, and superb climbing make this route a classic and THE most popular route at Beacon Rock. Almost every climbable weekend will see ascents.
Finding the start of this route can be a challenge. Go down the climbers trail on the East side of Beacon. After turning the corner watch for a rise in terrain. Just past the rise the route starts in a right angling corner.
Pitch 1: 5.6 Climb up the right leaning corner and then up a crack to a nice ledge. Be careful pulling onto the ledge as there may be loose rocks. Belay from a bolted anchor
Pitch 2: 3rd class Traverse down a few feet and then straight right for a pitch. Belay at bolted anchors. Pro is sparse but the climbing is easy. Most people link pitch one and two.
P3: 5.7 Pull the steep mantle immediately up and left of the anchor and continue up the ramp above (or the right-leaning, right-facing dihedral just left of the ramp) until you have pulled a couple of vertical moves past some old pins. Make a short traverse to your right, around the corner, to a hand crack, and then head straight up for a short distance to the large belay ledge with tree. Do not belay off the tree! 30m.
P4: Ascend the obvious left-leaning, right-facing dihedral/ramp up and left from the belay. Build a trad anchor shortly after you gain the narrow dirty ledge. Anchors for Jill's Thrill are down and to the left, around a slight rock outcropping. Ignore these if continuing to the top. 40m.
P5: Walk left along the dirty ledge for a very short distance then turn right up a wide, shallow gully that is littered with dirt and loose rock. The short offwidth is at the top, and slightly to the right, of this gully. I personally prefer to build an anchor here at the top of the offwidth. ~20m.
P6: Head up and right along the low-angle ramp, and clip the ancient bolt off to your left at the top (for the rope) before walking right along a ledge a short distance and around a bit of a corner. Go straight up the face above you and build an anchor on the large ledge at the top. ~40m.
P7: Many people solo this pitch as it's unexposed and easy (5.4?). Go up and left from the ledge, taking the line of least resistance up the low-angle ridge/spine of clean rock. At a large ledge on the last of the solid rock, you'll have a hard-to-see piton down low and a bolt scar. Body belay, redirect off the piton, or belay off your harness with the piton for backup. DO NOT GO UP THE SCREE SLOPE TO BELAY FROM A TREE! ~ 30m.
Unrope and walk off initially to the north (climber's right), then up the trail through the trees to the hikers' trail.
Protection
A regular rack of nuts and cams up to 3"
![Climbers on third pitch and at third pitch anchors.]()
[Hide Photo] Climbers on third pitch and at third pitch anchors.
![Just getting to belay ledge with tree at top of pitch 3, what great exposure for the grade!]()
[Hide Photo] Just getting to belay ledge with tree at top of pitch 3, what great exposure for the grade!
![Middle of pitch 4, can see tree belay ledge at top of pitch 3]()
[Hide Photo] Middle of pitch 4, can see tree belay ledge at top of pitch 3
![Fred Gullette - pioneer for the SE Corner Route (photo credit: Beacon Rock, Then and Now Film)]()
[Hide Photo] Fred Gullette - pioneer for the SE Corner Route (photo credit: Beacon Rock, Then and Now Film)
![Dan C on the start and crux of pitch 3, SE corner. Beacon Rock, WA.]()
[Hide Photo] Dan C on the start and crux of pitch 3, SE corner. Beacon Rock, WA.
![Brad Farris on the traversing second pitch. Anchors for the pitch are between the two trees on the slopy ledge above and to the right of the climber.]()
[Hide Photo] Brad Farris on the traversing second pitch. Anchors for the pitch are between the two trees on the slopy ledge above and to the right of the climber.
![At bolted anchors for pitch 2. Go left and mantle up from here.]()
[Hide Photo] At bolted anchors for pitch 2. Go left and mantle up from here.
![Brad arrives at the second pitch anchor. The third pitch can be seen above. It continues up and to the right of the two roofs seen in the picture.]()
[Hide Photo] Brad arrives at the second pitch anchor. The third pitch can be seen above. It continues up and to the right of the two roofs seen in the picture.
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Portland
Start the 6th pitch be heading up right on the ramp. There is a bolt about 60 feet up. Clip it and continue right around a corner and onto an exposed and cool face that can be climbed up with bolts or all the way around to the right. (As the author stated, there are other options besides this to gain the summit).
Easy climbing, but loose rock to the top. Jul 17, 2008
Portland,OR
Phoenix, AZ
White Salmon WA
Vancouver, WA
I've read in some guide books that the published ratings for Beacon Rock are a bit "stiff" and I would agree here. At least for a personal first ascent, consider adding a notch to any of the published ratings (i.e. the first pitch felt more like 5.7, the third pitch felt more like 5.8 or even higher if you choose the wrong path to get over the bulge at the start, the fourth through sixth pitches all have some moves that could argueably go for 5.6 - 5.7, etc.)
Expect to commit a FULL day to this climb due to length, crowds and for a first time ascent, route finding. Jul 31, 2010
Terrebonne, OR
Reno, NV
Hockinson, Washington
It is worth repeating that the 3rd pitch has some really fine spots: the crux move (it truly is only 5.7, maybe plus at a stretch, and just a move at that), and my favorite the sloping ramp just past the crux. I highly recommend to remember to chill out a bit when in the middle of that ramp. For new climbers, it provides a good feeling of exposure, yet there are great little ledges where you can just stand there for awhile and thoroughly enjoy the stance and view. In fact, although it is not done, it might be cool to set up a belay right there on that ramp just for the fun of it!
That 3rd pitch is also instructional in terms of proper pro placement and use of runners to alleviate potential rope drag, which can be significant if not considered there.
Time: <4 hours including walk in and trail back to car, provided you know the route. We were up and back to the car in 3 hours on a sunny day. Sep 4, 2012
Sacramento, CA
A 60m rope felt like the perfect length on this route. Aug 4, 2016
Portland, OR
Portland, OR
Then, towards the top of pitch 3, don't get sucked off-route. There is a fixed piton and a left-leaning, right-facing corner crack with tempting hand jams, but it's not the easy way to go. I've seen several leaders start heading straight up this corner rather than shifting right onto the SE arête. I don't know how hard that section of climbing is, but I've seen one person fall there and another get seriously spooked. Jun 21, 2017
Milwaukie, Or
Fun climbing. P6 was pretty airy on the ramp/corner. Good times. Bring a headlamp. Jan 28, 2019
Here some beta for the pitches
P1-2. Just link them but even when 2nd pitch is pretty easy, please find and place good solid protection for the follower. Have heard bad stories of people falling on this pitch.
P3. Goes alone, maybe the crux of the route. Climb up and traverse right and up until you reach the ledge with a big tree. If you don't know the route you might get confused and go straight up as soon as you see the tree above you, don't do it, keep traversing up and right until you pretty much pass the corner and climb up to the ledge.
P4: Climb the obvious dihedral, thin but good. Maybe my favorite pitch.
P5-P6: I usually link them, unless I feel my partner would have issues on the off-width. If you link rope drag could become an issue, I usually just run it out a bit . If you think your partner will have some issue on the off-width just build an anchor just above it.
P7: Go up and right through the ridge. Almost a scramble. Some folks solo this last section.
Walk off: Start hiking (climbers right) through the path until you reach the visitor trail. Its a hike/scramble although be mindful of climbers below, try not to kick rocks down.
Have fun! Jul 11, 2019
Historical note:
This is the ledge of much controversy, where a piton was added in 2004(?) to facilitate a rappel cleaning of that section after a storm blew over a tree that left several precarious blocks that were trundled. In 2017, a local who shall not be named decided to unilaterally install a bolt at this ledge, as they didn't think the gear and piton adequate. Gear options have since proven to be unreliable at best. After much backlash, said local then removed the bolt with a hammer (hence the rock scarring). Now there is discussion about RE-installing this bolt.
Ethical note:
DO NOT BOLT AT BEACON (or anywhere) WITHOUT DISCUSSING YOUR IDEA WITH "THE LOCALS"!!! If you don't know who they are, you shouldn't be bolting. Aug 22, 2019
Portland, OR
Being able to spend a few hours climbing amongst 180deg Gorge views is such a treat.
I have a few notes for this climb, and some of them have already been mentioned in previous comments, but just to reiterate:
1. Route finding is tricky. The route wanders and zig zags left and right for long spans of rope, and a lot of potential paths look like viable easy terrain. I normally take loose rock to mean I'm off route, but in this case you are commonly crossing over long sections of loose rock. Pitons and fixed pins are present along the route, however sometimes they lead up variations.
2. Loose rock. On nearly every pitch there are seriously suspect blocks in addition to the smaller stones and scree. These are pretty concerning considering the positioning of the climbing over your party, other climbers, or hikers. It's worth being careful about any block you're about pull on, and be mindful of how your rope might kick around the loose rocks. Especially with that scree pile at the top!
3. Pitch 3 - Pay attention to Carson Baker's comment about the off-route climbing towards the end of P3. Just keep going around the arete until you find the obvious crack system pictured here: mountainproject.com/photo/1…
4. Rope drag can get really bad, especially on Pitch 3. Rope signals or radios are also important here since it'll be hard to hear your partner from around the arete along with the wind and trains.
5. All that said, enjoy this climb! 600 ft of moderate climbing and a nice walk off is really special for our area. Jul 19, 2021
Vancouver, WA
This is simply my opinion, though one of nearly two decades of experience climbing at Beacon Rock, but I believe the route should no longer be considered a 5.7. Without the block the moves through this spot reflect a bit more difficult climbing - I should think 5.8 but depending who is leading it, and if one is climbing the route for the first time, it could be considered a 5.9 move. The good news is that there is still great protection above and below where this block was shed. Regardless of how much more difficult one thinks it is, the nature of the moves has changed and this is probably most important to know if you are going out to do the route for your first time. With just slightly more than a month left to climb the route before the birds start bangin again, I can't imagine this will be addressed much. Opinions on how much harder the route is will really come out next summer I think. Until then, just be aware of the change if you do go out. Dec 22, 2023