PRINT: Rock Climb Drew's Corner, Castle Rocks

Drew's Corner

5.9, Trad, 50 ft (15 m),

Avg: 2.1 from 19 votes
FA: unknown
Idaho > S Idaho > Castle Rocks > Castle Rocks > W Buttress - South

Access Issue: (1) BLM Managed Lands at Castle Rocks PERMANENTLY CLOSED TO CLIMBING!! Castle Rocks State Park and US Forest Sevice lands are OPEN TO CLIMBING. US Forest Service Lands closed to new route developement. (2) Highlining temporary ban in place at CIRO/CRSP Details

(1) The BLM has amended the Cassia Resource Management Plan (RMP) to permanently close the 400 acres of land it manages in the Castle Rocks Interagency Recreation Area to staging, traditional rock climbing, sport climbing and bouldering, as well as overnight camping and development of new trails. Here is a link to a map that shows the BLM land in yellow. parksandrecreation.idaho.go…

The adjacent Castle Rocks State Park and the National Forest Service land to the north remains OPEN TO CLIMBING,
as does the nearby City of Rocks National Reserve.

(2) HIGHLINING IS PROHIBITED
By the authority of the park manager, Highlining at City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park is temporarily prohibited as of August 28, 2019.

The park(s) is reviewing highlining activities. Here are Google Drive links to the closure and the updated Code of Regulations for CIRO. drive.google.com/open?id=1y… and drive.google.com/open?id=1Y…

Arrest and/or hefty fines are likely if caught rock climbing with ropes and gear in the BLM land.

Please respect this closure to ensure access to the open climbing at Castle Rocks is not threatened.

The "Final Supplementary Rules for the Castle Rocks Land Use Plan Amendment Area, Idaho" is located in the Federal Registry. This document gives the details on the closure but doesn't provide a map. You can check it out here: federalregister.gov/documen…

Description

Climb a mungy, low-angle left leaning crack to access the corner. The actual corner climbs well with lots of face holds and fun stemming. The crux is a short section requiring a layback. Traverses right at the top to the anchor.

Location

This is the obvious arching corner left of Poking Holes in the Firmament. It shares the same anchors.

Protection

Single set of cams up to BD #3. 2-bolt anchor.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Laura leading off on Drew's Corner, 5.9 (or is it Bone Crack?)

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Charlie S
NV

There appears to be some confusion as to the location of Bone Crack and Drew's Corner. Drew's corner description clearly says "one bolt and gear" which this route fits. However, the line drawn in the guidebook seems to indicate that this arching crack is Bone Crack. The line drawn for Drew's Corner seems to be going straight up the face.

Based on descriptions and shared anchors, I'd speculate that this is indeed Drew's Corner, with Bone Crack over to the left a few more feet. Mar 7, 2015

Brandon Marshal
Victor, ID

5.8

This is the obvious corner left of "Poking Holes in the Firmament" the two routes share anchors. There is one route in-between Drew's Corner and Poking Holes, and it is a 5.10 TR coming directly down from the same set of chains.

One bolt protects the weird dirty ramp/flake traverse to the corner. Getting there is easy, but don't fall! This corner/crack eats gear more than any I've climbed in the city. I don't know if I just had "tall man beta" but I thought this route was mostly 5.7 with MAYBE a 3 move 5.9 crux in the middle. I climbed mostly face holds on the right until the slab went blank, then used face holds over the corner and a few insecure laybacks to smear through the obvious very blank crux. Fun route, good rock but maybe not as great movement as it looks.

No need for large gear. Hand sized and smaller. Takes large nuts too, leave smalls at the bottom if you want. Doubles in the #0.5-#2 range might help the more apprehensive leader. Nov 29, 2021