Zion National Park

Located in Southwest Utah and just a three hour drive (or less) from Las Vegas, NV, Zion National Park encompasses some of the most beautiful natural scenery and rock in the country (if not world.) Zion Canyon, with its nearly 3,000 foot walls, its 15 mile length, its bisecting river (The Virgin) and relatively narrow width greatly resembles Yosemite in almost every way, except for the color of its rock (and perhaps due to its lack of distinctly recognizable waterfalls.) Beautiful reds, oranges, splashes of greens from the hanging gardens, magentas, and cream tones color the rocks with bands of geologic time distinct and visible to the naked eye. Nearly 150 million years of sendimentary accumulation, the rise of the Colorado Plateau, and cutting action of a seasonally swelling and receding Virgin River have left 9 distinct layers in the rock, offering such visual splendor as to risk leaving its observer speechless for hours.

The climbing in Zion National Park is not for the beginner or even intermediate climber. There are no sport routes that I know of, and the vast majority of the crack climbing is located on wall climbs that demand experience with both committing multi-pitch climbs and aid (mostly clean).

The good news is that there are a few terrific single pitch routes off the Canyon floor, offering excellent settings and great sandstone rock.


The Cave Route (5.7(b)): First ascended by desert master and prolific first ascentionist, Jim Dunn on the base of Cerberus Gendarme, the Cave Route is not only a fabulous route, but also has the distinction of being shown in my all time favorite movie, which is of course,The Eiger Sanction. The route ascends 80 feet up a right facing corner to a bolted rappel anchor that sits at the opening to the cave. A second pitch (short, rating unknown, guessing: 5.very hard) leads to anchors that could be used to then TR the easy chimney climbing in the cave. There may be other ways to reach these anchors or TR the cave but I am unaware of them. It is in this cave that Clint Eastwood climbs on TR while being belayed by the great George Kennedy. The route begins with a wide crack where a BD #4 helps protect the start. It then continues up several small mantals offering outrageously gorgeous views out over the Virgin River and Zion Canyon, and then up a wide hands-fist crack finish. A top rope can be set by scrambling up the back side and into the cave. The approach is sandy, steep, potentially dangerous, and possibly destructive (adding to the erosion of the hillside). The bolts would be a difficult and scary reach to the right to set up the top rope, but anecdotally, I understand its commonly done.



Reach the base of the climb by parking just past the Cerberus Gendarme in a small pullout that features a shadded area under a gazeebo. (Or take the shuttle in high season to this location.) This pullout, and the Cerberus Gendarme base are pictured below.



Hike back along the road a short distance and take the visible and obvious climber's trail on the left up to the base of Cerberus Gendarme. The Cave Route is on the far left.



A beautiful looking 5.9 thin hands (looking) splitter sits several hundred feet to the right that starts behind a tree and heads leftward up a blocky crack to the thin hands splitter to bolted rap anchors. We didn't climb this, but it looks like a great line and well protected throughout for the experienced and equipped desert 5.9 leader. I believe it is called Cherry Crack. (On right side of above photo.)


Also, nearby are the Practice Cliffs (pictured above). Park at a small pullout on the right just past the Zion Lodge when driving in the direction of exiting the Park. Up to your left is a wall of short trad crack climbs that end at bolted anchors. Be aware however that some areas here are protected due to Native American artwork, and have been closed on and off in the past. The specific areas closed are well marked and roped off at the time of this writing, but could change. Respect the signs and make as little impact as possible should you choose to climb here! Also, make sure to check with the climbing ranger in the Visitors Center if this area is currently open. Head up the climbers trail to the base and head left along the cliff to locate the routes. Directly upon reaching the top of the climber's trail, you will be looking at a 5.8 route with 2 bolt anchor (ends to the right of the large boulder in the picture above). All the way on the far left is a 5.7 nice looking hands crack, but with smaller trees functioning as the belay. A walk-off is located off the far left side, and then down and back around to the cliff face. Be careful not to knock off any loose rock onto climbers below if making the walk off.

Bouldering is avaialble just past the Park's Southern entrance both to the left of the Ranger kiosk and along the road within a mile of the entrance. The problems are few but offer an interesting mix of both cracks and typical face problems.



Additionally, there is quite a bit of trad and sport climbing located not far from Zion's main town of Springdale in both St. George and Cedar City (both less than an hour away).



The picture above is of the author on The Cone in Cedar City, UT. The Cone hosts three sport routes that all end atop The Cone's summit pinnacle with bolted chain anchors. There is a 5.7, a 5.9 on the arete, and a 5.10a that includes a fun highstep/mantel over a bulge. 100 yards down the road in the direction of Cedar City from the Cone are two trad cracks, Quirky Crack (5.8) and Slim Jim's Crack (5.3), as well as the 5.8 sport route, The Knob (5.8+ PG) all of which are visible from the road. Past the Cone in the opposite direction some 50 yards you will come upon two dirt roads on the right. Take the second right and follow the dirt road to its terminus (keep going left until it dead-ends). A short hike from here will bring you to Pocket Rocks and nearby Sprocket Rocks, both great short sport climbing areas. Approaching these routes is best done by heading North on UT-17 (a right turn off I-9 leaving Zion near the small town of La Verkin). Follow UT-17 N for 20 minutes and take I-15 N towards Cedar City. Take exit 59 for Cedar City and follow 200N until it becomes UT-56. Follow UT-56 West out of town until you see trees and rocks on the right (10-15 minutes). The Cone will be visible from the road in this area.

St. George is also replete with cragging possibilities, including the unique family owned and operated Veyo Pool and Crawdad Canyon Rock Climbing Park. Open for climbing each year beginning April 1st, Crawdad Climbing hosts over 180 sport routes ranging from 5.6 to 5.13. It costs $8/day and you must sign a waiver upon arrival. There is also camping and a swimming pool available. Please see: Crawdad Climbing for more information.

Other:

Zion makes for a great place to do some climber-tourism and with a guidebook in hand let your eyes travel up some of Zion's more challenging and famous routes such as the Jeff Lowe masterpiece, Peter Croft first free ascent, and recent free solo ascent by Alex Honnold of the towering and sublime Moonlight Buttress.



Zion has some of the best hiking in the World. See the Hikes & Bikes tab here on BayAreaClimbing.com for a description of the famed Angel's Landing Hike, the Narrows and other hikes and adventures in Southern Utah.