10 Great (and Quiet) Winter Climbing Destinations
Winter is a special time of year, with its short days, clear, crisp air, and opportunity to visit climbing venues that are often too hot during the other three seasons. In fact, for some climbers—especially ice climbers, boulderers, and those of us with sweaty skin—winter might be the main season, with cold temps that freeze the waterfalls and/or provide ideal friction on the rock.
While it can take effort to stay fired up for climbing when our mammalian inclination is to hibernate, there’s something to be said for winter road trips and goals, the kinds of things that keep you fit and motivated for spring. Some of my best memories are of quiet winter days on the rocks of the Southwestern United States, a brilliant sun low on the horizon, mares’ tails in the cerulean sky painting the arrival of an imminent front.
Without further ado, we present 10 awesome North American winter-climbing venues, some super famous, but most lesser known, running the gamut from bouldering areas, to single-pitch cragging zones, to ice-climbing venues. We’ve also provided a link to at least one guidebook for each, as well as suggestions for other, nearby winter climbing.
1. Horse Pens 40, Steele, Alabama
HP 40 is a special little zone, a densely packed cluster of weathered sandstone boulders on a mountaintop outside the town of Steele. There are 400 problems from V0 to V11+, and the rock epitomizes Southern sloper climbing, with famous/infamous problems like Bumboy (V3) and Millipede (V5) typifying the technical, conditions-sensitive style. It’s also a travel-friendly venue, with on-site camping and cabin rentals, which are particularly welcome on those long, cold winter nights.
Guidebook: Horse Pens 40, by Adam Henry
Want some more Southern roof, crimpy-face, and velvety-sloper bouldering goodness? Then check out Little Rock City, Tennessee, and Rocktown, Georgia, both within a two-hour drive.
2. The Homestead, Phoenix, Arizona
Tufa climbing in the Sonoran Desert? Why certainly, at least in the dead of winter on the gently overhanging limestone walls of the Homestead. Located between the towns of Globe and Winkelman (southeast of Phoenix, north of Tucson), the Homestead is home to roughly 300 climbs, most in the 5.10 to 5.13 range, which rise above a quiet canyon studded with saguaro, yucca, sotol, and other similarly charismatic desert flora. The dirt approach road has a reputation, so come with a high-clearance and/or 4WD vehicle—though the good news is you can primitive-camp right at the cliffs, in the Access Fund campgrounds.
Guidebook: The Homestead, by Tanya Bok
For more Arizona winter limestone, check out The Farmhouse and Dry Canyon, both an hour-plus southeast of Tucson. For granite, Mt. Lemmon, right above Tucson, has cragging at all elevations, making it a four-season area.
3. El Cajon Mountain, San Diego, California
El Cajon has been a boon to San Diego climbers, offering techy granite much closer to town than Joshua Tree. Since the cliff gets loads of sun, it’s ideal for winter climbing. The hikes up the mountain’s steep flanks can be a grind—30-plus minutes in most cases—but the reward is hundreds of one- to three-pitch climbs ranging from 5.7 to 5.13 on perfect, multihued, patina’ed granite. Most are clip-ups, but there are some trad and mixed options, too. The zone is great for moderate multipitch—a perfect example being the popular 350-foot Leonids (5.9) on the Wedge, which is climbable entirely with quickdraws.
Guidebook: ACSD Pocket Guide; El Cajon page on Mountain Project
If things are too hot and sunny at El Cajon, the classic white granite domes of Tahquitz and Suicide Rock sit at ~7,000 feet, near the town of Idyllwild, a two-hour drive away.
4. New Jack City, Barstow, California
The crags at this volcanic desert area might be diminutive (30-60 feet), but there are nearly 500 routes, and the rock has formed into unique formations like miniature spires, hoodoos, and even arches, with cool, grabbable incuts, pockets, and huecos. The classics are predominantly 5.10s and 5.11s, but there are some steep, bouldery must-dos in the 5.12-5.13 range as well. The area is on BLM land, with 14 first-come, first-served spots in the Sawtooth Canyon Campground. Be aware that New Jack City has a bit of a Wild West, “loved to death” vibe, so you may not want to camp here on busy weekends.
Guidebook: New Jack City Sport Climbing Guide, by Jordan Robbins
To mix things up with some slab, bouldering, and crack, head for venerable Joshua Tree National Park, 1.5 hours away; if it’s too cold and windy in the park, try the lower-elevation Indian Cove (~3,000 feet).
5. Mesquite, Nevada/St. George, Utah
There is so much climbing (sandstone cragging and bouldering; limestone sport) in this corner of the Southwest that it can be overwhelming figuring out where to start. In winter, your best bet will be the lower-elevation or sunnier zones, unless you are a cold-conditions fiend and like standing around in fleece pants and a puffy, in which case check out the Hurricave and Virgin River Gorge. For sunnier and/or warmer limestone, check out the Sun Cave, Snakepit, Sun City, and Arrow Canyon. Meanwhile, the Red Rockian sandstone cliffs of Chuckawalla Wall, Turtle Wall, and Snow Canyon State Park are a safe bet, as are the sunny sandstone blocks of Moe’s Valley.
Guidebook: Mojave Limestone, by Jerry Handren; Limestone Bible, by Misty Murphy and Bill Ohran
A visit to the region would be incomplete without stopping in at Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, west of Las Vegas, to sample its legendary Aztec-sandstone bouldering, multipitch, crack, and sport.
6. Box Canyon, Socorro, New Mexico
Despite being off the beaten path, Box Canyon was one of America’s first sport areas, dating back to the mid-1980s thanks the late Bertrand Gramont, a French climber who attended New Mexico Tech. The steep volcanic rock here ranges from bullet-hard chocolate stone with vibrant lichen (the Major Wall), to pocketed tuff (the Streambed), to sometimes iffy, flakier rock (on the 170-foot Red Wall). There are tons of boulders, with angles similar to Hueco Tanks but even sharper holds. In any case, the winter climate is mild, and you can chase sun or shade.
Guidebook: PDF for Box Canyon; Rock Climbing New Mexico, by Dennis R. Jackson; The Box Climbing Areas Page on Mountain Project
The Box has often been described as the “poor man’s Hueco Tanks”; if it is indeed too poor for your blood, Hueco itself is only 3.5 hours to the south.
7. Haycock Mountain, Kintnersville, Pennsylvania
Diabase is a very particular stone, an intrusive igneous rock similar in texture to slippery basalt but coarser grained. The rock forms clean, smooth, appealingly jointed boulders with subtle and very technical feature climbing. This means it’s unforgiving in the heat, which makes the blocks of Haycock Mountain much more suited for cold-weather climbing. There are hundreds of problems scattered across the mountain’s wooded slopes, many of which have heinously rocky landings. Bring lots of pads and a little rag to wipe your shoes clean, since the already-friction-challenged stone polishes easily.
Here’s Digital Editor Steven Potter doing a very tricky little moderate:
Guidebook: Haycock Bouldering, by Char Feterolf; A Bouldering Guide to Haycock Mountain, by Charles Fetterolf
The Gunks, two-plus hours away, is not exactly known as a primo winter destination—at least not for roped climbing. But if bouldering in cold temps is your jam, then it may be worth the quick drive up. Another fun (cold) option: Ice Pond!
8. La Gaspésie, Quebec, Canada
Quebec is notoriously stacked with frozen waterfalls and mixed routes, but for a truly adventurous trip, check out the peninsula of La Gaspésie, which juts into the Gulf of St. Lawrence northeast of Québec City. Along the quiet landform, the 125 miles of Highway 132 between Sainte-Anne-Des-Monts and Gaspé have become a favorite haunt of ice climbers, with 150-plus easy-access ice climbs, from one to four pitches and up to WI6, rising hard above the massive St. Lawrence River. Just be aware that this is a raw, remote, elemental area, with natural hazards like avalanches and rogue waves to keep you on your toes.
Guidebook: Guide des cascades de glace et voies mixtes du Québec, by Stéphan Lapierre and Bernard Gagnon
All the New England ice you can shake a stick—er, tool—at is just across the border in Vermont and New Hampshire, at classic areas like Smuggler’s Notch and Huntington Ravine.
9. Tennessee Wall, Chattanooga, Tennessee
The T-Wall is iconic, an uninterrupted south-facing bluff of perfect sandstone overlooking the lazy Tennessee River. The rock explodes in brilliant colors, from orange, to red, to iron black, to chocolate brown, and is riven by splitter cracks, friendly corners, and massive roofs—often tackled by legendary Rob Robinson jamming testpieces like Hands Across America (5.12c). The area is overwhelmingly trad, though there are a handful of clip-ups and mixed climbs, especially in the higher grades (5.12 and 5.13); fortunately, the gear is mostly bomber, and you can slam it in deeply and often!
Guidebook: Chattrad, by Rob Robinson
Chattanooga is rightfully famed for all the epic sandstone nearby, including the über-steep sport climbing at the Obed and the world-class bouldering at Little Rock City.
10. Cody, Wyoming
The South Fork Shoshone River, a remote canyon 45 minutes from the gateway town for Yellowstone National Park, is where all the best Wyoming ice action happens. The rock here is a light-brown, unclimbable choss, but on the upside it’s so soft that water flowing off the rim has cut through it over the eons to form appealing waterfalls, runnels, slots, and gullies that freeze in winter. The routes are known for their marked length (100-300+ meters), and they line both sides of the canyon, so you can chase sun or shade. The classics range from WI3 to WI6, and many, like the often-climbed nine-pitch Broken Hearts (WI5-6), have a committing, alpine feel.
Guidebook: Winter Dance: Select Ice Climbs in Southern Montana and Northern Wyoming, by Joe Josephson; Cody Rock and Ice Climbing, at Lemkeclimbs.com; CalTopo map
Only 3.5 hours away, Hyalite Canyon outside Bozeman is another monster ice destination, with shorter routes (usually single pitch) for more of a cragging vibe
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