Wander the West

Rock Climbing in the Northern Sierras

	Hard Day at Black Rock

June 2006

Rock climbing in the northern Sierra Mountains can be an epic exploration into granite slab and spire routes. I had heard about the many climbing areas in the area and when I had the chance to visit the Thousand Trails Recreation area Snowflower (See the links for info on the park) for a week I decided to take the gear and do some myself.

The Donner Pass area is supposed to offer some of the best climbing outside of Lake Tahoe and I had hoped to climb there, however it was early June and with the heavy 2005-2006 snowfall there was still quite a bit of snow on the north facing slopes. So instead we explored an area called Indian Springs. There are really three walls here; all of them offer excellent face climbing and several good crack routes. There are 23 routes here total. 12 of these are sport routes with good newer bolts in place and strong top anchors (some with chains). We spent most of our time climbing on the lower wall on the right. The routes are mostly 5.9 – 5.10d. The three walls form tiers and you can actually make a three pitch ascent of all 5.9. The second tier is a great place to practice belay station setup and top belay techniques.

There are numerous boulders and short 10 – 20 foot faces scattered around that are easily accessed for wonderful bouldering as well. The best part of this area is that it is south facing and because of that it stays warm and snow free in the early spring and may be the first place to climb in the Donner Pass area. I highly recommend it.

To get there from Truckee go about 25 miles west to Eagle Creek Rd. Take the exit and go right. About 1-1.5 miles there is a small nondescript pull out (you can easily see the wall from the road. Park here and make your way up to the rocks.

Make sure you check out the pictures of the lower wall with bolt positions marked. Till next time, climb on.

Rock Climbing in the Northern Sierras Photos

- Eric Davis