Best Climbs Rocky Mountain National Park

Jurassic Park, a jumble of granite fins, slabs, and faces, perches high on a mountainside above Lily Lake, south of Estes Park. A varied selection of single-pitch, bolted sport routes ascend the compact area’s half-dozen cliffs. Besides offering fun climbing, Jurassic Park also boasts some of the best climbing views in the Rocky Mountain National Park area, with stunning vistas of Longs Peak to the south.

Jurassic Park lies just northeast and outside of the national park boundary in Roosevelt National Forest, while Lily Lake, the access trail, and the parking area is in Rocky Mountain National Park. National park restrictions, including no dogs, applies to the access trail. No fees are charged by the park to either hike or park at Lily Lake.

Finding the area: Drive south from Estes Park on CO 7 to the Lily Lake parking area on the right (west) side of the highway. Parking is also on the east side of the highway. Before leaving your car, look northwest to the upper slopes of Lily Mountain and locate Jurassic Park’s obvious cliffs. Hike west along a good trail on the north side of the lake to a broad meadow with a bench on Lily Lake’s northwest side. Go right and hike up a steep trail to the Lily Ridge Trail. Cross it and continue steeply uphill on a loose climber’s path to Jurassic Park. Hiking time from car to cliff is twenty to thirty minutes.

LEFT HAND ROCK

Left Hand Rock is the first major formation on the left (west) side of the approach gully and trail. Identify the cliff by a deep chimney that splits the face. The left route climbs a steep buttress above an obvious roof, while the right routes ascend a slabby spur.

Descent: Descend off all routes by rappelling or lowering from bolt anchors.

1. Gilded Lily (5.9) Begin beneath a low roof on the left side of the face. Pass the roof on the right and friction up a thin delicate slab to easier rock. Finish up steep rock. 9 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 90 feet.

2. Dark Days (5.8-) Work up the deep chimney that divides the wall. Rack: Small to large cams.

3. Unknown (5.2) Climb up left to a low-angle rib. Follow it to a high bolt, then traverse right to anchors. 9 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 95 feet.

4. T-Rect (5.7+) Climb up left to a groove. Climb the shallow groove and then move up right to anchors. Watch the runout between bolts 2 and 3. 5 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 80 feet.

5. Triceratops (5.8- R) On the right side of Left Hand Rock. Climb a slabby face to a bulge. Pull over (5.8-) on a flake. 5 bolts to 2-bolt anchor.

THE LITTLE FIN

The Little Fin is a west-facing wall directly opposite Left Hand Rock on the east side of the access gully. A couple of fun moderate climbs are on the cliff. Access it by hiking to Left Hand Rock and following a short trail right to the cliff base.

1. Byrontosaurus (5.8-) Climb to a high first bolt, then pull flakes and edges up left to anchors. 7 bolts to 2-bolt anchor.

2. Purgatorius (5.8) Climb up and over a small roof, then trend up right to anchors. 7 bolts to 2-bolt anchor.

BIG ASS SLAB

Big Ass Slab is the second formation reached on the left (west) along the access trail from the lake. This east-facing slab offers fun bolt-protected routes on clean compact rock as well as great views of Longs Peak. Use a 200-foot (60-meter) rope on all routes and make sure your belayer pays attention when lowering you. All the routes start by the trail, with the first one on the far left side of the wall.

Descent: Descend off all routes by rappelling or lowering from bolt anchors.

1. Coloradoddity (5.6) Excellent and fun route with great views on the left side of the slab. Good beginner lead. Climb a long, sweeping, low-angle rib to high anchors. 10 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 95 feet. Rack: Use a 200-foot (60-meter) rope.

2. Stout Blue Vein (5.8+) Start on a ledge below the first bolt. Climb up, then make a cruxy traverse right. Follow bolts to high anchors. 7 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 95 feet.

3. Critical Morass (5.10d) One of Jurassic’s best climbs. Excellent friction climbing up a clean slab. Climb the slab with thin sustained smears to pockets. Use tricky feet and small crimps to surmount the crux. Finish over a high bulge to easy climbing to a ledge. 9 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 100 feet.

4. Assomosis (5.9+) Start right of Critical Morass. Climb a crack in a left-facing flake to a bolt, then climb up left to a ledge. Smear upward following bolts. 5 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 100 feet. Rack: TCUs and cams to 2 inches.

DINOSAUR’S FOOT

Dinosaur’s Foot is the largest climbing formation at Jurassic Park, with bolted routes on the left side of its east face and popular topropes on the right side.

Finding the cliff: The east-facing cliff is on the left (west) side of a corridor that splits the area and is the third major formation encountered on the approach trail. A brushy gully divides it from Big Ass Slab. Access the Toprope Wall by scrambling left across the top of the cliff and then carefully downclimbing to bolt anchors on the cliff edge—tie into a rope for safety.

Descent: Descend off all routes by rappelling or lowering from bolt anchors.

1. Index Toe (5.8+) Great fun and well protected. Left route on the face. Climb a blunt slabby rib to an insecure crux and difficult clip at bolt 7. Finish with easier but runout climbing to anchors with a view. 9 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 95 feet.

2. Middle Toe (5.9-) Excellent and fun—one of the best! On the next panel right of Index Toe. Dicey moves off the ground lead directly up the slabby toe to a thin crux at bolt 6 and a horizontal crack. Finish with fun moves on steep rock. 9 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 95 feet.

3. Copradelite (5.9+) Good climbing. Work up the right side of the Middle Toe pillar just left of a chimney system. 9 bolts to 2-bolt anchor.

4. Heel Toe (5.7) Climb a flaring chimney and crack right of Middle Toe until it ends, then move up left to a 2-bolt anchor. Rack: Medium to large cams.

5. Dino Dung (5.10a) Begin below the chimney. Climb up right on a rib and then move left and climb on the chimney’s right outside edge. 7 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 90 feet. The next four routes are on the east face of a semidetached pillar.

6. Little Toe Jam (5.11a) Start uphill from Dino Dung on the left side of the pillar. Face climb up a short steep face. 4 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. 40 feet.

7. Pocket Full of Cryptonite (5.12a) Stick-clip bolt 1 and then crimp small edges to the third bolt. Finish with easier moves. 3 bolts to 2-bolt anchor.

8. Joint Venture (5.8) On the right side of the semidetached pillar. Climb vertical rock to a final bulge. 5 bolts to 2-bolt anchor.

9. Strategery (5.7) Right of the pillar. Climb a slab, then move up left to an easy groove. 4 bolts to 2-bolt anchor.

10. Toprope Wall (5.7–5.8) The face on the far right side of Dinosaur’s Foot. Can be busy with guided parties. Locate bolt anchors on the cliff top. Access the anchors by going right and scrambling along the cliff top, then downclimb to the bolts. Use a rope for protection.

11. Toprope Wall Crack (5.7) Jam, layback, and face climb up a fun curving crack on the Toprope Wall. Finish at a bolt anchor.

THE FIN

The Fin is the most striking and beautiful rock formation at Jurassic Park. The formation is exactly that—a long narrow fin. A couple of fine sport routes ascend the vertical west face, while the Edge of Time, The Fin’s best route, climbs the formation’s north end. The route, ascending a perfect sharp arête, offers stellar views of Longs Peak to the southwest and a great photo opportunity for a hero shot.

Finding the cliff: The Fin is along the corridor that divides Jurassic Park’s formations. Hike past Big Ass Slab to Dinosaur’s Foot on the left. The Fin is on the right, directly across the corridor from Dinosaur’s Foot. The two routes right of #1, not included here, are Unknown V (5.11a) and CG’s Naked Fun Time (5.10b).

Descent: Descend off all routes by lowering from bolt anchors or by scrambling off the backside from the summit.

1. Dynamometer (5.11b) Interesting climbing with a crux dyno near the top. Second route from the right side. Start just left of a small pine tree. Grab pockets past a couple of bolts and then plug a cam in a pocket. Continue up good rock with flexible flake hand-holds to the high dyno. Finish at an anchor above. 8 bolts to 2-bolt chain anchor. 90 feet. Descent: Rappel or lower from chains. Rack: Small and medium cams.

2. Andrology (5.11d/5.12a) A long, pumpy face route on great stone just right of the arête. Face climb (5.10a) up to a section of pockets and sandy huecos. Crank up left (5.11b) on steep rock to the top. 7 bolts to 2-bolt chain anchor. 90 feet. Descent: Rappel or lower from chains. Rack: Medium cams.

3. Edge of Time (5.9) Classic climbing, scenic views, and spectacular position. Often toproped. A good but tricky lead. Begin below the left side of the obvious prow. Make thin face moves past the first bolt, then romp up the arête to a final crux. 4 bolts and a piton to anchors atop the route.

The history of the Edge of Time is obscure. Rumor has it that Layton Kor and Ray Northcutt top-roped the arête in the early 1960s, but I asked Layton and he doesn’t remember climbing it. “I might have climbed it,” says Kor, “but I don’t remember—I climbed a lot of stuff back then.” The first known top-rope ascents were by Bill Morck and Justin Kraemer in June, 1987 and shortly thereafter by Bernard and Robert Gillett. In the late summer of 1987, Morck hand-drilled two bolts on lead, then lowered down. Mike Clinton finished the pitch, hammering a couple pitons higher. On mountainproject.com, Morck remembers naming it: “After smoking a ‘fatty,’ we somewhat lamely came up with the name Edge of Time—it had to be the edge of something.”

4. Lost Time (5.7+) Start 10 feet left of Edge of Time. Work up a right-facing flake to a bolt above. Continue up the face above, past a couple more spaced bolts to anchors. 3 bolts to 2-bolt anchor. Rack: Small to medium cams.

5. East of Eden (5.9 R) A toprope route 25 feet left of Edge of Time. Find anchors on top. It has been led.

LONG WALL

Long Wall sits atop Jurassic Park, just northeast of The Fin. The west-facing cliff offers a few leads and a bunch of fun toprope climbs.

Finding the cliff: Hike up the access gully through Jurassic Park. Continue past The Fin and its north arête and turn right. Long Wall is a couple hundred feet to the northeast. Descent: Descend by scrambling north down the top of the cliff.

1. Your Possible Pasts (5.6) Start left of a tree. Face climb 20 feet to a crack. Follow it to a cliff-top gear belay. Rack: Stoppers and small to medium cams.

2. Another Brick in the Wall (5.7 R) Begin 20 feet left of the tree. Lead or toprope the face. Horizontal cracks provide gear placements. Rack: Small to medium cams.

3. Unknown (5.8) Face climb up right past bolts to anchors. Cram cams in horizontal cracks for extra pro. 3 bolts to 2-bolt anchor.