The Best Front Range Climbing in Colorado

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Infamous, celebrated, intimidating, and overall awesome, “Eldo” demands a full toolbox of skills from climbers. Fixed anchors exist, but not everywhere. Some of the rock is bulletproof, while small sections are loose and unpredictable. Some locals swear by specialist gear like RP’s and Tricams, but everyone agrees a cool head and steady technique help keep the stress levels under control.

Once the home to Mountain Utes and then a marquee luxury resort where Dwight and Mimi Eisenhower honeymooned, Eldo today is a world-class destination for traditional climbing. Even the moderates can be surprisingly spicy, so heads up when tying in…even for an “easy” climb!

Steve Levin’s excellent guidebook Eldorado Canyon, is a must-have for its accurate information and crisp color photography, but also for its authoritative history of the canyon. Expect phenomenal climbing interspersed with shattered ledges, unobvious route-finding, and antique, fixed gear.

Hiring a guide for a day can help you get a sense of the area and strategies for managing the complexities. Whatever your psych level, Eldo delivers a rewarding day of climbing, hard won on the towering cliffs.

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Technically part of Rocky Mountain National Park, Lumpy Ridge is less alpine rock than fantastic multipitch cragging. Compact granite, distinguished by flaring cracks, gives Lumpy its own feel on the Front Range. Relatively few bolts and mostly multi-pitch routes, Lumpy requires a competent climber to get on its longer, bigger routes. The rewards, though, are many: great climbing, an epic view of Longs Peak to the south, and moderate classics in the mountains.

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“Rocky” is home to 4000m peaks, one of the highest paved roads in North America (Trail Ridge Road), and some of the best alpine rock anywhere. While the true alpine terrain requires self-sufficient climbers, don’t be too intimidated: there are tons of moderate routes here, starting at lower fifth-class. The rock is generally good, but it is alpine: inclement weather, rock- and icefall, altitude, and tricky descents are all part of the game.

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Staring down at the college town of Boulder, the slabby, picturesque Flatirons mark the spot where the Rockies push up from the Great Plains. The east faces are all relatively mellow with routes as forgiving as 5.3. Young kids, first-time climbers, and everyone in between routinely climb the featured sandstone lines.

Widely spaced protection stresses out newer leaders, but if they can stomach the sparse gear options, the summits look towards Rocky Mountain National Park to the north, the Indian Peaks to the west, and across the endless plains to the east. The steeper west faces, many of them overhanging, hide bunches of sport routes and morning shade, too. It’s an awesome venue with great hiking, trial running, bolt clipping, and long moderates.

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The Platte! Huge granite domes, part of an enormous batholith, jut into the sky just west of Denver. This is Joshua-Tree style granite climbing on friction-y crystals in the tan rock.

There are granite splitters here, as well as multipitch slab routes, all detailed in Jason Haas’s new guidebooks, South Platte Climbing. Note that because the formations are extensive enough and spaced enough, Haas wrote both a northern and southern volume of the book. This gives you an idea of the depth and quality of the climbing – awesome!

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Tumbling from the mountains into the college town of Golden, Clear Creek cuts a deep canyon through granite, schist, and gneiss. Well bolted and with climbs ranging from 5.5 to 5.13, Clear Creek offers a dizzying array of most sport climbs – but the occasional trad route, too. South-facing routes climb all winter and the dozens of routes help keep crowded days manageable. Clear Creek is an awesome venue for every level of climb, practically year round, too.