Cedar City Climbing

This digital Cedar City climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your Cedar City days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

Cedar City bouldering has quietly flown under the radar for years, overshadowed by Utah’s better-known destinations, yet those who take the time to stop will find a diverse collection of high-quality problems. Set in the high desert and plateau landscapes of southwest Utah, the region offers a rare mix of rock types, elevations, and aspects that make bouldering possible in every season.

Conveniently located just off the I-15 corridor, Cedar City serves as a natural hub between southern Utah‘s low desert and the Wasatch Mountains to the north. Within a short drive, climbers ... Show more

This digital Cedar City climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your Cedar City days smoother, safer, and more dialed. Cedar City bouldering has quietly flown under the radar for years, overshadowed by Utah’s better-known destinations, yet those who take the time to stop will find a diverse collection of high-quality problems. Set in the high desert and plateau landscapes of southwest Utah, the region offers a rare mix of rock types, elevations, and aspects that make bouldering possible in every season. Conveniently located just off the I-15 corridor, Cedar City serves as a natural hub between southern Utah‘s low desert and the Wasatch Mountains to the north. Within a short drive, climbers can move from sun-soaked high desert blocks to cool, forested mountain settings. This guide focuses on three primary areas, each defined by its own character and climbing style. The welded tuff boulders of Bunker Creek, tucked into the mountains near Panguitch Lake, offer an amazing sector of pockets and pinches on overhanging features, and cooler summer conditions. Just minutes west of town, the welded tuff of Swett Hills provides quick access, concentrated zones, and a growing collection of test pieces and approachable classics. Farther south, the Browse area between Cedar City and St. George delivers granitic boulders with featured overhang, powerful lines, and some of the most amazing views during the cooler months. Several smaller zones also exist near Cedar. Across these areas, climbers will find everything from beginner-friendly V0s to elite-level V12s, with everything in between, and classics at every grade. Whether you’re passing through on a road trip or looking to invest time in a lesser-known destination, Cedar City offers a rewarding bouldering experience defined by variety, scenery, accessibility, and room to explore with hundreds of untouched blocks. AMENITIES: Camping is allowed at all 3 of these areas. There is great Camping along the forest roads at Bunker Creek and Browse although sites are limited. Lesser quality camping exists near the Sweet Hills Wash. Additional camping can be found in Cedar Canyon and Three Peaks Recreation Area. There are plenty of food and shopping options in Cedar City. My favorites are Pizza Cart for pizza, Bunisa’s for Thai, Hermes for quality fast food/diner, and the Pup for higher end eating (and amazing burgers). Climbing gear and information can be found at Cedar Sports. ETHICS: Please respect the areas. Clean up after yourselves. Park in designated areas. Don't chip holds. If you are developing new lines, the rock may require fairly aggressive cleaning to remove choss. Respect the nature of existing climbs. HISTORY: The Swett Hills Wash was the first area discovered in the late 1900s. Locals who were originally scoping out the cliffline off the highway came across the wonderland of boulders located in a hidden wash. There is a hilarious, and maybe exaggerated account of how this happened in the original Cedar Climbing Guide “Metal in Your Head”. In this account the heroes, Hansen the Barbarian, Erron Y2K, and Ben Wood were chased by angry locals while developing a nearby sport crag. They found a small cave to hide in (now known as the 40 foot mantle). They hid for 3 days in this cave while surviving off of “wood ticks, bat guano, and the occasional spider”. Eventually a treaty with the locals led to their safe surrender. Bunker Creek came later in the early 2000s, developed by a group of motivated college students led by Randy Orton. Many of the standouts and testpieces were established at that time including Steel Cage Death Match (V10) at Bunker Creek. Zach Bradford expanded on these areas in the early 2010s with, most notably, the discovery of the Haven where he established the Lion’s Den (V10) and others. In 2017, a large forest fire unfortunately burned over all of Bunker Creek, decimating the beautiful vegetation and damaging some of the rock. In the decade since much of the beauty has recovered including dense aspen groves. The silver lining was that the area suddenly became much easier to explore and classic lines covered by large trees were exposed. The best example of this is the Phoenix and its interesting variations. Amazingly, subsequent erosion following the fire revealed a lower start to the Incredible Steel Cage Steel Match. This lower start (Steel Cage Rematch-V12) was climbed in 2017 by Casey Webb and remains one of the best climbs in the region. In the early 2020s another group of motivated college students, Chris Carrey, Nik De Jong, and Colten Pendleton, led another development campaign. The crown jewel of this was the Wild West Boulder which many see as one of the best single boulders in the Cedar City Area. Browse was first developed independently by prolific climber, developer, and ninja warrior, Isaac Caldiero in 2012. He brought many of his close friends with him including Laura Kisana and Tyler Webb. Most of the obvious lines were climbed during this time including the Velvet Glove, Seeker, Pocket Prints, and many, many others. During the height of the pandemic, Chis Healy, Casey Webb, and Daniel Cooley found seclusion in this seldomly visited area and began to fill in many gaps that may or may not have been left by Isaac. Recently, Nate Brun and Sam Edson have left their mark on the area, adding a number of additional classics to this special area. It is impossible to properly give credit or thanks to the many motivated climbers that have brought these boulders to life. Cedar City is located off of I-15 in southwestern Utah.