Coldstream Canyon Climbing

This digital Coldstream Canyon 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 Coldstream Canyon days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

Coldstream Canyon has two spectacular granite cliffs, one perched on top of the other. By a simple twist of fate, as the glacier moved through this valley it deposited perfect erratics at the base of each cliff. The boulders sit in the open, and they bask in the sun most of the day. However, there is shade here, you just have to work for it. The rock is ultra clean and this area is likely one of the finest spots on the North Shore. On the second tier, the boulders sit on slabs, some very close to the edge of the first cliff, so be careful walking around. The vi... Show more

This digital Coldstream Canyon 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 Coldstream Canyon days smoother, safer, and more dialed. Coldstream Canyon has two spectacular granite cliffs, one perched on top of the other. By a simple twist of fate, as the glacier moved through this valley it deposited perfect erratics at the base of each cliff. The boulders sit in the open, and they bask in the sun most of the day. However, there is shade here, you just have to work for it. The rock is ultra clean and this area is likely one of the finest spots on the North Shore. On the second tier, the boulders sit on slabs, some very close to the edge of the first cliff, so be careful walking around. The view from the second tier is stunning, with sweeping vistas of the surrounding mountains. The approach involves several miles of dirt road driving. Once there, you can park at the Wooden Cobra and you will have a 25 minute walk to the base of the first cliff. Alternately, you can continue past the Wooden Cobra on a rough, brushy road and reduce the approach to 10 minutes to the first cliff. DRIVING: From Truckee exit I-80 at Donner pass road and turn left at the 4-way stop. From the 4 way stop, drive 0.4 miles and turn left on a dirt road that skirts left around a gravel pit. Follow this dirt road for 0.1 miles to a red gate that marks the start of Coldstream Canyon. Stay on the main road, not taking any turns. Just after you skirt the right side of a big pond look for a big wooden sign. From here, reset your odometer, turn uphill on Coldstream Road, and continue for 1.5 miles, not taking any turns from the main road until you get to a tunnel that goes under the train tracks. Reset again here, drive through the tunnel and wind around for 0.4 until you arrive at another wooden sign. Take the right fork towards “North Fork Cold Creek” for 1.3 miles and park on the left in a spot big enough for about 4 cars. Please note this is also the parking area for The Wooden Cobra. APPROACH #1: From the parking lot head out on a well defined trail to the southwest. Cross the creek at a log bridge and continue west along the south side of the creek. Eventually the trail makes several switchbacks in a gully before reaching a large open slab. Head west/southwest up the slabs and into a small forest. Emerge from the woods onto another large slab directly below the first tier. This approach takes about 30 minutes. DRIVING/APPROACH #2: You can make it to the lower tier in 10 minutes if the road isn’t washed out and unpassable. From the Wooden Cobra parking lot continue on the road for 0.1 miles and turn left on a skinny road choked by brush. Drive this road for 0.5 miles and park in a wooded area in some obvious pullouts. From the parking spot in the wooded area walk up the road 30 yds and take a sharp left on a well worn single track/trail. Walk this trail that heads south underneath the lower cliff band. It’s about 10 minutes to the lower terrace boulders. To get to the 2nd terrace boulders either walk around the right side of the lower cliff from the parking lot or scramble up a 3rd class gully just south of the main clu