Highway 20 Climbing

This digital Highway 20 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 Highway 20 days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

The Emeralds holds an incredible sport climbing area on steep, limestone-like cliffs. Scattered around the vicinity of this climbing mecca there is a handful of good bouldering zones. As you drive down Hwy 20 from I-80 you will pass a few random boulders sitting next to the road.

The Syd Vicious Boulders hold a few tough problems down the road and the Max Boulder has some problems on cool, square cut holds. A little farther down the road is the Stress Management Area. This is a nice, small grouping of boulders with some great problems. This zone sits just, and I mean just a... Show more

This digital Highway 20 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 Highway 20 days smoother, safer, and more dialed. The Emeralds holds an incredible sport climbing area on steep, limestone-like cliffs. Scattered around the vicinity of this climbing mecca there is a handful of good bouldering zones. As you drive down Hwy 20 from I-80 you will pass a few random boulders sitting next to the road. The Syd Vicious Boulders hold a few tough problems down the road and the Max Boulder has some problems on cool, square cut holds. A little farther down the road is the Stress Management Area. This is a nice, small grouping of boulders with some great problems. This zone sits just, and I mean just adjacent to a private property parcel, so read the approach directions carefully and stay off the private property, on the approach and when climbing. The boulders themselves are on Pacific Gas and Electric land, so you shouldn’t have any issues, but I would maintain a very low profile here. Next up, at the base of a sport climbing cliff at The Emeralds known as the Bear Lair, there are some fantastic problems and a wicked enduro traverse. And the problems at the Bear Lair don’t top out. You essentially climb the first 15 feet of the wall and then jump off. Some of the problems are actually the start of the sport climbs. The Bear Lair is 45 degrees overhung and covered in epic grips. It’s also so overhanging that you can climb here in a full downpour. The rock stays totally dry except for a little seepage. And finally, the most junction-esque chunk of stone in this area is the Couch. This epic boulder is fairly large and it holds some wicked problems on steep stone. The landings are rocky, so bring plenty of pads. Please note all the areas along Hwy 20 have lots of rattlesnakes, poison oak and ticks. For the Sid Vicious Boulders: From Highway 80 turn down Hwy 20 and go 0.5 miles and park on either side of the road, not blocking the road to Camp Marin Boy Scout Camp. Walk uphill and left (south) for 100 yds until you arrive at this pair of boulders that are just barely visible from the road. If you get to the train tracks you have gone too far. For the Max Boulders: From the junction of I-80 and Hwy 20 take Hwy 20 towards Grass Valley for 2.2 miles and park on the right in a small pullout right in front of the obvious boulder. There is only enough space for 1 to 2 cars. There are houses just across the street, so maintain a low profile when climbing here. For the Stress Management Area: From the junction of I-80 and Hwy 20 take Hwy 20 towards Grass Valley for 2.7 miles and park on the right side of the highway next to a swampy area (N 39 18.606 W 120 39.221). Walk straight out from the car, NE, skirting the right side of a swamp/meadow area for 300 yds through a thick forest. Turn left and walk west 200 yds to the boulders. The basic idea here is to do a loop around the meadow, then cut back left to the boulders. This avoids the private property. Do not use the directions listed the first edition of the book or the directions on Mountain Project as you will be trespassing. GPS recommended.