Rattlesnake Point Climbing

This digital Rattlesnake Point 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 Rattlesnake Point days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

The Rattlesnake Point Boulders host only a small concentration of boulders, but also of some of the highest rock quality in the area. It’s hard to call much of this stuff “gritstone”, as the rock here is smoother and more comfortable on the skin. There are several contenders for “best of the grade” here, and despite much of the rock being trailside and relatively close to the parking area, much of it was left undeveloped until recently. Climbers just never seemed to wander past Upper Rock City. The most notable and recognizable line is probably the Axe Head V1,... Show more

This digital Rattlesnake Point 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 Rattlesnake Point days smoother, safer, and more dialed. The Rattlesnake Point Boulders host only a small concentration of boulders, but also of some of the highest rock quality in the area. It’s hard to call much of this stuff “gritstone”, as the rock here is smoother and more comfortable on the skin. There are several contenders for “best of the grade” here, and despite much of the rock being trailside and relatively close to the parking area, much of it was left undeveloped until recently. Climbers just never seemed to wander past Upper Rock City. The most notable and recognizable line is probably the Axe Head V1, which is located directly on the trail, and is a must-do for climbers of all grades. The classic compression line, Constrictor V3, very well may be the best V3 in Coopers, and its neighboring arête Pura Vida V4 shouldn’t be missed either. Climbers used to steep gym walls may have trouble finding it at first, but once they do, Gap Year V5 and No Name V3 will be memorable ascents in a familiar style. If you prefer technical climbing, venture a little further downhill and walk under the horrifying guillotine for The Carnation Affair V8, one of the most full-value slabs in the forest. But for a truly full-value day, bring a trad rack and finish the day with a lap on the ultra-classic Pocket Rescue 5.10-, featured in the 2023 guidebook, Cheat Canyon Rock. From the front gate, drive 2.6 miles towards the overlook. About 0.2 miles after passing the Tilted Tree Parking area, take the right fork as the road splits, heading downhill towards the Rhododendron Campground. Continue past the entrance to the campground, and pull around the cul-de-sac to the gravel parking area in front of Shelter #3 and the Mushroom Boulder. Head down the red-blazed Rock City Trail towards Ridge Trail for about 4 to 5 minutes until you see a seemingly random boulder on the left side of the trail, standing on its own (The Chunkochoss). Just past the boulder is a climber’s trail on the left, which breaks left into a gulley. Taking a right at the end of the gulley will put you immediately in front of Rattlesnake Roof V6 at the base of Rattlesnake Point, which also hosts a number of trad routes. Take a left to access the majority of the boulders. After a minute or so, you will see the Axe Head V1 on the downhill side of the trail. Dropping downhill from here will lead you to the Constrictor Boulder, or continue further downhill to skier’s right to access the Guillotine Area. Slightly uphill to the right of the Axe Head is No Name Cave, hidden in the rhodos, which hosts Gap Year V5, and No Name V3. Heading up-river towards Upper Rock City, you will also find a number of boulders scattered along the trail. Approaching from Upper Rock City is also a great way to hit multiple areas, though the approach from the Mushroom Boulder parking is quicker if you intend on solely climbing along the western end of the trail.