The Playground Climbing

This digital The Playground 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 The Playground days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

Overview: We often think of rocks as passive, unfeeling things. They just sit there while we do stuff all around them, such as climbing, laughing, feeling joy. A rock is not an agent. It can’t act, and it certainly couldn’t have a personality. Along comes Blockhead, and it becomes obvious how wrong this whole view is. The Blockhead Boulder is a full-bodied character, with its own history, preferences, aspirations, and dreams. We’re certainly not the first to anthropomorphize a piece of stone, but allow us to encourage it nonetheless. What do you think it needs? A tum... Show more

This digital The Playground 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 The Playground days smoother, safer, and more dialed. Overview: We often think of rocks as passive, unfeeling things. They just sit there while we do stuff all around them, such as climbing, laughing, feeling joy. A rock is not an agent. It can’t act, and it certainly couldn’t have a personality. Along comes Blockhead, and it becomes obvious how wrong this whole view is. The Blockhead Boulder is a full-bodied character, with its own history, preferences, aspirations, and dreams. We’re certainly not the first to anthropomorphize a piece of stone, but allow us to encourage it nonetheless. What do you think it needs? A tummy rub, perhaps? Do it a favor and get yourself up there. By now you are likely familiar with the coastal sandstone of Salt Point, but in case not, here is a brief summary. The location is stunning. The rock is typically grainy but cleans up well with a natural-fiber brush. The boulders are spread out, so plan on visiting a few areas for a full day of climbing. Conditions: You can climb here year round, but bring sunscreen and a jacket every time. There is no cover to speak of, and the coastal weather can change in a snap. As for the tides, the Blockhead Boulder sits at the water line. You don’t need to come exactly at low tide, but you should at least avoid the high tide. Rules: Open sunrise to sunset. No pups allowed off of the paved roads. No climbing for 3-5 days after rain. No wire brushes. Bathrooms: The Gerstle Cove Campground to the south has the only toilet in Salt Point State Park. Land Manager: Salt Point State Park Parking: Park in a pullout on the left side of CA-1, 3.7 miles north of Gerstle Cove and about 23 miles north of the intersection of CA-1 and CA-116. Approach: From the parking, walk southwest along a small trail for 1/4 mile. It will join the ocean at a picturesque cove. The Blockhead Boulder sits on the opposite side. The Sandy Corridor is another 400 feet along the coastal trail to the north. Accessibility: In addition to the relatively flat dirt trail, you need to scramble down a steep rock to access the Blockhead Boulder and the Sands Boulder.