Purgatory Climbing

This digital Purgatory 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 Purgatory days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

What it might feel like to go bouldering on the moon. Blocks ranging from lowball traverses to dramatic highballs dot the hillside of this surprisingly decent desert area out in the middle of nowhere.

THE GOOD: Fairly Short Approaches, Some Roadside Boulders, No People
THE BAD: Long Drive, Very Sunny Exposure

The Purgatory Boulders float in a state of limbo somewhere between the biggest little city in the world and the edge of nowhere. This place is remote—there isn’t much else out here besides sagebrush and boulders. If you live in Reno and you’re looking for a fun winter d... Show more

This digital Purgatory 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 Purgatory days smoother, safer, and more dialed. What it might feel like to go bouldering on the moon. Blocks ranging from lowball traverses to dramatic highballs dot the hillside of this surprisingly decent desert area out in the middle of nowhere. THE GOOD: Fairly Short Approaches, Some Roadside Boulders, No People THE BAD: Long Drive, Very Sunny Exposure The Purgatory Boulders float in a state of limbo somewhere between the biggest little city in the world and the edge of nowhere. This place is remote—there isn’t much else out here besides sagebrush and boulders. If you live in Reno and you’re looking for a fun winter day trip, Purgatory will help you get your fix. If you live further than Reno it’s a pretty long ways to get here, although some may prefer the remote location. On any given day you will likely have the place all to yourself. The rock is featured granite and it varies in quality from good to fairly chossy. Some of the boulders are big, but most of them are average to small. There is a good variety of climbs up to V6 and a handful of harder problems for the stronger climber. Please be aware that fur trappers use the area as well and you may come across their traps at the boulders. If you do find traps, simply leave them alone. You probably won’t see rattlesnakes in the winter, but I’m sure in the spring there is a fair amount of snakes, so watch your step. All the boulders are very obvious sitting in the open on the exposed hillside. Navigating can be a little tricky because there are so many smaller, chossy boulders mixed in with the good ones. You will need to spend a little time sorting it all out before you become familiar with the boulderfield. One key point is to remember that most of the boulders sit about 1/2 way up the hill, so traversing across the hillside at about that level should bring you through most of the goods. DRIVING: Before leaving town, top off your gas tank as there is no reliable source of gas in the desert. From Reno take I-80 to Pyramid Hwy (Hwy 445) and follow it to Pyramid Lake. At the lake turn right on Hwy 446 and follow it to Nixon. Alternately take I-80 east out of Reno to Wadsworth, take the #43 exit then follow Hwy 447 to Nixon. From the Nixon store follow Hwy 447 for 41 miles and turn right onto a dirt road that is underneath large power lines. Drive under the power lines for 0.8 miles and turn left on a smaller dirt road. Continue for another 0.8 miles, turn right and drive for 0.6 miles and park at the boulders in the Main South Parking Lot. You will be looking at the boulder named “Welcome To Purgatory.” If you wish, continue on this road a short distance as it goes uphill and wraps around the boulders to the Upper South Parking Lot. This is a good way to access some of the boulders that sit higher up on the hill. Taking a look at the main overview before you head out the dirt road will be helpful. For the North Parking Lot: From the highway drive under the power lines for 0.8 miles and turn left on a smaller dirt road. Continue for another 0.8 miles, stay left here, drive for 0.1 miles, turn right and park up on the hill at the end of the road after 0.2 miles. APPROACH: From the South Parking Lot, walk north across the hillside through the boulderfield. Or, from the North Parking Lot walk south across the hillside through the boulderfield. Again, using the overviews is a great way to get started. Once you find the first boulder, use the boulder descriptions to find your way through the circuit