Popular Climbing Areas Without Guidebooks

The recent warm weather has turned my thoughts to summer climbing trips, and one of the areas I’d like to get back to is Maple Canyon, in Utah. This is one of my favorite sport crags, where the funky cobbles, modern bolting, and unique setting all contribute to a great overall experience. Of course, one of the hassles with visiting Maple is that there is no current guidebook. The last edition is long out of print, though apparently a new book has been in the works for quite some time. Most folks get by using the Dr Topo download, and whatever other info they can scrape off the Internet, but this always seemed a little strange to me, as Maple is a major climbing destination, both for the SLC folks and visiting climbers from all over, and it’s hard to imagine that the guidebook wouldn’t sell well. The author of the last edition (2001) has posted a digital version of the old book for purchase online, and hopefully the rumored guide will materialize one of these days. Also, this got me thinking about other major climbing areas in the US that don’t have print guidebooks.

Mill Creek sits in the foothills of the La Sals above the town of Moab, Utah. For a long time, it was a closely guarded secret, though in the nineties you would occasionally see a stunning picture of the place, labeled only as somewhere in Utah. Eventually the word got out, as is bound to happen at anywhere with great climbing. According to a close friend of mine, who has developed some routes there, the canyon has about 400 climbs, from single pitch test pieces to four pitch adventure routes on the brilliant stone. I’ve sampled both the cragging and the multipitch lines, and it really is a great climbing area. It’s also a good escape from the heat of the valley, and when it’s 90 in Moab it’s probably only 70 up there. Still, it’s not easy to find much beta, and some locals think they should be the only ones who get to climb there. I’ve even heard stories of visiting climbers getting “fake” directions from the local gear shops. Given such an elitist attitude, it’s no surprise that a book hasn’t come out. As my friend says, “it should have one but I’m not gonna write it.” Someday it’ll be in print, but for now you might have to butter up some crusty locals to get the low down.

And then there is Idaho. I know of two major areas in Idaho that don’t have guidebooks: Massacre Rocks and Hells Canyon. Massacre is said to host over 700 climbs (mostly sport) on highly featured basalt, and Hells Canyon is allegedly home to 400 limestone climbs, some up to 300 feet long. Both of those are significant areas, no matter what part of the country you are in. Funny thing about Idaho is a lot of folks up there tend to be tight lipped about their stone. This always strikes me as odd, because it’s not close to anything, so it’s not like it’s going to be over run with climbers. Even the local Boise crags are hardly ever busy (by Colorado or Utah standards) and that’s the biggest city in the state! But I digress, so back to the task at hand, why no books for these areas? Massacre has an excellent online guide and apparently no one has felt the need to put it into print yet, though there is rumor of one in the works. And Hells Canyon I suppose is victim of the local secret mentality, though some info has started popping up on Mountain Project. One commenter there notes that a guidebook would “ruin the area”, which of course is highly unlikely given its location.

Those are the big ones I can think of, anyone else know any major climbing areas that don’t have guidebooks?