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1327 Hits
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77.48% Score
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8 Votes
Page Type:
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Mountain/Rock |
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Lat/Lon:
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36.14687°N / 115.42762°W |
Activities:
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Trad Climbing, Sport Climbing |
Season:
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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
Elevation:
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3922 ft / 1195 m |
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Overview
Cactus Massacre has routes from 5.4 to 5.12a, and despite the range and the short approach, it doesn't seem to get close to the traffic that the Hamlet and Panty Wall do. So if you want some fun routes without hordes or much approach, you'll find something to like here.
Owing to circumstances that included a parent in the hospital and the need to leave quickly on short notice, I chose the 5.4 and 5.5 there as a way to squeeze in some easy and fun late-day lead-rope-solo climbing. It's definitely a crag I'll return to.
Getting There
From the Scenic Loop entrance station, drive just over a mile on the one-way Scenic Loop and turn off into the large parking area known as the First Pullout.
Work your way down and right into the wash below. Scramble up onto a ramp system-- you'll be just below a bolted area called Circus Wall and keep following the path of least resistance southward until you can cut up left to the base of the crag, which is easily seen from the parking lot.
Approach time your first time might be 10 minutes.
The photo below, linked from MP and taken from the parking lot, should help.
Routes
The crag has 16 established routes; all but 5.9 Cactus Head are sport routes. All have bolted anchors. Here they are from left to right:
- Cholla, 5.8
- Cactus Juice, 5.9-
- Peyote and the Magic Stairs, 5.4
- Cactus Hugger, 5.10c/d
- Cactus Pete, 5.10a
- Straight to the Point, 5.10d
- Cactus Massacre, 5.11c
- Fractured Cactus, 5.12a
- Cactus Root, 5.11+
- Saguaro, 5.11a/b
- Cactus Killa, 5.11a/b
- Cactus Head, 5.9
- Over a Barrel, 5.10d
- One Flew Over a Cactus Nest, 5.10b
- Never Kiss a Cactus, 5.8
- End of the Cactus, 5.5
These routes get up 75'; have at least a 50m rope to lower, rappel, or TR.
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Red Tape
Unfortunately and also unsurprisingly given the explosion in visitation at RR over the past several years, there is so much red tape that I can't list it all and can't keep up with it since it keeps changing.
The daily fees keep going up. During certain periods of the year, you need a reservation to get in. You can't go in early before the gates open, but you'll get ticketed and fined if you're not out by closing time. Late-exit permits are available, but they don't cover you overnight.
For accurate current information, it's best to check the RRCNCA website.
When to Climb
This wall faces west, so it's excellent in the afternoon during cooler months and early in the morning during warmer ones.
Camping
There's a Forest Service campground close to the entrance that in busy seasons is notoriously difficult to get a site at, and it's closed in the summer. There are very few other legal public camping options in the area.