East County & Mount St. Helena

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East County & Mount St. Helena map

Silverado Mine

The Bear

Follow the summit trail west from Robert Louis Stevenson State Park .8 mile. The mine is located just uphill and left of the monument marking the old cabin site. Easy access and straight forward climbing make this a popular spot for instruction.  The north wall has 75' of crack and face with some bolts for toproping. Bring some long slings and cams to help the setup.

Follow the trail  west from the parking lot on hwy 29 untill you reach the fire road.  Continue  uphill on the road untill the first major switchback, 1.3 miles total. The base of the climbs are on the fire road.

The Bubble is the most popular climbing spot on the Mount St. Helena. Named for the pockets in the volcanic rock, The Bubble features solid holds, quality leads, and easy access for toproping. The Bubble is also a good central point for access to other climbing areas on the mountian.

The Mount St. Helena trail is located at the crest of highway 29, between Calistoga and Middletown. The summit trail starts in the smaller west turnout. The trail from the east turnout will take you to Table Rock and across the Palisades to Oat Hill Mine road.

New 1/2" bolts with rappel chains protect several classic climbs. An easy trail around the west leads to the top were many bolts stations allow for toproping. (If you like cracks, an excelent offwith starts just west around the corner from the smaller face)

The Far Side (aka The Ganjas)

Atlas Shrugged 5.10b

From The Bubble; take the trail west following it up and down for .3m crossing a small cliff band, (views of Hailstone and Hole-in-the-rock) and continuing west until you reach the base at a tilted stack of squared pink blocks .8m total.

The Far side offers a great many quality leads on pocketed rhyolite.Toproping is possible but long slings are often required. The bolts are older (circa 1980's ) and leads frequently have ground fall potential after the first bolt. These are great climbs here, but keep your head screwed on!

Bubble Rock

While the lower tier is packed with hard sport grades, the upper section offers longer more moderate routes. Only part of the lower wall can be seen above the trees. The Bear Crack is the obvious line centered in photo.

The first pitch of Marks Moderate, aka "Nuns Crack"

Eric Berghorn finds the rest before moving over a difficult bulge in the waterchute. ( 2ed pitch "Marks Moderate")

Hailstone Rock

Hole-In-The-Rock and Hailstone Rock as seen looking north from the top of the Bubble.

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Hailstone Crack 5.8

Approach: leave the fireroad at the sharp switchback just above the Bear. Follow faint trails up and north untill they open into a relatively clear firebrake trending north and west. Continuing on the firebrake will bring the backside of the crag into view. Traverse west and approach the rock from directly uphill.

Belay from the top of the crack using cams, or from bolts found on the summit some 20' higher. Rappel from slings after crossing a narrow ridge/gap or down-climb the  up-hill shoulder on the east side at 5.6 (A summit register is kept in a plastic box.)

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From left to right: 1)Theodore Roosevelt 5.9  2) Mark's Moderate 5.10  3)Bear Arete 5.11a  4)Kodiak 5.10  5)The Bear Crack 5.10  6)Polar Bear Spire 5.11  7)Wayne's World 5.10

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Top of Mark's -

North Peak

The large north face of Mount St. Helena just below the Giant's Causeway on the north summit.

Northeast Wall climbs: Before reching the North Peak, turn east on the old boyscout trail, follow the rocky ridgeline until you are able to drop north through a gap in the wall.

Shelob's Lair

Crystal Pockets 5.10

Mark Howe on the 10.b Arete,

The Totem Pole

Table Rock

Table Rock and Table Rock Spire can be seen as on the right as one drives up the grade from Calistoga. 300' of chalk hard rock somewhere close to Fisher Towers in the type of climbing it offers. Although there are some bolts,(some homemade), pitons and passive protection like large hexcentrics are nice to have here.  Approach: Follow the well marked trail south from the parking lot at Robert Louis Stevenson State Park for 2.0m

Climb the left side of the lower buttress trending up and right near the top. belay from the top of the buttress (bugaboo knifeblades work well here) or continue to move up, working back to the left untill a bolt belay is reached in the small alcove at the base of the upper dihidreal. Climb the shakey bolt ladder (home made bolts and hangers), or free climb the wide crack (BIG chocks) to the top. Belay from scruffy bushes (sounds fun eh!)

The Palisades

Tom Dye Rock

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The east side of  the rock showing the cave Tom Dye allegedly hid in after escaping jail.

Tom Dye Rock Elev. 3100  ("above and right of Scare Gap"). It can be accessed by following the old boyscout train down and northeast from the summit of Mount St. Helena.Tom Dye Rock is located outside the boundries of Robert Louis Stevenson Park. I do not advocate climbing at Tom Dye Rock and show it here only because I am so often asked about it's features. There are no fixed anchors on the rock and none should be placed without permision.

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Tom Dye Rock is made up of a conclomerate of large stream rounded cobbles cemented in some sort of pyroclastics or ash flow The higher you go the more solid the rock becomes

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Note* Since this photo is a composite the top is not quite to scale.

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This oddly shaped headwall looks like its belongs on Easter Island.

www.climbingsonomacounty.homestead.com

Great andesite collums at the summit of Oat Hill Mine Road and the Palisades. Hike the mine road 5.0 miles from the Deli at the junction of Silverado Trail and Hwy 29 in Calistoga.

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(More information and photos for this area comming soon)