Rock Climbing
Photo Credit: Mountain Project
Beyul Retreat is lucky to have some of Colorado’s best rock climbing destinations within a 30-minute drive. It’s the perfect basecamp for your next climbing expedition. If you’re used to camping on your climbing trips, you’re going to love ending your days in our cozy cabins and cedar sauna.
We have pristine, well-bolted sport routes on limestone in Lime Creek; classic Colorado multi-pitch trad routes on granite in the Hell’s Gate and Hagerman Pass area; and unique, gymnastic climbs on beautiful red rock sandstone overlooking Ruedi Reservoir at The Griddle.
Lime Park
Lime Creek Canyon
This is a huge playground of pristine limestone sport climbing with unbelievably spectacular views of the Holy Cross Wilderness. The routes are on primarily bulletproof limestone, and climbers have been visiting here since the early 90's. The routes tend to be vertical, technical affairs, with steeper lines here and there. New routes continue to be added.
What you’ll find: You’ll stay busy for days and find something for every member of your group — there 107 bolted routes ranging from 5.6 to 5.14a.
Photo Credit: Mountain Project
How to get there from Beyul: From Beyul, Lime Park is 35-minute drive on a well-graded but unpaved forest road (AWD/4WD vehicle is necessary) called the Eagle-Thomasville road. The views along the way and at the destination are stunning.
The Skillet
off Frying Pan Road
The Skillet is a unique crag located on a steep hill above the Frying Pan river, notable in the high-mountains because it’s warm enough to climb on sunny days year-round with the south-facing sandstone slabs at 7766’. Many have described the beautiful rock here as a mix between Eldo and Mill Creek. The lines tend to be very technical while also requiring some power to pull through the cruxes.
What you’ll find: Most of the routes are sport, with a few mixed gear and trad routes thrown in for good measure. If you want more trad, keep heading up the trail to the upper crags. There are 20 routes at the primary formation (Mountain Project link above). From the Skillet you can continue hiking further up to get to:
The Outpost (5.9-5.10 trad lines, 1 bolted face)
Yonder Area (5.10+ - 5.13+, mixed trad/sport, top of the cliff line)
Photo Credit: Mountain Project
How to get there from Beyul: From Beyul, head about 20m back down the road. Just past the dam at the end of Ruedi Reservoir, there is a shady pullout on the road. Park here and then walk a bit further down the road towards Basalt for a hundred feet or so, until you see a rough trail heading up the steep hillside towards a broken cliff band. The trail traverse the bases of this cliff from left to right before continuing up the hillside to the Skillet. Expect 20 to 25 minutes on the steep uphill hike.
Hell’s Gate
near Hagerman Pass
Hell's Gate area near Hagerman Pass is a stellar granite area offering both traditional and sport climbing. Situated between 9000' and 10000' feet, one may find splitter cracks, run out slabs, big boulders, and awe inspiring views of the Frying Pan drainage. While trad climbers have visited for years, most of the climbing is less than five years old.
What you’ll find: Hell's Gate itself is a massive granite outcrop, a striking south-facing 400+ foot ramp directly underneath the Hagerman Pass road. Bolted routes as well as trad lines ascend the sides and middle of the rock. There is a small cliff right off the road with some fun cracks that can be lead or TR'ed, and the formation looker’s right of the slab holds at least one route, a beautiful short corner. There are some bolted climbs at the end of the road at an area across the creek called the Miner's Shack. There are also a handful of bolted routes if you go down to the Granite Lakes trailhead, down the trail and straight out left through the woods and over the creek. Right off the road above Hell's Gate there are also some crack lines and a few more bolted routes. (Thanks Splitterchoss.com for the write-up.)
Photo Credit: Mountain Project
How to get there from Beyul: From Beyul, head about 6 miles further past us to where the Frying Pan Road pavement ends. From there you have two options:
To reach the formation from above, take a left on the clearly marked Hagerman Pass Road, which states "Hell's Gate 6 miles"
Hell's Gate may also be reached from below by taking the 2nd right, which dead ends in about 3 miles at the gauging station
The granite is fairly obvious right off the road in both cases, with the upper road because of switch backs taking you to a location approximately 700' above the lower dead-end road. Either way it’s about a 25-minute drive from Beyul.