Rock Canyon gets a bad rap, and few non-local climbers climb there. Salt Lake climbers mock this rugged little canyon directly east of Provo as a backward choss pile with bolted cracks all over the place. There is a degree of truth to these accusations: there are a fair amount of chossy routes, and yes, there are a very few lines that could be protected entirely on trad gear that are bolted. But there are also hundreds of quality sport and trad lines on some of the best slick quartzite and beautiful limestone that the Wasatch has to offer. The large chunks of broken quartzite are now fun multi-pitch sport crags. Oh, and the longest sport climbs in Utah (20+ pitches) and some of the longest in the country are currently being developed on the limestone south face of Squaw Peak that hovers over the canyon. In the last few years, dozens of new moderate (sub-5.10) sport routes have been going up, making the canyon a great place for beginner leaders. It now houses over 500 routes, and that number is constantly being added to by a small but determined band of locals.
That doesn’t sound too horrible now, does it?
If you’re a trad climber, there are some awesome cracks for the picking. The unimaginatively named Main Crack on the Ed and Terry Wall is a sweet 100-foot 5.7 hand crack in a stunning location. Flakes (5.7) on the same wall is also a local classic. The Green Monster route on the Green Monster Slab is one of the best 5.9 cracks I’ve ever done, and Green Monster Aid Crack (5.10d) is an awesome thin fissure in the rock. Regular Route on PA’s Mother is a fun little 5.7 crack, too.
Sport climbers have even more to choose from. There are fun bolted routes on Red Slab and Ed and Terry. There’s super steep stuff over at the Super Bowl Wall (also one of the premier winter rock climbing areas of the Wasatch) and The Threshold. The Bug Barn Dance Wall (affectionately known locally simply as Bug Barn) has great 5.10-5.11 sport routes on perfect, smooth limestone. The Galaxy is an extensive area further up the canyon comprised of several walls and some of the best limestone around. This area has dozens of routes from 5.6 to 5.13.
Beginners will love the funky pocketed limestone of The Wild, the short but fun routes on Tinker Toys and the Appendage, and the block (though somewhat sharp) moderate routes at the AC/DC, Layer Cake, and Jobsite Walls.
You want the multi-pitch stuff? Head over to the slightly more broken quartzite on the Trilogy Buttress (with several 3 pitch 5.8-5.9 routes), the Bad Bananas Wall, with Brain Full of Spiders (5.9, 3 pitches) and its surrounding routes, and stuff in the Layer Cake/Jobsite areas like Ledgarithm (5.9, or 5.7 if you do the first three pitches) or Snatch (5.9). The first 8 pitches of Squawstruck (5.10c), one of the multi-pitch routes up Squaw Peak, are finished, are awesome, and are climbed fairly often.
There’s a guidebook out for Rock Canyon, but it’s horribly out of date. The website Mountain Project has the best route beta. In Provo there’s a climbing gym (The Quarry) and the best climbing store I’ve ever seen (Mountainworks; you can ask them for beta, too) in the same building, and they’re conveniently located between I-15 and the canyon.
Yes, Rock Canyon has its faults. And yes, some people will still hate the less-than-perfect rock that can be found in some of the areas. But it’s an overlooked, under-appreciated canyon with years of great climbing to keep you busy. It’s got Big Cottonwood cracks and American Fork pockets and edges, but without the crowds of either of those areas. And just you wait for those 20 pitch routes to be finished!
We have 5 kids rainging in age from 3 to 16. One of our favorite things to do is to go indoor rock climbing. It is great fun, it builds self-esteem, and it is a great workout. Great fun for the whole family.
I cut my teeth climbing here in the early eighties. Loved the climbing back then, took 3 of 4 of my girls and they learned on the Red Slab. I moved away from Utah 20 years ago and would love to go back and see how this area has progressed. I grew up in American Fork, and preferred to make the longer drive to rock canyon just to get away from the crowds…and I never was good enough to climb with the big boys in A.F. canyon anyway.