The moon-like landscape of J-Tree offers a unique climbing experience. Huge rounded cartoonesque boulders scattered everywhere among the pale white sand and prickly Joshua trees.
I spent three days there both with Andrew (my road trip partner) and also scrounging belays of random LA visitors more than happy to climb with a visiting Brit. October brings some very cold wind in J-Tree so wrap up warm if heading there at this time of year.
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| Protected against a brutally cold wind |
Camping at Hidden Valley is a great experience. You'll need a tent that stands up without guy ropes as the ground is bullet hard. Being a desert of course there is no water available so be prepared with many litres. However I found the campground very comfortable with pit toilets and picnic benches. And the climbing could not be more convenient. Literally a 10 second walk to the first piece of rock!
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 | | Nighttime shot from the campsite |
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 | | My little camping spot |
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Hidden Valley Campground- So close to the rocks
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The climbing is mainly single pitch. The routes vary from brutal splitter cracks (this is California after all so tape those hands up) to sparsely bolt protected slab climbs
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 | A climber on The Dog Leg (5.9)
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 | Andrew cruising 5.9
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A three star route
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There's so much rock in J-Tree its difficult to comprehend how many routes there are (or could potentially be). Again this is undoubtedly one of the worlds premier single pitch trad climbing venues!
