Have you ever gone on a wintertime climbing trip? Like the kind of trip where you have to drag yourself out of your nice warm tent and try to get psyched to climb?
I have, and these sunny crags have saved my Joshua Tree rock climbing trips.
I am a complete wimp in the cold. If it’s under 65 degrees, you’ll find me stuck to a sunny rock, absorbing the heat like a lizard. If you’re like me, these sunny rock climbing crags will be perfect for a chilly winter day in Joshua Tree National Park!
What does "beginner" mean in Joshua Tree?
On cold days, I find it hard to get psyched to climb hard, so I prefer to stick to beginner crags and just focus on having a fun low-stress day!
“Beginner” means very different things to different people. In Joshua Tree, I’ve found it truly challenging to find anything I actually consider beginner due to the sparse protection. As a result, “easy” climbs are often too high a risk for me to personally feel comfortable leading (and don’t even get me started on the sandbagged “walk-offs”).
That being said, I’ve found a few genuine sport climbs, an awesome beginner crack + trad climb, and some fun and challenging beginner top-rope climbs with relatively painless walk-ups.
The climbs on this list range from 5.6 to 5.8 (but feel like 5.9s elsewhere), have short approaches, and allow you to bask in the warm sun at the base of the crag!
**With the exception of the few sport climbs, you’ll need to be familiar with rigging trad gear anchors to make the most of your time at these sunny beginner rock climbing crags in Joshua Tree. I’ve laid out the minimum skill required to enjoy each crag below.
Zippy Rock: Best Intro to 5.6 Slab and Crack
Minimum knowledge required: sport leading + sport anchor building/cleaning
Gear required: at least 5 quickdraws + 60m rope + anchor
Although inconspicuous and a bit out of the way, Zippy Rock is one of my favorite beginner rock climbing areas to spend a chilly winter day! As a result, it’s usually not too crowded.
However, the best part of the crag is the bolted anchor at the top! There is no walk-up, so you’ll need to get ready to lead one of the climbs.
Usually, I’ll lead the 5.6 sport climb Mr Maxle, then top-rope Gargoyle and Canalizo.
Easy + Short Approach for Zippy Rock
The approach for Zippy Rock takes no more than five minutes of walking over flat ground. You can see the crag from the parking area, so it’s pretty easy to find. Additionally, there’s a restroom at the trailhead!
Mr. Maxle (5.6): A fun, slabby sport climb!
Mr. Maxle is the perfect introduction to slab climbing.
Fortunately, most of this climb is easier than your typical Joshua Tree 5.6 slab climb with a distinct, short, well protected crux towards the top. Just trust your feet and keep making those little steps!
Luckily, once at the top, your anchor is bolted. Make sure to create an anchor that can equalize for the other climbs (directly to climbers right) as well.
Gargoyle (5.6): A perfect beginner trad lead of a splitter crack!
This is one of my favorite crack climbs I’ve ever done.
Gargoyle is a splitter hand crack that widens to a slightly awkward width once you’re too low-angle to fall out! At that point, you just figure out how to stem and mantle your way out to stand at the top.
As a top-rope, this is a fantastic introduction to crack climbing, as there are literally no other holds other than hand and foot jams. Additionally, cam placements are plentiful and secure, which makes this a perfect beginner lead!
While the climb itself is often in the shade, it’s easy to set up a nice camp couch in the sun only a few feet back from the wall.
Canalizo (5.10c): Seemingly impossible slab climbing.
The first time I top-roped Canalizo, I didn’t believe the climb was physically possible. It’s just so blank and insecure above the crack!
However, the second time, I managed to top-rope the entire thing without slipping. What a difference some slab practice can make!
This is a very weird and very challenging climb, but fun to mess around on. Just make sure set directionals for this one.
Echo Rock - West Face: "Bolted" Slab Climbing
Minimum knowledge required: sport anchor building for Double Dip, sport leading + sport anchor building/cleaning for Penny Lane
Gear required: 80m rope + anchor for Double Dip, 60m rope + anchor + 7 quickdraws for Penny Lane
I only recently found and climbed Echo Rock West Face and thought it was actually really fun! Unfortunately, the sun was hiding behind clouds the day I went to take photos (of course), but the climbing was fun nonetheless.
There are bolted anchors up top, but the trad climbs still require a fairly easy class 3 walk-off since there aren’t any rap rings. However, the sport climbs do have rap rings which makes cleaning really straightforward.
Another Easy + Short Approach for Echo Rock-West Face
The approach for Echo Rock-West Face is another five to ten minute approach on a flat trail with a flat belay area! Again, you can see the crag from the car. Additionally, there are climbs on both sides of the little canyon, so there’s plenty to do if it’s crowded!
Double Dip (5.6): Fun layback + very runout bolted slab.
Ok so I didn’t mean to climb this, but I didn’t look closely enough at the photos on Mountain Project, and thought I was on Penny Lane (5.8), one climb to the left and that maybe some of the bolts had been chopped. You really never know in Joshua Tree.
Anyway, I went up with a #3 and #5 for the flake since the runout looked bad otherwise, mostly because I’d just gotten the #5 as a gift and wanted to use it, and good thing I did!
I used both pieces and kind of wish I brought a smaller piece to attempt to use further up at a horizontal crack because DANG was that runout between bolts. I really had a hard time committing to the slabby moves.
However, once I found the easiest beta, I top-roped the entire climb clean in my La Sportiva approach shoes, so the runout must have gotten to me on an otherwise “easy” slab climb!
As a top-rope, this climb is an awesome introduction to slab climbing, and the initial layback is really fun too! I even did an exciting mantle move at a horizontal crack halfway up!
As a lead, make sure you’re comfortable with 20-foot runouts between bolts, and bring a couple cams between #3 and #5 for the initial flake. As a lead, I would NOT consider this a beginner rock climb.
**Additionally, this climb was the ENTIRE LENGTH of my 80m rope while top-roping, so TIE KNOTS to close the system. There are bolted anchors but no rap rings, so you’ll need to walk off climber’s left to clean.
Penny Lane (5.8): A well-protected slabby sport climb!
Penny lane was a really fun climb and quite closely bolted for Joshua Tree standards. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it! It’s good to note that the bolts are spaced further apart once the terrain gets lower angle up top.
Although the climbing is easy (5.3ish), I couldn’t see the last bolt before the anchor (it’s in a dish) until I was even with it, 10 feet too far to the right. I ended up skipping it rather than traverse left on slab, which made for a very long runout.
Next time I’d definitely angle up and slightly more left.
I wouldn’t consider a walk-up safe for this climb (hence the rap rings), but you might be able to swing over from Double Dip on TR and set a secondary anchor that way.
Additionally, leading this climb grants you access to In Like Flynn (5.10a) to the left, though we ran out of daylight to try it out.
Mindless Mound: Cracks of All Sizes
Minimum knowledge required: trad anchor building
Gear required: trad rack + 60m rope
Mindless Mound is another great sunny beginner rock climbing area with a whole line of varied 5.7ish climbing. I took the easy class 3 walk up to set gear anchors so our group could spend the day leisurely top-roping in the sun!
Despite the moderate grades, I think these climbs would still be challenging leads for me, so I was glad I could top-rope them.
**Apparently the guidebooks and Mountain Project cannot decide which climb is Rainy Day Women and which is Maggie’s Farm, so I’ll list them from left to right below.
Easy Approach for Mindless Mound
The Mindless Mound approach is another five minute walk from the car. Unfortunately, to get to the belay for Mindless Mound, you’ll have to do a tiny bit more work. You’ll have to undertake a short scramble to arrive at the large belay ledge, but it’s nothing major.
Maggie's Farm (far left) (5.7): Our favorite!
This climb was pretty tricky but it was our favorite! You essentially work your way up using two cracks and get up close and personal with the arete along the way.
In other words, it was a really fun climb on top-rope but I probably would have been terrified leading!
Dylan's Offwidth (5.6): Fun jam practice!
I thought this climb, although a bit offwidth in sections, had a surprisingly good number of hand and fist jams!
Rainy Day Women (5.7): Thin + tricky hand crack.
Although rated 5.7, this climb felt insecure and really challenging, even for Joshua Tree. Maybe it was my technique, but my toes just didn’t fit far enough into the crack to feel secure in any way.
I wouldn’t lead this at my current level, but it was definitely fun crack climbing practice!
All Along the Watchtower (5.7+): Fun + slightly awkward moves.
I thought this climb was fun and worth doing! Just be aware that despite the bolted face, you will still need to build a gear anchor up top.
South Horror Rock: Best Diversity of Styles
Minimum knowledge required: trad anchor building
Gear required: trad rack + 60m rope
South Horror Rock is another top-rope winner in my book! The climbs will have you mantling, laybacking, crack climbing, and tip-toeing up slab.
Additionally, the rock was deceivingly taller than it seemed in photos, which was nice! Personally, I found the walk-up was a little spicy (steep slab) on the way up, probably class 4 in some parts, so I opted to use the rap rings for Perhaps (5.9) to climber’s right to descend.
I used the same anchor to climb both Lazy Day and Labor Day.
Easy Approach for South Horror Rock
What can I say? I love quick and easy approaches! The approach for South Horror Rock is no different. Just walk a few minutes from the car on a flat trail between some boulders and voila!
Lazy Day (5.7): Very fun crack at different angles!
This climb was incredibly fun! Just looking at the nice crack made me want to jump on it right away. Getting into the crack initially was a challenge for me, and made me thankful for the top-rope, but the crack itself was a really fun puzzle! I highly recommend this climb.
Labor Day (5.8): Mantle + slab
I’m not sure how many climbs have a bouldery mantle over a small roof immediately followed by delicate slab, but this one does! It all came together for a fun and exciting climb.
It’s no fun rock climbing in the cold with frozen fingers and bulky layers. As a result, these warm, sunny crags have outshined many others that are considered more “classic”, but have left us shivering and leaving early.
Instead, you can now find us soaking up the sun and still getting some low-commitment moderate climbs in on those cold days where even getting out of the car feels like a mission!
These crags have literally saved a few of our wintertime Joshua Tree climbing trips, so I hope they do the same for you. If they do, shoot me a message and let me know!
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