The Only Guide You Need for Rock Climbing Near Seattle
Want to go rock climbing near Seattle but don’t want to have to have to spend the night? Here are the top five places (and a bonus 6th) for a rock climbing day trip from Seattle. You’ll find an overwhelming variety of options from mellow crags for a family day out to hard overhanging sport test-pieces, long trad sandbagged routes to moderate alpine summits — the variety of accessible climbing is part of what makes Seattle so special. The crags on the list are aimed at mere mortals who don’t want to drive more than 1.5 hours round trip.
So without further ado…
1. Exit 32 & 38 outside North Bend
For tons of easily accessible sport climbing and for super hard overhanging sport climbing
Only a 45 minute drive from Downtown Seattle are the Exit 32 & 38 Crags. The Exits are just a 7 minute drive apart on I-90 so it’s simple enough to start the day at Exit 32 and move to 38 in the afternoon or vice versa, although either spot has more than enough climbing to keep you engaged for an entire day. There’s a ton of climbing to be done here and options for the beginner climber all the way to the 5.14 sender. The climbing is mostly sport although the motivated trad climber will find some options. The popular areas will get crowded so plan accordingly on weekends or sunny-weather summer days.
Best Place for Beginner Climbers
Write-Off Rock: Right on the approach to the Exit 38 crags is a small crag perfect for families or beginner climbers. Lots of routes under 5.7 and the ability to easily scramble to the top of the crag make this an accessible place for new leaders or folks wanting to setup top ropes.
Gritscone: A cute little piece of stone. Lots of short but fun routes. One of the easiest places to set up top ropes, but do be careful as most of the bolts are set down below the lip of the cliff where a fall would be very bad… consider rappeling down to the anchors using one of the many large trees above as a rappel anchor. This is also a great place to teach people how to make and clean sport climbing anchors. But because of all these things it gets very congested on busy days with recreational and guided parties so plan accordingly.
Headlight Point & Eastern Block: An awesome assortment of routes in the 5.7 to 5.11 range with a cool positioning.Of note: There can be a lot of noise from I-90 here and the bolt spacing is a bit far for some folks.
Best Place for Intermediate Climbers
Blackstone: This crag has one of the highest densities of awesome 5.9 and 5.10 sport climbs in the area. The routes are all tone of fun and well bolted. That also means it’s a popular spot so show up early.
Peannacle Point: Lots of great 5.8 to 5.10 climbs in a beautiful spot overlooking the valley. This is a great crag to escape summer heat if you’re willing to hike 45 minutes to get to it.
Headlight Point & Eastern Block: An awesome assortment of routes in the 5.7 to 5.11 range with a cool positioning.Of note: There can be a lot of noise from I-90 here and the bolt spacing is a bit far for some folks.
Best Place for Advanced Climbers
World Wall
The world wall has some world class hard sport climbing. Ok, maybe just U.S. class hard sport climbing. But there is route after route of perma-drawed climbs from 5.9 through 5.14. This is also a great place to escape a rainy day. Most of the routes start from a precarious ledge so be sure to use the ground anchors / stick clips to prevent a bad scenario. The tight ledge makes this a poor place to go with your dog.
Best Place for Trad Climbers
British Isles
The Far Side in general is the place to go if you’re out for a day of trad climbing and you don’t want to make the drive to Index. But the British Isles (a sub area in The Far Side) has the highest density of trad routes. Repo Towers makes or an OK place to learn how to Trad lead. Be sure to check out Mambo Jambo as a great 5.10 trad climb.
2. Keechelus Ridge
Sport craging with an alpine flare, beautiful views, and cooler temperatures
Tucked away off Snoqualmie Pass Keechelus Ridge is my favorite craging spot outside Seattle. It’s a bit of a drive on a bumpy dirt road to get there but most vehicles with decent clearance should fare ok. It feels alpine, the temperature is consistently cooler, there’s fewer people, no road noise, and beautiful views out towards Mt.Rainier with even more beautiful sunsets. Hopefully writing this doesn’t change all those things for the worse — but even though it’s very clearly in the guidebooks, it does have the feel of a well kept secret.
Keechelus Ridge Routes From the Left. Photo from Mountain Project.
Note: Some of these routes are rope stretchers. As always, tie knots in the end of your rope. Some of the routes are just too long to lower all the way down with a 60 or a 70 and you’ll need to rappel the route using an intermediate anchor, or lower to the intermediate anchor and rappel from there. Don’t do these routes if you don’t have the systems knowledge to accomplish that safely.
3. Index
For sandbagged trad climbs from hard to very hard in a gorgeous setting and a locals vibe
A little over an hour drive brings you up highway 2 to the small sleepy town of Index and the towering granite walls that hang above the town in the gorgeous Skykomish River Valley. This place is like a little Yosemite with easily accessed routes of solid beautiful granite with routes anywhere from 1 to 12 pitches in length. If it weren’t for the traffic on highway 2 and the hourly train that rolls by you might just feel like you were in the middle of nowhere. All the routes here are trad and many but not all have bolted anchors.
Climber cliff camping with Indigo Alpine Guides. Check out our guided cliff camping in Index here.
Best Routes for Beginners
You’re out of luck. Well, not entirely. There aren’t really any routes here that i’d recomend using to learn how to trad climb. But if you’re a solid 5.9+ leader or asolid 5.8 leader on sandbagged granite like yosemite, then consider Great Northern Slab (3 pitches 5.7) Senior Citizens in Space (5.7+) or Pisces (5.6).
Best Multipitches Routes for Everyone Else
4. The Tooth
Easy alpine trad & sport climbs in a mountaineering context
The Tooth is a classic Cascades climbing objective. 5-6 hours will get you from your car on Snoqualmie Pass to the summit and another few hours will see you back at the car. It’s pretty wild to be able to access an alpine climb of this quality only an hour from Seattle.
This is a great first alpine climb. 4 pitches on decent stone to a real summit with big views out over the Cascades. Depending on your ability the route may feel more like a scramble with some climbing than a climb with some scrambling. This route can get very busy during a summer weekend. It’s best to start super early if attempting this during a high traffic day, especially since theres a fair bit of loose rock on the route and being underneath many other parties is unideal.
The Tooth Fairy (5.9 6 pitches, Sport)
6 pitches of bolted sport climbing on an alpine objective like The Tooth within an hour of a major city. An awesome climb!
5. Mount Erie
1.5 hours north of Seattle are the beautiful crags of Mt. Erie on Fidalgo Island, high on a knoll above the Puget Sound with beautiful views of the Olympics. The position of the cliffs alone makes the trip worth it. Climbing here during sunset is not to be missed. Mt. Erie hosts the best balance of trad and sport routes of the area on this list. if you want to spend your day climbing sport and trad, this is the place to be.
Mt Erie at Sunset with views out over Puget Sound. Photo Credit: Eric Banner
6. Bonus Mt Garfield Infinite Bliss
Infinite Bliss is one of the longest sport climbs in North America. 23 pitches, 2600 ft, 17+ quickdraws, 2 60 meter ropes to rappel and a lot of endurance. If you want a massive day then this is your route. But don’t underestimate how long this route is or how long it will take — don’t forget that you have to rappel the route! Comfort with simul-climbing definitely speeds things up.
Photo Credit: Brock Jensen
Seasons and Weather:
The Main Climbing Season for these areas is May through October. The Tooth will have a snowy approach through May and possibly June and you may not be able to drive up the road to Keechelus ridge until June. Exit 32 & 38 are often climbable from April through December, with rain being the primary factor to consider. If it is raining (almost never the case in Washington, ha!) you may be able to find some dry climbs at the world wall.
Guiding!
If you’d like a professional and trained guide to show you the best climbs, teach you everything you’d like to know (or don’t know you need to know), and keep the day safe and fun reach out. These areas are our back yard. You can book private days directly on our home page or send us an email if you want something more involved or have any questions. We’re always happy to help. We usually book up for the summer season in advance so be sure to call ahead… or call last minute and we’ll try to squeeze you in!