Smith Rock, with its mostly sunny and dry climate, offers unique experiences and a dry change for rained out trail users to mountain bike, rock climb, hike or just enjoy a day under the open sky.
The orange Grand Canyon-esque formation seems out of place in the otherwise monotonous East Cascade horizon. A good 20-mile drive from Bend and just minutes from Redmond, Smith Rock and the Crooked River Canyon provide world-class rock climbing, challenging mountain bike trails and picturesque hiking options to more than 400,000 visitors each year.
Just glancing at the parking area, it is apparent that this place has vast appeal: parking spots are scarcer than water in the desert, and myriad visitors with different goals in mind flock toward the trail head and the foot bridge leading into the main Smith Rock area.
Climbers rate routes on a scale of difficulty starting at 5.0 and increasing in difficulty to 5.14d. Some are attracted by the 5.14d climbing route at Smith Rock. Others take on the steep Burma Road leading mountain bikers to their part of the paradise, while hikers cherish time out on the mellow path following the meandering Crooked River or choose more strenuous options crossing the ridges.
“The sheer quantity of climbing there” is Smith Rock’s greatest advantage, said Eric Severson, a UO anthropology major who has climbed since high school. The variety of routes spans from beginning routes to some of the United States’ hardest 5.14’s that have attracted international and domestic rock climbers since the 1980s.
Amadeo Gonzales, a UO biology major, agrees with Severson.
“It’s the number of routes there and the kind of climbing that’s available with tiny pockets and mostly smooth face.” He has climbed since he was 17 — although he says never seriously. He did most of his climbing three years ago when he was hanging out at Smith Rock for an entire summer.
“It’s just a beautiful place,” he said.
The main rock climbing area at Smith Rock stretches from the Picnic Lunch Wall on the front to Smith Rocks on the back side of the entrance bridge area. Most of the climbs are shorter, steeper routes that are already bolted and ready to enjoy, which is why the majority of climbers here perform sports climbing. Although short, there are several aspects of the routes that make climbers from all over the world migrate to Smith Rock any time of the year.
One such attraction is the tough 5.14d climbing route.
Monkey Face offers unique and exposed climbing routes for Smith Rock visitors.
Additionally, new routes were discovered this summer. “Eye of the Beholder” is a 5.11c route, which rock climber Ryan Lawson, an Oregon native who has climbed since 1996, extended with a second pitch that rates at 5.10b, making the existing climb even higher. Right next to this route, another of Lawson’s finds rating at 5.11d is the new “Harvester of Sorrow,” which he first climbed on June 3, 2000.
Another Smith Rock favorite feature is Monkey Face, a natural sculpture that surprise resembles a monkey’s head. Not only does the 300-foot rock column amaze people with its appearance, but it also offers unique and largely exposed climbing routes.
The route “Just do it” is one of the hardest Severson knows on the Monkey Face because it leaves climbers exposed to air on several sides high above the ground. Monkey Face offers plenty such exposure because the route forces climbers to round a corner to enter the final stage and conquer the column.
“Exposure is pretty freaky for me,” Severson said. “There is something scary about having only air around and being up high while balancing on something that doesn’t provide much for footing.”
However, the scariest part of climbing is to watch people who are careless, Severson said. With this many visitors of all abilities, scenes of recklessness are inevitable. Most of this occurs when people belaying the climbers don’t pay attention to their climber. Climbers can easily hurt themselves if they fall when those tending their ropes are not paying attention and don’t lock the rope.
Gonzales adds that most of the climbing at Smith Rock is sports climbing. In this activity, the routes are already bolted and ready for climbers to attempt. Sports climbing differs from what he calls “gear climbing” where climbers carry their bolts and equipment up the faces and also occasionally sleep in hammock-like contraptions that can be bolted to the rock face.
So what else does the area present?
First, mountain bikers can charge up Burma Road a short mile for a panoramic view of the area from atop Gray Butte (3,580 feet). From the summit the road turns into a trail that treats bikers to a gradual downhill along the ridge down to a steep gully just north of the Monkey Face column. This is an excellent place to watch climbers, have a picnic or just turn south and follow the trail around the canyon for a speedy return to the foot bridge and the parking area.
For hikers, the standard hiking path follows the river along the bottom of the canyon for an easy 5.8 mile hike. More challenging trail variations for those who are not afraid of heights or concerned about their footing include trails leading over the passes and along the ridges to the back side and the Monkey Face.
All of the trail options including the canyon floor deliver great views of the Smith Rock area, good sightings of climbers in action and patches of beautiful desert wild flowers.
But with a huge number of visitors, area users should remember to stay on the trail and be careful with the delicate desert vegetation.
“I really hope [the park administration] will take care of the place,” Gonzales said. “There’s a ton of people there all the time, and the area is really fragile.”