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Turtle Rock

Flora and Fauna: Do not use trees as anchors!

All vegetation in the Ring Mt Open Space Preserve is protected and amongst other things this means trees must not be used as anchors. Rangers have found this to be a particular problem at Split Rock, and can issue citations to climbers who do this.

There are plenty of bomber placements for trad gear on top of Split Rock, provided you bring enough slings or (better) a second rope to extend those placements out to the top of the face.

See warning details and discuss

Created about a year ago

Seasonality

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Description

An almost perfect boulder for its size, offering a variety of easy to moderate (V0-V4) problems on immaculate (though at time a little sharp) rock (schist). The shorter, steeper North Face offers a dozen or so distinct problems, and numerous traverses / variants. The taller East Face is reasonably highball, and offers another half dozen distinct high quality problems. The glittery South Face has a couple of good highball problems and a classic mantle that's a good laugh.

This is an excellent place for kids (bring a kite!) and beginners (bring a picnic!), as the landings are generally flat and grassy, and the views down to the bay and across to San Francisco are spectacular. It is quite exposed however, and on windy days can be cold and unpleasant. During winter and spring the base of the boulder can be muddy.

Poison oak also sprouts underneath the short, steep side of the boulder, in amongst the grass and weeds - watch where you put your mat and feet.

There are also some petroglyphs that are worth checking out on the separate rock further to the West, across the small valley.

Access issues inherited from San Francisco Bay Area

For any/all access issues at crags in this region, please contact the Bay Area Climbers Coalition.

Approach

From the parking at the end of Taylor Rd, head right up the paved road then on up to the top of the hill. Turtle Rock will be visible down to the right in a small hollow.

History

History timeline chart

Discovered and developed by the Bobzien brothers in the 1980s.

Routes

Add route(s) Add topo Reorder Bulk edit Convert grades
Grade Route

The short juggy flake at the far right hand end. Can be climbed on both the right and the left.

Climb through the sloping rail just left of the flake on the Kids Problem.

The jagged crack with pods, with a slippery undercut slab to start. Watch for poison oak down low.

Crimpy face left Unnamed 1.

From the top of the diagonal ramp, reach straight up to the thin plate at the top. Harder if you're short.

From the bottom of the diagonal ramp, climb up through the obvious undercling to the top. Watch for poison oak down low.

Sit start in the weird pockets, then up the thin right leaning seam to a potentially heart breaking topout mantle. Stand start on crimps is V2.

The obvious layback in the centre of the wall. Sit start is V2.

Up the jugs left of The Lieback. This panel has numerous harder sit starts, eliminates and variants.

Sit start the obvious low flake at the left end of the steep wall. Watch for poison oak down low.

The face right of the offwidth crack.

The offwidth crack that can be face climbed.

The overhanging face with jugs, then traverse off right, or continue up the easy grey flake, or continue straight up the loose highball black corner (best climbing & shown on the topo). Sit start is V1, and there are numerous variants on the steep lower wall.

Start at the rippled brown wall underneath the overlap. Up then left over the overlap and up the highball but easy wall above.

Start on the obvious undercling spike, then up the shallow scoop to a highball escape to the right (direct finish is more sustained).

Directly up the proud arete separating the East Face and South Faces, using the small, sharp undercling flake at half height. Holds on adjacent climbs are off.

Straight up from the obvious footledge through a shallow 1.5 finger pocket. There are several good variants on this panel of rock (including a V1 that veers left around the crux).

Start at the right side of the low glittery arch on some obvious sidepulls, and climb up and then leftward towards the small tree.

Start directly below the small tree and go straight up on sharp incuts.

Mantle the obvious ledge just left of the arch then continue over the top (or walk off left). Easier to the left, harder (and height dependent) to the right.

The kids version of The Mantle.

Traverse either direction all the way around the boulder, staying off the top. V4 if you use the top of the North Face between The Lieback and Unnamed 3.

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Selected Guidebooks more Hide

Author(s): Kimbrough Moore, Shannon Joslin, Leo Popovic

Date: 2022

ISBN: 9798218007959

Edgewalker Entertainment:
A comprehensive guide to the greater Bay Area of California, Golden State Bouldering provides readers with info on the outdoor bouldering around San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz.
  • Describes 1,600 boulder problems with hundreds of color photos, maps, GPS coordinates and hand-drawn illustrations

Author(s): Toby Evans

Date: 2021

ISBN: 9781493045464

FalconGuides:
Hiking the State's 15 Peaks Over 14,000 Feet. Developed for every skill level, the FalconGuides Climbing California's Fourteeners lays out plans and logistics for making your climb a positive experience—no matter how many summits you've reached.
  • California's 15 peaks over 14,000 ft. are becoming more popular, and this book provides essential information for taking them on
  • Each mountain is broken down based on the technical skills needed so you know what to expect
  • Details for each climb include a list of recommended equipment, how to prepare for rapidly changing weather and trail conditions, and a general timeframe needed to summit

Accommodations nearby more Hide

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Tue 6 Jun
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