Animas River Crag Overview

   The Animas River Crag is an extensive and complex quartzite outcrop located north of the Colorado Trail as it descends from Molas Pass to the Animas River. The formation generally faces east and is roughly triangular in shape. The peak of the Crag sits around 10,000 ft. elevation and the Animas River at the base is around 9,000 ft. The base of the formation extends about 500 yards in the north to south direction.
   The climbing season usually extends from the beginning of June to the end of October. Afternoon thunderstorms are common during the summer monsoon season. The smooth quartzite becomes very slick when wet but dries quickly. The routes have an alpine quality, especially the multi-pitch routes of the Main Wall.
   There are over 100 established pitches that include a mix of sport and trad, single and multi-pitch. Routes on the Main Wall are 500-800 ft. long.  Most routes require at least some gear placements for protection and for some belays. Many of the recent lines were established top-down. The quartzite tends to fracture and leave precarious blocks that have required extensive clearing on most routes to make them safe. Once a route has been cleared the rock is generally solid and of excellent quality. Venturing onto terrain that has not been cleared though can be hazardous.

   The Crag is accessed from the Colorado Trail (detailed descriptions below). The approach requires 30-60+ minutes depending on the destination. The hike out from the top of the routes takes about an hour with packs.

Approach:

The approaches from the top can be confusing because the cliffs are complex and are not obvious from above.

Top: Colorado Trail Approach
Park in a large parking lot on the south side of Highway 550 about one mile north of Molas Pass (37.747630, -107.688083). A trail heads south and soon joins the Colorado Trail. Head east down toward the Animas River. In 1.9 miles from the parking lot, at a switch-back (Upper Approach Turnoff  37.741611, -107.667289) , head straight east toward the top of the Crag. Continue east working down benches along a faint trail with occasional cairns to the top of the wall (2.55 miles, +260 ft,-1140 ft.). A ledge with two large trees is located at the top of the Main Wall above Backdoor and the Southern Dihedral Rappel Route. Additional bolt anchors are found by scrambling down and south (Class 3) along the top of the cliff for about 50m. A 40m rappel from here down easy Class 5 leads to the top of the Wave Wall (the last 5m can easily be downclimbed).

Express Route to Elk Park Buttress: Follow the "Top" approach for about 1.9 miles, then continue about 30 yards past the switch-back. Head down and south (left)  off the trail for about 50 yards. When the terrain steepens, head eastward along faint game trails. In about another 50 yards the forest gives way to open grassy slopes. Generally angle down and eastward (occasional cairns) for about 0.2 miles and locate the cairn that marks the start of a rock traverse just above the forest. Traverse across the easy rock ledges (class 3) and skirt around north to the base of Elk Park Buttress. It is possible to easily walk/scramble down ledges to the base of the Main Wall from here. The top of the Wave Wall can be reached by traversing north along benches and up through trees to the edge of the Southern Dihedral. 
The Elk Park Buttress can also be reached by continuing down the trail to a switch-back (look for a prominent black rock with a white stripe on the inside corner of the switch-back) close to the wall. Trend upward and north and locate the cairn and the rock traverse described above.

Bottom: Continue down from Elk Park Buttress as described above or follow the Colorado Trail down many switchbacks. Before the trail heads down to Elk Park away from The River Crag leave the trail and head north into a talus gully. Follow the gully to a grassy meadow then continue north through a corridor that leads to the base of the Main Wall at the Southern Buttress.

Rappel Routes:
Two main rappel routes exist down the  Main Wall. Rappel anchors are also present for the Elk Park Buttress and the Wave Wall/Southern Buttress.

1). Southern Dihedral: A double-rope rappel route with 2-bolt anchors exists from the top of the Southern Dihedral (Google Maps Link 37.741673, -107.663085). Locate bolt anchors on a block above the Banzai Amphitheater. 1) 60m (much of it free-hanging) to slabs. Don’t get the rope stuck! (alternatively rap about 15m to a 2-bolt anchor and then do the free-hanging rap).  2) 55m to a large sloping ledge. 3) 40m to a small ledge. 4) 35m to the ground. The last two rappels can be combined with 70m ropes, rope stretch and some easy down-climbing.

 












2). Northern Slabs:
(Google Maps Link 37.742369,-107.663314)
Can be done with a single 70m in 6 raps or double ropes in 3 raps to the base of the North Slabs. An additional 35m rap is needed to the base of the Lower North Wall.