Homestead, Sport climbing

YDS

5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10a 5.10c 5.11a 5.11c 5.12a 5.12c 5.13a 5.13c

Map

7 6 5 4 13 12 11 10 3 2 8 9 1

1 Welcome Wall 2 Mouse Wall 3 Slate Nation 4 Finland Terrace 5 Tufa City 6 Marley Wall 7 Rock and Roll Wall 8 Bone Town 9 Movie Quote Wall 10 Karma Cave 11 Rough Rider Wall 12 Cowtown Buttress 13 North Buttress

Directions in Google Maps

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Seasonality

Summary

Limestone

Arizona limestone in perfect scenery. The Homestead is a beautiful canyon offering sport climbing in all grades on both sides of the canyon and with sectors in all orientations.

Description

The Homestead is just one of many limestone areas to be found in this portion of Arizona. Collectively, the drainage and canyon areas between Globe and Winkelman, along with those found outside of Hayden and Kearney, offer a wealth of climbable limestone bands. Motivated new route developers would have many lifetimes’ worth of options were they to explore the area fully. Other nearby areas that have seen at least partial development include El Cap Canyon, The Drip, The Reef, The Coliseum, Land of the Lost, Silver Creek and further areas like The Dry.

All routes are bolted and have fixed lowering anchors at their end. Many routes have powerful starts, so you may want to use a stick clip.

The Homestead is a 3-season climbing area. Comfortable temperatures can be found in all but the hotter Summer months. Since there are climbable walls on both sides of the canyon, you can also choose to climb in the sun or shade (at least to a certain extent), depending on the time of the day. Temperatures in the area can often change drastically in a very short time frame, so plan accordingly.

Access issues

The area between gate 2 and 3 is private land, please behave respectfully!

https://www.accessfund.org/take-action/campaigns/homestead

Approach

Gentle Steep hike

The crag is accessed from State Highway 77, between the towns of Globe and Winkelman. Most people approaching the crag will choose to drive through Winkelman (even if approaching through Superior) in order to save time driving through stop signs and towns when using the alternate route through Globe. From Superior, take Highway 177 southeast to Winkelman, then go north on State Highway 77 for about 13 miles. At about this point the northbound highway will gain a passing lane. Once this passing lane ends, the road will head slightly downhill. Slow down and make a right turn onto a dirt road where the second guardrail begins. This will be just north of mile marker 153, and south of Dripping Spring Road.

The road immediately descends a short rutted hill to the first of three gates. After passing through this gate, continue straight past an immediate left-hand road (camping). At just under 2 miles (before the 2nd gate) there is Access Fund parking and a trail that shortcuts the last section of road. The area between the first two gates is State Land Trust property near the highway and BLM further up on the ridge. The area between gates 2 and 3 is private land. It is 2.5 miles to the parking area at the end of the road.

A 4-wheel drive vehicle with good clearance is required for the drive. If you don’t have such a vehicle, you will need to leave your vehicle near the highway and catch a ride in, or hike (or bike?) the road. The worst section is the first 1/2 mile going up a steep hill. The drive from the highway to the end of the road takes around 30 minutes. Walking the road from the highway takes about 60 minutes to the upper parking.

Please remember to close all three gates behind you!

From the backcountry parking area look for a huge rock cairn marking the beginning of the climbers’ trail. The trail immediately crosses a small drainage. Just after this drainage the trail forks, with the left option heading up the ridgeline hill to access the gully between Slate Nation and Finland. Continuing straight ahead will take you to the wash which you can use to approach the Welcome Wall, Bone Town, the left end of Slate Nation, and eventually all other walls. The Welcome Wall can be reached in 10 minutes. The upper end of Finland and Tufa City take about 30 minutes. Please see the Approach and Trail Map for more information.

Where to stay

There is free camping located at the crag. Most people will camp in the large flat area near the highway -left turn just past the first gate. There is also a large camping area after passing through the second gate on private land. There is a large fire ring here and room for several dozen cars. There are two smaller sites on Access Fund land after passing through the third gate. These sites also have fire rings and will fit 1-2 cars each.

There is no water, bathrooms or trash cans at the camping sites, so if you need supplies stock up in Winkelman or Globe on your way to the crag. Please do your best to keep the camping areas clean and be cautious and safe when burning fires.

Ethic

New route potential

When visiting and climbing at the Homestead, please help to maintain the climber trails used to access the climbing and along the base of the walls. Do a little bit of work each time you come and before you know it there will be well-defined and easy to maneuver and follow trails for all to benefit from.

If you choose to add routes to the area, please do your part to continue the Homestead tradition and use good hardware when equipping your routes. Plan your bolt placements to use solid sections of rock and to allow for minimal rope drag. All routes should have lowering anchors at the end of the routes and dangerously loose rock should be removed from the routes. To date there has been no chipping or gluing at the crag. Please keep it that way.

Thanks to Louie Anderson for providing all the info!!

History

History timeline chart

Homestead route development began in 1998 and the first routes came at the hands of Jason Stoddard, Ben Boyd, John Rosholt, Garret Auxier, Manny Rangel, Fred Amrhein and a handful of others. Although there are now well over 200 routes to choose from there is still potential for double that amount, if not more.