California · Rock climbing · Desert Hot Springs

Hill Street Blues

Hill Street Blues in California has 10 climbing routes across 8 grades, offering sport and trad styles.

Photo: David Balmer, CC BY 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

10 routes

5.4 – 5.11a

Trad · Sport

Is Hill Street Blues open right now?

Alert in the area

The National Park Service lists 3 alerts for Joshua Tree National Park.

Partial Trail Closure of West Side Loop
Park alert covering Joshua Tree National Park · NPS · Joshua Tree National Park
Inaccurate Third-Party Apps
Park alert covering Joshua Tree National Park · NPS · Joshua Tree National Park
Oasis of Mara Trail Partial Closure
Park alert covering Joshua Tree National Park · NPS · Joshua Tree National Park

As of Oct 23, 7:30 pm PDT · Source: NPS · Joshua Tree National Park. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.

Best time to visit Hill Street Blues

Best months: October–May. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.

Jan
58° / 38°
4 wet
Feb
61° / 39°
3 wet
Mar
67° / 40°
3 wet
Apr
73° / 46°
2 wet
May
82° / 52°
1 wet
Jun
91° / 59°
0 wet
Jul
96° / 66°
2 wet
Aug
96° / 68°
2 wet
Sep
89° / 60°
2 wet
Oct
80° / 50°
1 wet
Nov
66° / 41°
2 wet
Dec
58° / 34°
4 wet

Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Yucca Valley, CA, 13.9 mi away at 3,249 ft. The station sits about 1,100 ft lower than this place, so expect it a little cooler here. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

Hill Street Blues is a climbing area in Joshua Tree National Park in California, managed by the National Park Service. It sits among a cluster of other climbing spots, with S-Crack Formation about 0.1 mile away and Ranger Station Rock about 0.2 mile away, so it works well as a stop in a day of exploring the park's rock. The area has 10 routes, with eight in the trad style and two in sport. Grades run from 5.4 up to 5.11a, with the hardest route, Out of the Blue, at 5.11a. Blue Bayou is the easiest at 5.4, and Blues Brothers is a trad 5.10a. Bluebelly is the only sport route, at 5.10. Spring and fall are the most comfortable times to visit. Typical averages from a nearby weather station in Yucca Valley show April highs around 73°F and October highs around 80°F, while July and August average about 96°F. A fee is charged for climbing here.