California · Rock climbing · Twentynine Palms

Morongo Man Cliffs

Morongo Man Cliffs in California offers 5 climbing routes with mixed, sport, and trad styles.

Photo: cappellacci, CC BY 2.0 (via Flickr)

5 routes

5.8 – 5.11c

Trad · Sport · Mixed

Is Morongo Man Cliffs 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 24, 8:30 pm PDT · Source: NPS · Joshua Tree National Park. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.

Best time to visit Morongo Man Cliffs

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, 20.1 mi away at 3,249 ft. The station sits about 1,500 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.

Morongo Man Cliffs is a climbing area in California's Joshua Tree National Park, within the Joshua Tree Wilderness. The National Park Service manages the land. The area sits among a cluster of climbing spots, with Desert Queen Dome about 0.1 mile away and Queen Crimson Dome and Desert Queen Mine each about 0.4 mile off. The Split Rock Trail lies roughly 0.7 mile away. The route count here is small, with five routes that include sport, trad and mixed styles. Grades run from 5.8 up to 5.11c. Among them are Morongo Man, a 5.11c trad route, and Morongo Child, a 5.10c trad route first climbed in November 1988 by Allen Sanderson and Kent Raygor. The hardest of the five is Bird Eating Spider at 5.8, a sport route. 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 highs near 96°F. That station sits roughly 1,500 feet below the cliffs, so temperatures at the crag run cooler.