California · Rock climbing · Santa Barbara

Red Wall

Red Wall in California has 11 climbing routes across 7 grades, offering sport and trad options.

11 routes
5.5 – 5.11-
Sport · Trad

Is Red Wall open right now?

Alert in the area

The Forest Service lists 2 alerts for Los Padres National Forest.

As of · Source: USFS · Los Padres National Forest. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.

Best time to visit Red Wall

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.

  1. Jan

    66° / 36°

    8 wet

  2. Feb

    67° / 36°

    9 wet

  3. Mar

    70° / 38°

    7 wet

  4. Apr

    76° / 41°

    4 wet

  5. May

    80° / 46°

    2 wet

  6. Jun

    88° / 49°

    0 wet

  7. Jul

    94° / 55°

    0 wet

  8. Aug

    96° / 54°

    0 wet

  9. Sep

    91° / 51°

    1 wet

  10. Oct

    83° / 45°

    2 wet

  11. Nov

    73° / 40°

    3 wet

  12. Dec

    64° / 34°

    6 wet

Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Gibraltar Dam #2, CA, 3.9 mi away at 1,558 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

Red Wall is a climbing area in California's Los Padres National Forest, within the Santa Barbara Ranger District and Gould Park, on city-managed land. It sits among several other climbing areas, with Lower Main Wall, Bug Wall and Invisible Wall all about 0.1 mile away. The climbing here is a mix of sport and trad routes, with 11 routes in total. The grades run from 5.5 up to 5.11, and the median is around 5.10a/b. Sport routes include Crick o' Frickin at 5.7 and Cuts Like a Knife at 5.11, while the trad route Flake is 5.5. Spring and fall are the most comfortable times to visit. Typical averages from a nearby weather station show May highs around 80°F and October highs around 83°F, while July and August average in the mid-90s. For a change from the rock, West Fork Cold Spring is a hike about 0.2 mile away, and North Fork Cold Spring Trail is about half a mile off. Upper Oso Campground lies roughly 8 miles away.

Routes (11)

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Cold Springs DomePhoto: Mountain Mike Johans…, CC BY 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

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