California · Rock climbing · Twentynine Palms

The Cheese Grater

The hardest route catalogued at this Southeast Face sector.

5.11a
grade
Trad Gear
style

Is The Cheese Grater 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 · Source: NPS · Joshua Tree National Park. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.

Best time to visit The Cheese Grater

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

    58° / 38°

    4 wet

  2. Feb

    61° / 39°

    3 wet

  3. Mar

    67° / 40°

    3 wet

  4. Apr

    73° / 46°

    2 wet

  5. May

    82° / 52°

    1 wet

  6. Jun

    91° / 59°

    0 wet

  7. Jul

    96° / 66°

    2 wet

  8. Aug

    96° / 68°

    2 wet

  9. Sep

    89° / 60°

    2 wet

  10. Oct

    80° / 50°

    1 wet

  11. Nov

    66° / 41°

    2 wet

  12. Dec

    58° / 34°

    4 wet

Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Yucca Valley, CA, 20.9 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.

This route represents the upper limit of difficulty among the nine climbs catalogued at Cunning Rock's Southeast Face, where the grade range spans from 5.7 to 5.11a.

Photo of the crag

Cunning Rock, Southeast Face — the crag this route is on
Cunning Rock, Southeast Face, California — this photo shows the crag, not this individual route.Photo: daveynin, CC BY 2.0 (via Flickr)

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Local businesses nearby

Outfitters and businesses near Twentynine Palms. They haven’t set up their Roamze page yet.

Joshua Tree Outfitters

Rock Climbing business nearby (~17 mi away) — hasn't claimed their Roamze page yet

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