Elephant Buttresses
Elephant Buttresses in Colorado has 10 routes across 6 grades, offering bouldering, mixed, and trad climbing.
- 10 routes
- 5.6 – 5.9
- Mixed · Trad · Bouldering
Best time to visit Elephant Buttresses
Best months: April–June and September–October. 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
47° / 21°
6 wet
Feb
48° / 22°
7 wet
Mar
57° / 29°
8 wet
Apr
63° / 34°
10 wet
May
71° / 43°
12 wet
Jun
83° / 51°
10 wet
Jul
88° / 57°
11 wet
Aug
86° / 55°
10 wet
Sep
79° / 48°
8 wet
Oct
66° / 37°
7 wet
Nov
54° / 28°
6 wet
Dec
46° / 21°
6 wet
Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Boulder, CO, 2.7 mi away at 5,484 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
Elephant Buttresses is a climbing area on city land in Colorado, about 0.1 mile from the Second Buttress and Third Buttress climbing areas. The Fourth Buttress sits just as close, so the whole cluster makes a compact base for a day of rock. Spring and fall are the most comfortable times to visit. Typical averages from a nearby weather station in Boulder show May highs around 71°F and October highs around 66°F, while July averages climb to about 88°F. Boulder Creek, a canoeing spot, is about 0.2 mile away, and the Boy Scout Trail and Flagstaff Trail hikes are each about 0.7 mile off. For an overnight stay, Winiger Ridge campground is roughly 5.5 miles away.
Routes (10)
Keep exploring — more climbs worth the drive
Photo: Mihnea Stanciu, CC BY 2.0 (via Flickr)Second Buttress
~0 min drive
Second Buttress in Colorado has 7 climbing routes with mixed and trad styles.
Photo: Mihnea Stanciu, CC BY 2.0 (via Flickr)Third Buttress
~0 min drive
Third Buttress in Colorado has 12 climbing routes across 9 grades, offering mixed and traditional styles.
Photo: Akos Kokai, CC BY 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)Fourth Buttress
~0 min drive
Fourth Buttress in Colorado has 15 routes with mixed and trad climbing.
Photo: Mihnea Stanciu, CC BY 2.0 (via Flickr)Little Crag
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Little Crag in Colorado has 6 routes across 5 grades, offering mixed and sport climbing.
Photo: micahcraig, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Flickr)North Shelf Block
~1 min drive
North Shelf Block in Colorado has 10 bouldering routes across 5 grades.
Photo: micahcraig, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Flickr)Lower Fin
~1 min drive
Lower Fin in Colorado has 5 bouldering routes across 3 difficulty grades.
Photo: micahcraig, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Flickr)Mount Sanitas
~2 min drive
Mount Sanitas in Colorado has 20 climbing routes across 12 difficulty grades.
Photo: micahcraig, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Flickr)Ridge Gap Wall
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Ridge Gap Wall is a bouldering crag in Colorado with 5 routes.
The Dome
~0 min drive
28 mixed and trad routes in Colorado spanning 11 grades.
Red Rocks (Boulder)
~1 min drive
Red Rocks (Boulder) in Colorado has 13 climbing routes with 10 distinct difficulty grades.
