Blob Rock (5.7-5.11)

Overview

Blob Rock is a nice climbing area near Fish Creek Falls and Steamboat Springs in Colorado. The rock is good and solid and the climbs are fun. The views from the rock and the approach are fantastic as well.

At about 40 feet high, the climbs are pretty short though. You can easily spend half a day here.

The rock is a hard metamorphic rock that will be very slippery when wet, so only climb here when the rock is dry.

Most routes can be top-roped, but there is some good trad and sport climbing here as well. There are some good bouldering routes as well.

In addition to the main Blob Rock, there are other nearby crags that have routes on them. I have not climbed them yet and written or online information seems to be non-existent, but you can explore around for them. They do have anchors.

Kimberly climbing Great Blob.

Fun climbing on Blob Rock.

Getting There

DRIVE

From Highway 40/Lincoln Avenue in Steamboat Springs, turn north on 3rd street and then north on Fish Creek Falls Road. Drive about four miles to the parking lot and trailhead. There are two parking lots; the first one is the best one to park at if going to Blob Rock.

APPROACH

To get to the rock itself, from the lower Parking Lot, walk up the main Fish Creek Falls Road. Watch for a trail on the north (left) side of the road, which is an old and now closed 4wd road. Follow the map below to Blob Rock. This is about 0.75 miles up the trail from the paved road. Once near a minor saddle, a climbers trail leaves the main trail and reaches the rock.

Routes Overview

Although Blob Rock is a small area, there are a variety of climbs here. Most routes can be top-roped, but there are also sport routes and several routes can be lead on gear.

Left to right the main routes are as follows (of note the route difficulties for some routes aren't consistent between Mountain Project and the book Steamboat Rock, which besides this Summitpost page are the only two sources on climbing here):

Note: Tendon Tester is just to the left of Great Blob.

Red Tape

There is a $5 fee to park in the parking area. Other than that, there is no red tape, so please take care of the area.

This is Fish Creek Falls, located only 0.25 miles from the end of the paved road. Visiting the area of Fish Creek Falls and Blob Rock requires a fee.

When to Climb

Since the rock faces south and southeast, it can be climbed earlier or later than most areas around Steamboat Springs.

Summer can be warm, so if you are headed there in summer, make sure to climb in either the morning hours or the late evening.

Fall is perhaps the best time to climb here and the autumn leaves in the area will be spectacular.

Winter brings snowy and icy conditions and climbing here isn't that practical.

The area around the rock can be snow free as early as late April, so Spring can be a good time to climb, but we got covered in ticks here in mid-May. If you do climb in Spring, take some sort of tick repellent!

Don't climb here in wet weather. The rock is extremely slick!

The Great Blob in May. The climbing was good, but there were too many ticks!

Camping

There are many campgrounds in Routt National Forest in the vicinity of Steamboat Springs, but none in the immediate vicinity.

Steamboat Springs has a KOA as well:

Steamboat Springs KOA

Mountain Conditions

CLICK HERE FOR THE BLOB ROCK WEATHER FORECAST

Below is the National Weather Service Climate Summary of Steamboat Springs. The data is from 1908-2016. This is the closest long term weather station. Steamboat Springs is at 6695 feet elevation, so expect the temperatures on Blob Rock to be about five degrees colder than in Steamboat (except for cold winter nights).

External Links

Blob Rock on Mountain Project:

Blob Rock