Grotto Canyon Rock Climbs

Grotto Canyon Rock Climbs

Page Type Page Type: Mountain/Rock
Location Lat/Lon: 51.08330°N / 115.2667°W
Activities Activities: Trad Climbing, Sport Climbing
Seasons Season: Summer
Additional Information Elevation: 5000 ft / 1524 m
Sign the Climber's Log

Overview

Left to Chance, 5.10c

Canmore, Alberta is considered one of the premier climbing spots in the world. However, due to our waterfall ice, alpine and trad attracting so much attention, the sport climbing opportunities sometimes get overlooked. My house sits square between four major sport climbing canyons, Cougar Canyon across the Bow River to the north, Grassi Lakes behind us to the south, Heart Creek and Grotto Canyon to the east. Each of these canyons feature literally hundreds of sport routes with some trad mixed in here and there. As with all canyons in the Canadian Rockies, chasing the sun can be quite the challenge on cold days. Knowing which crags get sun at which times of the day can play a crucial role in your decision making of what routes to climb in which canyon. This is the Canadian Rockies, thus our crags are mainly summertime attractions only. Grotto, Heart and Grassi all put out short ice routes in the winter.
Grotto Falls, II, WI 3
Mendocino, 5.11a
Delilah, 5.11a
Art of the Ancients, 5.9

Grotto Canyon is at the east end of Grotto Mountain, just east of Grotto Corner. Grotto Mountain makes up the eastern end of the Fairholme Range (along with Lady Mac Donald and Squaws Tit) before it runs into the Bow River and Kananaskis Country.

I have counted at least 235 routes on 20 separate walls in Grotto Canyon (I have climbed approximately a third of them as of 2006). The majority of these routes are in the 5.10-5.11 range. Dr. Topo has gone through the painstaking task of putting together quite the print friendly topo climbing maps showing all the routes. These would be much more beneficial than our local guide book, Sport Climbs in the Canadian Rockies, but I recommend you take both into the canyon. On the down side, Grotto Canyon contains some of the most polished routes and attracts the least amount of sun of the before mentioned climbing areas in and around Canmore. On the upside, there is more climbing variety in Grotto Canyon and it is the least crowed.

The polished rock is worse on Illusion Rock. Hemingway Wall catches morning sun. Water Wall, Paintings Wall, the Upper Right Wing and Upper Narrows get the best afternoon sun. The Alley catches good evening sun. A few climbs farther in, Grotto Slab for example, require double rope rappels, but Grotto Canyon mostly requires just one rope raps. Whichever route(s) you choose, start the day off right at the local climbers hangout, the Summit Café on Cougar Creek Drive off of Benchlands Trail which is on your way to Grotto Canyon. It is the best coffee shop in town and serves breakfast and sacked lunches. Ask for Steve.

The crags/walls are listed in order as you hike your way north through Grotto Canyon:

  • Left

  • Hemingway Wall
    The Peanut
    Paintings Wall
    Lower Narrows
    Illusion Rock
    Delusion Rock
    Garden Rock
    Hoodoo Crag

  • Right

  • Water Wall
    Three Tier Buttress
    Lower Right Wing
    Upper Right Wing
    The Alley
    Grotto Falls (Ice Route in Winter)
    The Headwall
    Upper Narrows
    Exit Wall
    Upper Tier
    Uncharted Sea
    Silk Cuts
    Aqua Slab
    Grotto Slab

    Getting There

    The TransCanada Highway runs from Calgary through the Rocky Mountain Canadian National Parks on its way to Vancouver. Right before you enter Banff National Park is the town of Canmore. The Benchlands Trail is what I would call the main Canmore exit off of the TransCanada. Head north on the Benchlands Trial as it curves right and turn right onto Elk Run Blvd. Elk Run dead ends into 1A. Take a left hand turn onto 1A. Drive 5 to 10 minutes and take a left into the entrance for the Baymag #2 plant. Instead of following the road up to the plant, take an immediate right dirt road fork. Turn left onto a rough dirt trail road that follows the powerline easement. There will be a small pullout on your right that has a marked trail, but you can also continue a little further to an open parking area up on a hill. Hike north up the hill towards the mouth of Grotto Canyon. We still used this access as of 2006 with no worries or warning signs, but future access is always being discussed.

    Red Tape

    Grotto Canyon and the east end of the Fairholme Range are not in Banff National Park, but border Kananaskis Country. There are no permit requirements to enter, climb and/or park in Kananaskis. All camping is regulated within park boundaries. There is also a backcountry permit required if you plan on spending a night in the backcountry versus the town campsites. This can be obtained via the Kananaskis website which is included in the camping section below. There is no official camping allowed back in Grotto Canyon. You will see evidence of such however between Exit Wall and Garden Rock. The petroglyphs are not to be disturbed on Paintings Wall.

    When to Climb

    As with most rock climbing in the Canadian Rockies, the driest time is from June through September. Virtually no one rock climbs in Grotto Canyon during the winter months.

    Camping

    The closest camp site would be back in Canmore at the town campsite located at the information center off of the TransCanada. The Alpine Club of Canada’s national office is located in Canmore (just west from Grotto Canyon off of 1A) and also serves as a hostel, a recently renovated one at that. There is actually a benchlands trail that takes you from the Alpine Club to Cougar Canyon.

    You cannot camp outside of the marked specific camping areas in Canmore or Kananaskis. Refer to the Kananaskis Provincial Park website for more information regarding backcountry camping. Of course there are tons of lodging options in Canmore from 5 star spas to cheap motels.

    Mountain Conditions

    The Kananaskis Provincial Park website is a very thorough park website, including trail conditions and/or closures, wildlife notices, weather conditions, avalanche conditions, camping permits, whitewater conditions, etc. It is an excellent source if you are going to spend any time here and comparable to any National Park website I have used. The Canadian Avalanche Association site is also useful, particularly for winter travel. Canadian Alpine Accident Reports are also extremely helpful and feature no less than 5 accident reports (2006) regarding Grotto Canyon.

    Children

    Children

    Children refers to the set of objects that logically fall under a given object. For example, the Aconcagua mountain page is a child of the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits.' The Aconcagua mountain itself has many routes, photos, and trip reports as children.

    Parents 

    Parents

    Parents refers to a larger category under which an object falls. For example, theAconcagua mountain page has the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits' asparents and is a parent itself to many routes, photos, and Trip Reports.

    Canmore Rock ClimbsMountains & Rocks
     
    Grotto MountainMountains & Rocks