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6519 Hits
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75.81% Score
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6 Votes
Page Type:
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Mountain/Rock |
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Lat/Lon:
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46.58912°N / 112.06654°W |
Activities:
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Hiking, Sport Climbing, Toprope, Scrambling |
Season:
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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
Elevation:
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5468 ft / 1667 m |
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Overview
Rising above the heart of Helena is Mount Helena, preserved as a city park.
As one might imagine, the park is very popular, especially with hikers bound for the summit and families out for a stroll and a picnic, and climbers are one of several user groups enjoying the park.
The climbing here is sport on limestone. To the best of my knowledge, it is all single-pitch with the exception of Ansley's Way, a 2-pitch 5.6 at the Sunset Slab crag.
There are five developed crags. From left to right as one approaches: Water Streak, Vigilante Wall, Red Slab, Whit's Wall, and Sunset Slab.
Routes range from 5.6 to 5.13-.
After rope-soloing in Avalanche Gulch in the morning and at Blue Cloud midday, I headed out here in the late afternoon to climb Ansley's Way since I'll take multi-pitch over single when I can get it, and I ended up having time to solo-lead all six routes at Sunset Slab before it got dark. So, I will add pages for Sunset Slab and Ansley's Way.
The photo below is linked from Mountain Project and is by Brad Maddock.
This page does not cover the summit of the peak although the trail accessing the climbing areas does ultimately lead to the summit. If someone wants to make a page covering the summit, I will happily rework this page and attach the new one.
Basic statistics on reaching the summit via the 1906 Trail: 2.9 miles, 1023' elevation gain (both one-way).
Getting There
Follow signs or Google Maps to the Mount Helena City Park. From the parking lot, pick up the main trail leaving it, which is 1906 Trail and leads you to the crags. The crags begin just after you pass the cave at Devil's Kitchen. Expect a moderately strenuous hike of 20-30 minutes.
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Red Tape
Follow posted regulations.
Any new route development requires permission from the City of Helena. Don't be a rogue bolter and risk access for everyone else.
Camping
None. The park is day-use only. If you need to camp, you will have to drive out to nearby National Forest land.
1 Mountains & Rocks