Big Chief
Truckee River Canyon, ~8 mi S of Truckee · near Truckee · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- all-levels
- Grade range
- 5.6–5.13a
- Best season
- Summer & fall · SW-facing and hot (climb mornings) · upper access road gated ~December–June
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No fee for climbers. The main constraint is the seasonal USFS road gate — the upper gate is typically closed roughly December–June after snow; hiking around a closed gate or crossing adjacent private land is prohibited.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Rock Climbing detail
- Climb types
- sport · trad · top-rope
- Rock type
- Volcanic tuff / welded ash — pocketed, Smith Rock–like stone (not granite)
- Route count
- ~90–100 routes
- Signature routes
- Pow Wow (5.11a) · Raindance (5.12a) · War Path (5.9-)
- Intl tip
- Rare Smith Rock–style volcanic sport in the granite Sierra. Go early on a summer morning to beat the heat, and call the Truckee Ranger District in spring to confirm the access-road gate is open.
The guide
The largest and best sport crag in the Truckee River Canyon, Big Chief is a tall, steep wall of solid, pocketed volcanic rock w…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Big Chief — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.24959, -120.1907