The Buttermilks
Bishop (west of town, base of Mt. Tom) · near Bishop · Eastern Sierra
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- all-levels
- Grade range
- V0 to V16 · 461+ problems in the main area, 2,200+ across Bishop bouldering
- Best season
- October–April · Fall through early spring (summer is too hot, and the elevation can snow in deep winter)
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit — BLM and Forest Service land. Free dispersed camping at the Buttermilks (no amenities, gorgeous views) or the Pit Campground ($5–8/night near the Tablelands). Pack out everything.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Rock Climbing detail
- Nickname
- The World Capital of Highball Bouldering
- Climb types
- bouldering
- Rock type
- Quartz monzonite granite (sharp, crimpy)
- Route count
- 461+ boulder problems (Buttermilks main) · Grandpa Peabody alone has 9 problems V4–V16
- Signature routes
- Grandpa Peabody / Evilution · The Mandala · Iron Man Traverse
- First timer note
- The Happy and Sad Boulders in the nearby Volcanic Tablelands (deep pockets and jugs, lower and more beginner-friendly than the Buttermilk highballs) are the better first stop for new boulderers — you can work them with a single pad. Watch for black widow spiders and rattlesnakes, especially at night.
- Intl tip
- Bishop is the Eastern Sierra hub — the Buttermilks pair with Owens River Gorge sport climbing, Keough's Hot Springs (swimming guide), Lower Rock Creek MTB (MTB guide), and the whole Hwy 395 corridor. Copper Top BBQ in Big Pine and Erick Schat's Bakery in Bishop are the climber-fuel institutions.
The guide
The Buttermilks, spread across a high desert bench beneath the 13,000-foot wall of Mt. Tom west of Bishop, are the world capita…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to The Buttermilks — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.325, -118.576