Emerald Bay Crags
Emerald Bay, Hwy 89 · near South Lake Tahoe · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- all-levels
- Grade range
- 5.3–5.13 (90 Foot Wall 5.3–5.11b; Mayhem Cove 5.9–5.13; Eagle Lake Buttress to 5.10b)
- Best season
- June–October · Eagle Lake Buttress is alpine (~8,500 ft), best July–September
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Emerald Bay State Park / Eagle Falls day-use parking charges a fee and fills very early in summer. The Eagle Lake trail to the Buttress enters the Desolation Wilderness and requires a free self-issue day-use permit at the trailhead.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Rock Climbing detail
- Nickname
- 90 Foot Wall · Mayhem Cove · Eagle Lake Buttress
- Climb types
- sport · trad · multi-pitch · top-rope
- Rock type
- Granite — from a beginner top-rope wall to a steep featured sport cave and an alpine trad buttress
- Route count
- ~75 combined (90 Foot Wall ~20, Mayhem Cove ~42, Eagle Lake Buttress ~13)
- Signature routes
- Strontium 90 (5.8) · Mayhem Cove sport band (5.11–5.12) · Eagle Lake Buttress / Orange Book (5.8)
- Intl tip
- The setting is the draw — granite over Emerald Bay's turquoise water. Parking is the real crux: come on a weekday and arrive before 8am, and grab the free Desolation Wilderness permit if you're heading to Eagle Lake Buttress.
The guide
Arguably the most scenic climbing in the region — granite dropping straight toward the impossible turquoise of Emerald Bay. Pre…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Emerald Bay Crags — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.9506, -120.1165