New Jack City
Barstow (Mojave Desert) · near Barstow · California Desert
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- intermediate
- Grade range
- 5.7 to 5.13 · Hundreds of bolted sport routes
- Best season
- Fall, winter, spring · Summer is dangerously hot (Mojave) · Winter is prime
Permits and booking
- Permit
- BLM land (Sawtooth Canyon) — no permit, FREE camping right at the crags. Remote Mojave: bring ALL water and supplies, there are no services. Winter is the season; summer heat is dangerous.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Rock Climbing detail
- Nickname
- The Free Desert Sport Crag
- Climb types
- sport
- Rock type
- Volcanic rock (pocketed, featured)
- Route count
- 600+ bolted sport routes across a sprawling desert area
- Signature routes
- The pocketed volcanic walls · Beginner-friendly moderates
- First timer note
- New Jack City (officially Sawtooth Canyon) is a superb, free, beginner-friendly winter sport destination — hundreds of routes including many quality moderates, with free dispersed camping right at the crag. The catch is remoteness: bring everything, especially water. A cheap climber's winter paradise.
- Intl tip
- New Jack is off I-15/I-40 near Barstow — a natural stop between LA and Las Vegas, or a winter alternative to a crowded Joshua Tree. Bring everything (no services); the free camping and endless routes make it a genuine budget climbing destination. Calico Ghost Town is nearby.
The guide
New Jack City — officially Sawtooth Canyon — is the Mojave's free sport-climbing paradise, a sprawling BLM area near Barstow wi…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to New Jack City — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.796, -117.047