Phantom Spires
Wrights Lake Rd, off Hwy 50 · near Kyburz / Twin Bridges · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- all-levels
- Grade range
- 5.7–5.12b (boulders V0–V4+)
- Best season
- May–June & September–October best · S-facing but wind-exposed; road snowed closed in winter
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit or fee. Free dispersed car-camping near the parking area; the gravel access road is rough — 4x4 is wise after rain, and passenger cars can usually reach the parking in dry conditions.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Rock Climbing detail
- Climb types
- trad · sport · multi-pitch · top-rope · bouldering
- Rock type
- Granite — a scattered cluster of black-and-white spires and fins
- Route count
- ~110 routes across 20+ sub-formations
- Signature routes
- Gingerbread (5.7) · Candyland (5.10c) · Fear of Flying (5.9+)
- Intl tip
- Minutes from Lover's Leap with free dispersed camping at the parking area — ideal to combine both crags. The summits are committing, so dial your rappels before you go up.
The guide
A scattered field of granite fins and towers just minutes from Lover's Leap, Phantom Spires offers summit-topping spire climbin…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Phantom Spires — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.78989, -120.2417