Suicide Rock
Idyllwild (San Jacinto Mountains) · near Idyllwild · Los Angeles / SoCal
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- advanced
- Grade range
- 5.7 to 5.13 · Trad and sport on excellent granite
- Best season
- Spring through fall · High elevation (~7,000ft) keeps it cool in summer when the desert bakes · Snow in winter
Permits and booking
- Permit
- San Bernardino National Forest — no climbing permit. An Adventure Pass may be required for parking. High elevation means a summer-friendly season; snow closes it in winter.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Rock Climbing detail
- Nickname
- Idyllwild's Other Granite Giant
- Climb types
- trad · sport · multi-pitch
- Rock type
- High-quality granite
- Route count
- Hundreds of routes across the Smooth Sole Walls, Sunshine Face, Weeping Wall, and more
- Signature routes
- Sunshine Face classics · The Weeping Wall & Smooth Sole Walls
- First timer note
- Suicide Rock is advanced granite, the classic companion to Tahquitz across the Idyllwild valley — together they form one of America's most historic climbing areas, where much of modern free-climbing technique and the Yosemite Decimal System were developed. Superb rock, cool summer temps.
- Intl tip
- Idyllwild is a delightful mountain town (with a golden retriever as honorary mayor) that pairs Suicide and Tahquitz with the May Valley MTB (MTB guide) and San Jacinto hiking. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway on the mountain's far side is 45 minutes around.
The guide
Suicide Rock, the granite dome facing Tahquitz across the Idyllwild valley, completes one of the most historically important cl…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Suicide Rock — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.762, -116.729