Hidden Wall

There are a few reasons why Provo is a lot more fun during spring/summer time. A top that list for me is Rock Canyon. Rock Canyon is not a well kept secret. In fact I would say it is the most traveled outdoors site in the state. Usually when you go outdoors, you are looking to get away from all the people. Here is where you may not be far from town or from people, but you feel like you are. The trails may be congested with day hikers, boy scouts, “date walkers,” and the like, but for rock climbing there is no better place for the time investment.

I will let you on a little secret that has kept me going back. Walking up the canyon you will see many areas where the sport climbing is good, but good luck finding an open route. In fact in the last five or six times that I have been up there, red slab and tinker toys have been over capacity. Recently Mike and I have found a little hot spot called hidden wall. Don’t let the name fool you, it is not hard to find this wall. The name comes from the fact that it is not in the Climber's Guide to American Fork/Rock Canyon, the local authority on the best sport climbing routes. We have visited this spot three times in the last two weeks and have not seen another climber nor have we seen the ever present signs of frequently climbed routes. With routes ranging from 5.8 to 5.11d, this is a good spot for the weekend warrior to get away and have a solid few hours on the rock.

My favorite of them all is the 5.9+ on the far right side of the wall. Making it to the first anchor may be a little sketchy, but from there to the top is a solid 60 foot ascent of knobby arête. The view from on top is pretty amazing and you will feel like taking on the world. Maybe word will get out of how great this spot is. Maybe it won’t. But for now, I can’t think of a better place to be climbing.