ISOLATION CANYON ROCK CLIMBING
IN GILA COUNTY, ARIZONA

This serene canyon tucked behind Pine, AZ has been incised into beautiful quartzite by Pine Creek.  The canyon walls offer routes from 1 to 4 pitches and the rock is bullet-hard and coated with lichen in a variety of striking colors. 

 

The rock is near-vertical and is incredibly featured, producing hundreds of moderate routes.  The perfect edges and surprising friction of the rock that makes it so fun to climb also limits the difficulty of the climbing.  

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The rock here lends itself well to linking pitches with long runners.  You could link the three pitches of Peacenik for a pretty incredible 200’ bolted pitch!

Access Points

From Pine, Arizona drive south of town, just past Bradshaw Drive to Pine Trailhead. A large paved parking area puts you on the Arizona Trail. Head southwest and downhill for several minutes. As you reach the gate and ranch (on your right), look for climber's trail heading left at the base of the hill. 

Another option is to drive from the clearing south of Pine Trailhead along Old County Road to near the original parking area. Park near here. 

As you arrive at Pine Creek along the climbers' trail, look for the trail which rises sharply on the south side of the creek bed, just before the rock becomes an impassable cliff. Follow this trail up on over the hill as it meanders along a dry gully (usually) and across the flat top for a while. Eventually the trail takes you down to the walls.

Classic Climbing Routes at Isolation Canyon

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area