Climbing Closures

Rock Climbing

• Overview of Rock Climbing
• Climbing Permits
• Climbing Regulations
• Big Wall Stewardship
• Climbing Closures
• Climbing Safety
• Climbing and Food Storage

Closures for Peregrine Falcon and Golden Eagle Protection

The peregrine falcon and golden eagle are protected species in Yosemite due to their sensitivity to disturbance during the nesting season. To protect these species, the superintendent of Yosemite National Park designates peregrine and golden eagle nesting cliffs as areas closed to visitor use, including climbing and slack-lining activities, from March 1 and lasting until chicks have fledged and dispersed from those areas each year. If you encounter any raptors (falcons, eagles, hawks, etc.) while climbing, please email us.

• B.O.L.T. Wall: Immediately southwest of Leaning Tower. Closure includes all routes on the B.O.L.T. Wall.
• El Capitan, West Face: Closure includes all routes left of and including “Mirage.” “Lurking Fear” remains open.
• El Capitan, SW Face: All routes between and including “Octopussy” to “Dihedral Wall” are closed. The first 9 pitches of the closed routes remain open.
• Elephant Rock, East Face: All routes on the East Face are closed. This includes all routes between and including "Crack of Redemption" to "Worst Error – Left Side," Slacklining is prohibited at the summit and the top of the adjacent cliff.
• Higher Cathedral Rock: Closure includes all routes between and including “Power Point” and “The North Face,” All other routes remain open.
• Mt. Broderick: All routes on the Southeast Face are closed. Closure includes all routes east of and including “Thugz Mansion,” “Unemployment Line” remains open.
• Parkline Slab: The top 4 pitches of the climbing route “Eagle’s Eyrie” and top 3 pitches of “Moss Madness” are closed. All other routes at Parkline Slab, including the first 6 pitches of “Eagle’s Eyrie”, and the first 5 pitches of the “Moss Madness” remain open.
• The Rostrum: Lower Merced Canyon. Closure includes climbing routes on all sides of the Rostrum formation. Super Nova and the Jungle Gym areas remain open. Slacklining is prohibited at the summit and the top of the adjacent cliff.
• Upper Yosemite Fall: Closure includes all routes between and including “Sprayfest” to “Via Aqua.” This includes hiking the climber's approach/descent trail that forks off of the Upper Yosemite Falls trail.
• Wapama Cliff: Hetch Hetchy. All routes on Wapama Cliff are closed.
• Wawona Dome: Closure includes all routes between and including “Cream of the Crop” to “Bark at the Moon.” From the base, the first pitches of the closed routes between and including “Lunar Eclipse” to “Bird in Flight” remain open.
• Widow’s Tears: Closure includes all routes within the Widow’s Tears Alcove. Routes on Tower of Cosmic Winds remain open.
• Yosemite Point: Closure includes all routes between and including “Czech Route” and “Yosemite Point Buttress.” The first 3 pitches of “Czech Route” and the first 5 pitches of “Yosemite Point Buttress” remain open.

Learn More

• Map showing these climbing closures
• Yosemite raptor protection program climbing closure process
• Special status bird species in Yosemite National Park.

Closures for Other Reasons

Rock climbers recently reported a new crack in a cliff on the western side of Royal Arches, near the climbing route Super Slide. Subsequent investigation revealed that this crack has partially detached a large pillar of rock, and that cracking was actively occurring. As a precautionary effort to reduce risk from rockfall, the National Park Service is implementing a temporary area and trail closure starting August 30, 2023:

• Serenity Crack and Super Slide Climbing Area Closure: Closure includes all routes between and including Peruvian Flake West to the Rhombus Wall. The popular routes Serenity Crack/Sons of Yesterday, and Super Slide are included in the closure. 

 

Yosemite Peregrines: A Story of Hope

Video Player is loading.

Play Video

Play

Mute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration -:-

Loaded: 0%

0:00

Stream Type LIVE

Seek to live, currently behind liveLIVE

Remaining Time --:-

 

Turn On Audio Description

1x

Playback Rate

Chapters

• Chapters

Descriptions

• descriptions off, selected

Captions

• captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
• captions off, selected
• English Captions

Open quality selector menu

• 720p, selected
• 480p
• 360p
• 1080p

Audio Track

Picture-in-PictureFullscreenVideo File Info

This is a modal window.

The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported.

Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

Text

ColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-Transparent

Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparent

Window

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque

Font Size

50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%

Text Edge Style

NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadow

Font Family

Proportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall Caps

Reset restore all settings to the default valuesDone

Close Modal Dialog

End of dialog window.

Duration:

7 minutes, 8 seconds

The peregrine falcon thrives in Yosemite Valley, but this remarkable bird was temporarily extirpated from much of its native range, including Yosemite where it disappeared for decades, leading to its listing as an endangered species in the early 1970s. Because of the remarkable, collaborative efforts of Yosemite climbers, UCSC Predatory Bird Research Group, and NPS biologists, with generous funding from the Yosemite Conservancy, the story of Yosemite’s peregrine falcon is one of hope.