Routes : North America : United States : Arizona : Phoenix Area : Superstition Mountains : Zonerland & The Land of Nod
Zonerland & The Land of Nod
About Zonerland & The Land of Nod:
| Great climbing in a spectacular setting! Similar to Queen Creek Canyon, but the rock is a little more finger friendly. No Supes choss here. Well over 160 catalogued sport, trad, and mixed climbs. Bolts are vintage '88-89, and although smaller, they are predominately commercial stainless Metolius, and in very good shape. Bolts are a bit runout by modern "sport" standards, but ratings seem to be fairly "new school". Bring extra webbing & rings for anchors, or lack thereof (simul-rappel may be req). This section includes all the Zonerland subsections, including the Scareface, Billy Idol, and Forbidden Zones. It also includes the Land of Nod subsections of the Ridge, Circus Wall, Smelser Canyon, and Babylon (reference the topo photo below for locations). An unpublished guide by R. Percival/1991 exists to the area. Hike about two miles (@ 3/4 the way to top) up the Peralta Trail before you get to the side trail that leads to the crags. Look for a dark colored house-sized rock formation with a rounded top directly in front of you on the trail as you are still on the left slope of the canyon about 1/4mi from the top. It is immediately before the trail crosses over from the left slope for the last time across a bare rock creek bed (reference the topo photo below for GPS coordinates). Look for cairns where an "use" trail cuts left(west) up and directly behind this rock to the high point, then proceeds upslope trending left across some bare rock slabs about 500yds into Zonerland. The opening leads into an amphitheater type setting with sloping bare rock dominating the center. From here you can proceed straight up west to the Ridge routes, then down the other side into Smelser Canyon with Crass Tower on the south end and Babylon on the far north. (Apparently Lynn Hill and Hans Florine even had a few first ascents here back in '89!) |
| Approach: | As you are standing right in front of said house size rock look left up the hill. You are looking at zonerland. You will walk just past the rock then around the back of it and angle up/left from the rock to that opening of rock. If you hike through zonerland and further up the hill you will encounter ridge routes and further past the crest you will find more routes scattered all around. |
| Approach Time: | 1.5 hr from Peralta Trailhead |
| Latitude, Longitude: | 33.24721, -111.21737 |
| Access Issues: | |
| Rock Type: | Volcanic |
| Type of Climbing: | Sport/Trad |
| Sun Aspect: |
Routes
Sequence Sequence numbers indicate the left (L) to right (R) order of the routes. |
Rating | Route | Difficulty | Ascents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 |
|
Evil Barbarian (1) | 5.11a | 0 |
| 0 |
|
Ganas (1) | 5.11a | 0 |
| 0 |
|
Grasping Talons*** | 5.9 | 0 |
| 0 |
|
Just for the Fun of It** | 5.7 | 1 |
| 0 |
|
L. Ron Hoover (1) | 5.10c | 0 |
| 0 |
|
Nude Tyrolean (2) | 5.9 | 1 |
| 0 |
|
Thor's Hammer*** | 5.10a | 2 |
| 0 |
|
Wild Thang (1) | 5.10a | 1 |
| 1 |
|
Billy Idol*** (1) | 5.10a | 2 |
| 1 |
|
Red Headed Rock Pecker*** | 5.9 | 3 |
| 1 |
|
Scimitar** (1) | 5.10c | 1 |
| 1 |
|
Tone of the Bell**** (2) | 5.9 | 4 |
Topo Images
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