Baldwin Creek Climbing Area

The Baldwin Creek Climbing Area has about 50 established rock climbs ranging in difficulty from 5.11 to 5.14. The average difficulty of these climbs exceeds those of two of the other popular rock-climbing areas near Lander-Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris. The rocks of interest to climbers make up the middle member of the Bighorn dolomite, a geologic formation of Ordovician age. The main body of the formation was deposited in a warm shallow sea between 470 and 450 million years ago. Dolomite is similar to limestone (calcium carbonate) but is much richer in magnesium. Factors influencing sedimentation were probably constant for a long time because the cliffs are very uniform in composition, texture and color. They have few cracks or other flaws, and as a result, they provide uniformly difficult rock climbing opportunities.