Menstone Boulders?!?
Well,
boulder to be exact. But this is what this place has been called by local climbers living in nearby Redlands, Yuciapa, and surrounding areas looking fore some climbing nearby without driving farther up HWY 38 or going to Big Rock on the 'shores' or Lake Perris.
Just a 20 minute drive from downtown Redlands up HWY 38 leads you to this large boulder near a picnicking site off the HWY just about 2.5 miles up into the canyon once you've passed the Mill Creek Ranger Station. Look for a picnicking sign to turn out. The boulder will be obvious from the parking lot and a trail leads across Mill Creek over to the infamous "Menstone"
Is it worth Climbing, or checking out?
Well, this rock is close to the city, and the approach and access are basic.
There are about 7 routes on this thing, the easiest is a
10b. This can be toproped from behind; a class 3 way up on the back side of this boulder gets you access to all the anchors to all routes.
It is a nice place to check out if you really need to climb, don't want to drive far, and live nearby. The rock quality is above marginal, there is always graffiti and trash lying around from lazy messy people that visit (it is a picnicking area right off the road). Plus, the Mentone Boulder lies under the snow line, thus you can climb any time of year.
Next time you're heading up HWY 38, check it out yourself. Like I said, you can see it from the car and it is a 5 min walk over to the rock.
Red Tape
There none. No permits, parking passes, or anything else. I have been told by other local climbers that sometimes roudy youngsters and hooligans party out here, and there is some record of chicanery in the area.
Camping
Don't Do it here! Plenty of other sites to look at along HWY 38 ranging from basic campsites to full RV hookups (if thats you're style)
Contact the
Mill Creek Station on the corner of Bryant and HWY 38
(909) 382-2881
Essential Gear
All the routes are Sport.
-5 to 8 quickdraws depending on the route
-Anchor setup
Whats New...
Bad News-As of October 18 2008 there has been new graffiti on the backside of the boulder where the 3rd class section is.
Good News-Someone has taken some serious choppers to the tree left of the boulder, where
Strainer is, giving some room and allowing better photo opportunity's.
More Bad News- They left all the downed branches right on the base of the rock