Climbing in Arizona

Cochise is separated into two sections, west and east. The east side has developed campground with drinking water, toilets and campground host. This is a quiet place, the hosts are friendly and often have the older guide to the Cochise area. There is some great bouldering along the nature trail.

Mt. Lemmon - After all these years living here I just recently started climbing here. And even more recent than that, the entire mountain has finally been reopened to climbing and backcountry access (due to several forest fires in the past). This is a great place to get out of the blazing heat in Phoenix and Tucson as you climb up to 7000ft and into the pines. It is easy to find shade either most of the day or all day in the summer and seek sun in the winter months. The mountain is simply one huge rock with great friction, incut holds and jugs. The sport seems to be a little on the stiffer side of the rating but most areas are well bolted. The Trad is really on the stiff side, spend much time here and you'll be ready for most other areas in the state.

Baboquivari - One of the best true backcountry adventures. This mountain is known for climbers getting lost on the ascent to the base and for not finding the right path off the summit, resulting in getting hung up on cliffs, losing daylight and light...

Our group entered from the east side, and hiked up the canyon from the ranch house. Instead of a 90 minute hike, it was closer to 3hrs. I'm not sure if that was due more in part to the first time hiking to the saddle started at 9pm.

From the saddle it's a little arbitrary. There is a distinct trail going up to the south of Baboquivari, this is actually the ascent/descent trail of the Forbe's route. The access to the Lion's ledge is from some humble cairns leading to the north side.

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This place offers a great backcountry experience. All of the climbs have a good warm-up hike, usually straight up. The trails are pretty distinct, and 'Backcountry Rock Climbing in Southern Arizona' by Bob Kerry is a very good (also the only) complete guide to the area, complete with accurate directions and pitch descriptions. Could use more gear beta though. Rock Climbing Arizona once distributed by Falcon (now GlobePequot) also has a few entries for Cochise.