The Best Crack in Minnesota is definitely NOT the best crack in Wyoming.  The climb is OK but nothing to write home about.  It is located just right of the Wiessner Column, about halfway between Durrance and Walt Bailey.

Perform a tricky stem to gain the crack and then proceed up flared, lichen filled cracks to chains located around the corner before the crack dead ends.

Best Crack in Minnesota

Soler Eclipse

Danse Macabre

The Window

Rocksuckers

El Cracko Diablo

Soler

Recidivism

Direct Southeast

Windex

Extension

Cave

Bon Homme Variation

The interesting problem below

Walt Bailey Memorial

Hollywood & Vine

Free Association

Let Me Go Wild

Roach Addition

Animal Cracker Land

Double Indemnity

Phillip's Retreat

Bittersweet

Dusk In Dogtown

Dancing With The Devils After Dark

The Steepest Face of Devils Tower is the South West Face. It features extremely thin and shallow cracks, only one ledge on the entire face and numerous overhangs.This route is one crack to the right of the CENTENNIAL route. It was first climbed by Nate Chossmonkey and Bigwally in June, 2006. It was a 22 hour effort, from start to finish...and an Excellent Route !!

Pitch 1. A3+/A4- (160 ft.) Nail this crack for a long rope length, until it widens, and allows You a Great Belay, just below the left-most of the twin roofs. We used 40 KnifeBlades (35 tied-off) and a handful of RURPS and BEAKS. The anchors are Very Secure, long Lost Arrows and Baby Angles. One heck of a Fine Pitch.

Pitch 2. A2 (~140 ft.)Nail around the left side of the left-most roof and continue upwards to where a Good Anchor can be set. As the crack is both wider and deeper now, the aiding is Fun and not very demanding.

Pitch 3. A2,5.8 (~140 ft.)Aid a short distance until the crack widens and allows free climbing (5.8) to the Tower Top. This pitch will work Ya !!

This route is pretty darn cool.  It takes the arete between Soler and Hollywood and Vine.

Climb up the face left of Soler to a first bolt and commit to Soler Eclipse.  Technical face and arete climbing leads to the first crux - a reachy lieback move to a great hold over the obvious roof.  Immediately afterwards there is another difficult crux that involves a "I wish my shoes had C4 rubber" move.  This brings you to the first (hanging) belay (hidden from view until now).

Continue up on easier (5.10a) climbing to the top - follow the bolts: there are some sucker holds that will lead you right and into bad rock at one point.

Excellent pitch.

Climb a piece of history when you get on this route, the first 5.10 at Devils Tower. Though rated 10d by Royal Robbins in 1964 I think most people would agree that Robbins really put up the first 5.11 on the Tower! The original route starts one crack to the left of the main crack with 2 pitons that protect a short but spicy traverse to the right to gain the main crack. Or you can do the direct start like I did at a supposed easier grade of 10c, though it still felt like 11a/b to me! With the direct start fight your way up flared and leaning fingers/hands until finally reaching good jams about 25-30 feet up. With the original start you skip out on some of the flared fingers, but instead have what looked to be a short but tricky traverse. After passing a bush the crack becomes mostly #3 and #4 camalot size for about 100 feet, turns into a really fun double cracks and then makes a traverse to the left about 20 feet below a roof. Continue from here up an offwidth (protected by a red totem/#1 camalot in a horizontal) for about 10 feet to a nice big ledge. The best gear you can get for an anchor here is #4 camalot size or larger, so save at least 1 of those. There only other anchor piece option is a tiny but decent nut placement to the right of the crack in a horizontal. For pitch 2 (5.9) continue up the wide, dirty chimney (the home of the pigeons) until you encounter a body length sized roof. A #3 and #4 protect this well. After that you are practically at the meadows. Build your own anchor. Move to the left to descend the Meadows rappels.

The classic, seldom-repeated Royal Robbins aid line has gone free at last! Or at least the first pitch has. The Window features stemming, tip-jams, and face climbing on one of the most impressive features of the Tower. Follow a thinning crack in a dihedral, getting progressively harder after 50 ft. Bolted anchors can be found next to a broken area on the face.

The remaining route is still an aid line. The thin crack continues and more face holds open up before anchors can be found under the imposing, difficult, A4 overhang that looms above. Come free it!

Rocksuckers is definitely one of the better bolted face climbs on the Tower. It ascends the rounded, blank arete to the left of Hollywood and Vine, ending at the same anchors. The climbing is sustained on small sidepulls and crimps, with a few good rests to break it up. Runouts exist between a few bolts, but the hardest moves are all protected.

See approach for TAD and Solar.  This route starts to the right of TAD, and is in my opinion by far the best route of the three mentioned.  Pitch one is a good lead of about 5.7 and is well suited for those getting into trad climbing on the Tower.  Pitch two is longer and is very sustained 5.8 climbing.  Both pitches swollow up gear and you can protect pitch 2 with as many hand-fist sized hexes and cams as you can carry.  The crux will prove to be the small bulge 2/3 up on pitch 2 and the slightly narrowing crack as it tapers toward the top of the route where it ends at the Meadows.  NOTE: This route can be rappelled with two ropes in two pitches, but it's recommended that you rappell in three pitches, the third being at the anchors at the ledge about 25-30 feet up from the start of the route.  Rappelling in two will increase the likelyhood of having your ropes hung up on the aformentioned ledge when it is pulled.

Soler is a wonderful two pitch route climbing twin fingercracks in a dihedral.  It is probably the easiest summit route on the tower that isn't wider than hands, and may feel easier than the 7s and 8s to those who don't know how to jam.

Follow the ramp around a prominent corner.  Soler starts in a dihedral right of a bolted route and two cracks left of TAD.  Climb a long sustained pitch past some slightly broken rock at the very bottom to a hanging belay at a couple of bolts.  Pitch 2 is more of the same to a large ledge at the base of the Meadows.

Pitch 1 is generally given 5.8 and 2 is 5.9-, but I can't tell them apart.  Probably rated that way because you are already a little pumped when starting pitch 2.

A very aesthetic line up one of the most prominent features on the Tower.

This route is 2 cracks left of “The Window” route on the East face of the Tower. The crack transitions from a slightly right facing corner to a slightly left facing corner.

P1. Aid up the thin crack until it is possible to lower left to reach the anchors for Animal Cracker Land route. 50 meters A2

P2. Get back into the same crack and continue on beaks until you reach the roofs. Aid out and over the left side of the roof on cams and build a belay at a small stance. 35 meters A3

P3-4. Continue up through the broken terrain until you reach the summit. 60 meters (total) 5.6

Direct Southeast is another great 5.11 finger crack at the Tower. Pitch one is small fingers with intricate lie-backing, trust a foot and escape to the arete or stay in the crack the whole way (90 ft). Pitch two continues up the sustained finger crack with a defined crux at about 100 ft, the climbing then becomes easier and opens up to a nice hand crack (130 ft).

I couldn't believe this route hadn't been done. Working as a guide out there during the summer of '05, I spotted this line and climbed it on an unseasonably cool July day.

This is just another classic obvious plumb line to the top. This route took about 10 hours and included lots of tricky aid placements; beaks, hooks, shallow tied-off and equalized pins, and some creativity throughout the entire first 2 pitches, and then finishes with a 5.6 chimney. I never did fall on the route, though it seemed a fall would have been clean, and on occasion, one manages to find a fairly solid pin placement.

I would be very interested to hear anyone's comments on this route. I believe this will be thoroughly enjoyable for any aid climber or big wall climber in training(as would many of the routes on the tower, I'm sure).

Perhaps the most well-travelled, yet rarely climbed route on Devils Tower, Extension is the crack that is commonly rappelled to descend from El Cracko or Soler. From El Cracko's first-pitch anchors, head right into a shallow but moderate finger crack that peters out into face climbing above. Pass the chains at the hanging belay, surmount the bulge, and carefully pick your way up the small dihedral with a seam. 3 well-spaced bolts protect the moves above the chains, and marginal pro can be found on occasion, but Extension is definitely more runout than most Tower routes. Extension is no classic, but does offer some decent climbing

A over looked gem, belay on good ledge to the left of dihedral below the roof, pitch 1 climb dihedral (crux)PG, on to friction slab then pull roof on left, watch rope drag, about 25ft to horizontal crack, belay, 5.9 PG

pitch 2 climb jam crack to the meadows, 5.8

Bon Homme Variation is a separate and unique climb from Bon Homme.  It shares only the start.  Follow the ramp to the area of the old ladder.  Bon Homme is about four cracks to the left of the ladder.

Pitch 1:  Climb the start of the wide Bon Homme crack.  Climb past a chockstone, and then look for a traverse to the left.  Face climb across the column when obvious, and get into the next crack over.  Then follow this crack system (double cracks) up to a huge ledge.  When I did this, I climbed this first pitch as two separate pitches.  I belayed somewhere after the traverse.

Pitch 2:  Climb an easier crack (5.5) to the meadows. This requires most of a rope-length.  This is the left of the two available cracks on this ledge.

The crack feature is directly one crack to the right of

best in minnesota, has a cross-shaped horizontal break near top.

Lead clean in 01'

Anchors I personally drilled w/ park ok, by hand excellent and new. Thanks frank

Can slightly see line in the hi-res Durrance photo.

The route is one of the best I have done anywhere.  Immaculate rock and beautiful finger and hand jams will leave a smile on any crack climber's face.  The finger crack crux comes early, but the real challenge is the sustained nature of the climb.  It gets wider and easier as you go up, but there are few rests on this route, so I found the crux to definitely be avoiding getting pumped at the top of the route.

This route is immediately left of Hollywood and Vine, and four cracks to the right of the old stake ladder.  The approach is a little tricky.  Follow the Durrance approach to the start of the third-class ledges.  I recommend racking up and leaving your packs there.  Follow the approach to Soler to the outside corner of the third-class ledges (approximately the apex of the turn of the third class ledges).  Do not climb all the way to the base of Soler.  Instead, climb up exposed third and fourth class blocks to a series of ledges with trees.  Follow these around right until you encounter a short fourth class ramp to a sheltered alcove at the base of the route.  If the moves are Class 5, you're off route -- but many people will still want a belay for this fourth class approach.

This climb has one of the more interesting pitches at the tower.  The first pitch is essentially an approach pitch, but still fun (5.5).  The second pitch is a long seam that is a full rope length.  This originally was only possible as an aid climb, but as people kept putting larger pitons in old pin scars, the seam widened up enough to jam two fingers in each slot.  Pins are no longer used, and this is currently a free climb.  For the third pitch, climb a short 5.4 section to the meadows.

This route is pretty easy to find.  Follow the South Face approach, passing the ladder near Bon Homme.  Slightly past this point is a column separated from the tower with a bolted line up it (Roach Addition, 5.7).  Start just right of this rock for the 5.5 pitch.

This was the first free ascent of the 3rd pitch of The Devil Made Me Do It-A1.  Pitch starts under large roof, climb crack with some face holds passing roof on left 5.10.  climb up to foot traverse and go left to corner, climb dirty lichenous corner, sort of crumbly but good jams in the back of the crack, wear gloves.  At about half way you climb over 5 meters of loose flakes, this is the psychological crux and is quite scary.  As others have mentioned the top 1/3 of the tower is eroded and crumbly when compared to the lower 2/3.  There is a lot of dirt, lichen and loose rock up there, it is climbable and even enjoyable but different than the sinker jams of more popular routes.

This is the pitch above Dusk in Dogtown. Face climbing and stemming with the occasional sloping tip lock thrown in for good measure. Mostly 5.11 with good stances and actual edges for feet, crux is thin and well protected.

Several bolted face climbs appeared on the Tower in the late 80's and early 90's before the Park Service got wind of the drilling and put the kibosh on it.  This may not be the most stellar example of these climbs but it has a fine, airy position right on the SE corner and is a great route to do while waiting in line for Soler.

Take the south face approach up "the ramp" to the broken column at the extreme right side of the south face.  Continue around the nicely exposed corner onto the east face just below the chimney/corner start of Hollywood and Vine.  Roach Addition climbs the face of the broken column to the left of the corner.  Go up the face passing 3 bolts with a few insipient cracks between which will take some small nuts if need be.  The crux is at a small overlap at the 3rd bolt.  There is a two bolt anchor on the ledge for a rappel or continue up Rocksuckers or Hollywood and Vine.

It is also easy to set up a toprope here but congestion can be a problem with all the crowds passing through for Soler and Tad.

An excellent route that is the probably the easiest way to the top of the tower.  Both pitches are long and fairly sustained, and the second is easily one of the best moderate hand cracks on the tower.

Follow the Ramp around a prominent corner.  You'll see a nice double finger crack in a dihedral(Soler), a bush crack(Todtmoos), and then this beauty.

Pitch 1 starts out as face climbing with good gear to a wide crack.  Thrash up the wide crack(crux) to a semi-hanging belay.  165' 5.7

Pitch 2 climbs the beautiful hand and finger crack to the Meadows.  This is one of the finest easy pitches on the tower.  150' 5.6

An easy but exposed scramble up the 4th class Meadows gains the top, and use the Meadows rappels to descend.

This incredible route has one of the rarest of Devils Tower features: splitter cracks! Continuous thin fingers and stemming will keep you thinking and cranking all the way to the chains.

Climb Dusk in Dogtown a short ways until you can reach into the splitter crack on the right. Continue up the sustained finger locks until the crack thins and you can reach left to another crack that angles up and right towards the anchor.

This route is not as famous as El Matador, but the concept is the same; protect in a finger crack and jam/stem your way up the opposed dihedrals. Once the crack thins to tips up high, make a hard traverse right around a column and follow an easier crack to anchors in about 15 ft. This route puts you within spitting distance of the 1893 ladder. Look, but don't touch!

This route is a bit unique for Devil'sTower in that the climb, which is really only one pitch, doesn't follow the same crack as you wind back and forth between two cracks to find the path of least resistance.

After climbing the first twenty feet of the

Walt Bailey Memorial

route to the top of a flake continue up the right crack. Move right into a left leaning dihedral then back left to the original crack. Now move back right into the left leaning dihedral and follow that crack to the belay(5.9+ 160').

Pitch 2 follows the same crack for about thirty feet to the Meadows. Use the standard Meadows descent(5.4).

This is aptly named for the suffering and white knuckled climbing it takes to get to the goods. I believe many have been suckered by the two out of three star rating it was once given only to bail early on (myself included). We broke the first pitch into two since there is an old anchor at a small stance halfway up (where 'My Unsung Hero' goes left). This separates the bad climbing from the good climbing. The latter two thirds of the first pitch would be almost classic status if more accessible.

1) 5.10+ PG13,

150'

Scramble up easy terrain to gain the crack just left of the overhanging flare of 'Morchella Esculenta'. Struggle to place gear in the pinched seam or just bring some pins, as there are only two remaining. Navigate through lichen, hollow flakes, and thin face climbing to gain a quarter inch bolt. A little higher and the gear gets better just before reaching the bolted anchor. (Either belay here or keep going) Then work through a balancy, flared finger crack that eventually opens to hands. Old anchors will be in the center of the face on the left.

2) 5.6, 130'

Climb the wide crack/chimney on the left to the Meadows. (We opted out of this one)

Finding a way to rap in on pitch one would be the best way to enjoy the awesome climbing up here. Along with 'My Unsung Hero', that looks enjoyable too. I wouldn't recommend leading the first third.

Location:  Take the south face approach to the base of Soler, continue traversing discontinuous ledges, past some rappel anchors, until below the window (series of overhanging roofs).  The climb is located just left of the overhangs in a right facing dihedral.  The crack has a V-shaped pod approximately 30' off the starting ledge.  Note:  The traverse from Soler to the window is quite exposed.This route features many fingerlocks and edging on low angle rock, surprisingly thin for 5.10 at the tower.  The footholds on the face are fantastic, and even when the crack thins and protection looks nonexistent, things materialize.  Rappel after the first pitch, or continue on the steep 5.12 RP fest above.

Description

Protection

Routes in South and East Faces