The Secret is Out: Jailhouse Access
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
For 20 years, Jailhouse Rock outside of Sonora, California, was an open secret. The cliff line held some of California’s hardest routes. Climbers like Beth Rodden and Alex Honnold cut their teeth there, but access was sensitive. The approach trail ran through private property. While the landowner was supportive of climbing, he also asked that Jailhouse remain a relative secret. No guidebooks. No Internet spray. In 2011, the Access Fund and local climbers negotiated an easement with the landowner that opened a whole new era in Jailhouse climbing.
