Pinnacles Bird Nesting Closures

6/30/01: All climbing areas have reopened from nesting closures. 24 prairie falcon chicks and one golden eagle chick were fledged this year! Nesting closures for 2002 will start on 1/18/02. Thanks to Erika Williams of the NPS for providing this information.

4/20/01: Many climbing areas reopened from nesting closures:

Scout Peak
Condor Crags, Fingers, Long's Folly
Gargoyle, Piedras Bonitas, Knuckle Ridge, Outcast, Neglected Valley
The Egg
Resurrection Wall

Thanks to Robert Behrens for providing this list, from the bulletin board at the trailhead, and also checked against the updated NPS web page.

1/22/2001: The NPS web page now includes a full list of closed areas, with maps: Spring 2001 bird nesting closures

The closures are usually in effect from mid-January until July or August, depending on exactly when the birds leave. For 1999, they started the same as the 1998 and 1997 closures. During the closure season, check the bulletin board at the Bear Gulch and West Side trailheads for updates, as sometimes areas are closed or opened during this period.

The closures are technically voluntary, but are normally followed by everyone. They apply not only to climbing, but to off-trail hiking in these areas. If rangers observe people in these areas, they will be asked to leave, and if they do not comply, they will be cited for failing to obey a ranger. If birds were present, there would be an additional citation for disturbing wildlife. Climbers have always been very cooperative, so there have been no citations to my knowledge.

The main result of the closures has been that climbers have used the October-December (and sometimes days in January) season to climb at the High Peaks, Balconies, Yaks Wall, and other normally closed areas.

Nesting Closures in 1999

If you'd like to see what was closed a few years ago, the list below was shown on the maps at the Bear Gulch trailhead, from January to June 1999. Most of the closures are the same in 1999 and 2001, but there are some differences (such as Resurrection Wall), so please consult the NPS web page for current closures.

However, some of the areas below were reopened, on or before 4/29/99. The reopened areas included Long's Folly, North and South Fingers, and Condor Crags. See the list given by Amy Fesnock (Pinnacles Wildlife Biologist).

Gargoyle
- Closed
  - Gargoyle
  - Outcast
  - Knuckle Ridge
- Open
  - east side of Neglected Valley (Lion's Head, Toadstool, Triple Decker)
  - Mollusk
Yaks
- Closed
  - Marauder
  - Yaks Wall (Shoot the Tube to Reach for the Sky)
  - North Yak, South Yak (including Beast of Burden, Bullrun)
- Open
  - Marmot Rock (including Wrinkle Remover, Asleep at the Wheel)
  - Hanging Valley (Nip & Tuck, Teter Tower, etc.)
Balconies
- Closed
  - Crowley Towers
  - Balconies (If We Bolt It They Will Come, Bongloadash to Nexus area, Echoes)
  - north of Balconies Trail (Smiling Simian boulder, Even Coyotes Like it Doggie Style)
- Open
  - Flumes Formation
  - south of Balconies trail (Osiris, Toog's, Chockstone Dome)
Scout Peak Area and High Peaks South
- Closed
  - Goat Rock
  - Beak Peak
  - Pinch or Lynch Wall (all routes)
  - Salathe's Sliver, Nelson's Needle, Generation Gap Pinnacle
- Open
  - Unmentionable
  - Bobbin
  - Popcorn Pinnacles, Nebulous Knob
  - Flatiron, Photographer's Delight
  - Axe, Dwarf, Scout Peak, Shaft
High Peaks
- Closed
  - Long's Folly, North and South Fingers, Condor Crags
  - Chaos Crag
  - The Egg
  - H & L, Tuff Dome, Bynum's Spire
  - Cornflake, Frothy Flake, Papa Bear, Smokestack
- Open
  - Pot Pinnacle, Peyote Pillar, Sponge, Burgundy Dome
  - Proclamation Pinnacle
  - Piglet, Spike's Peak, Dragonfly Dome, Sidehorse, Egg Shell, Freedom Dome
  - Cinder, Disintegration Pinnacle, The Lump

In case you are wondering, the following areas were Open in 1999:

Bear Gulch (Discovery Wall, Monolith, Upper Crust, etc.)
Reservoir (Five Sisters, Deserted Valley, Hand, Frog)
Condor Gulch (except Feather Canyon route on H&L)
West Side areas (Machete Ridge, Citadel, Resurrection Wall)