Deep Cut Guide

Devil's Slide

2 routes · Fountain Formation · 5,860 ft

Help locate these routes: survey the wall

How well located

Position on wall known 2 

No route here has its own point yet. The map pin is the crag. At the wall? Survey it: 30 seconds per route.

Rock, from the geologic map

Fountain Formation. Paleozoic, about 323 to 273 million years old.

Maroon and red, arkosic, thick-bedded, coarse-grained to pebbly, cross-bedded fluvial sandstone and conglomerate containing thin layers of dark-maroon, hard (siliceous), micaceous siltstone and silty, fine-grained sandstone. Coarser beds commonly fill shallow channels. Sandstone locally bleached light tan to white. Clasts are well rounded to subrounded, as long as 25 cm, and composed mostly of Proterozoic rocks. Scott (1972) reported rare lower Paleozoic clasts in lower part of formation in Morrison 7.5-minute quadrangle. Thickness in quadrangle about 600 m; in Eldorado Springs quadrangle a measured section is 305 m thick (Wells, 1967). Mapped only in Denver Basin

This is the map unit under this crag's map point, read from the 1:100,000 sheet (Kellogg and others, 2008, USGS Geologic Investigations Series 3000). The point can be a few hundred metres from the rock, a cliff often stands on the line between two units, and at that scale a line on the map is about 100 m wide on the ground, so the wall itself may be the neighbouring unit. Every crag on this unit: Fountain Formation. Geology data: Macrostrat (CC BY 4.0), serving USGS and Colorado Geological Survey maps.

On the map since 1899

The USGS has mapped this ground since 1899. 31 historical sheets cover this crag's map point; the oldest is below.

Thumbnail of the 1899 USGS sheet covering Devil's Slide
USGS 1:125000-scale Quadrangle for West Denver, CO 1899 · U.S. Geological Survey · 1899 · 1:125,000 sheet
USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Public domain, U.S. Geological Survey. The sheet shows the ground as the survey found it then, which is why a trail or road you know may be missing. Every sheet over this point, 1899 to 1983: USGS topoView.

In print since 1877

Free to read: public domain or government work. About Colorado Springs as a whole, not this wall. More in the reading room.

From the archives

Photographs of this area held by the Library of Congress, oldest first. Every one carries the Library's own "no known restrictions on publication"; anything else is left out.

Pikes Peak Avenue, Colorado Springs · Detroit Photographic Co. · 1898 · photochrom
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs · Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942 · 1900
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs · Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942 · 1900
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

The Antlers, Colorado Springs · Detroit Publishing Co. · 1901
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

The Antlers, Colorado Springs · Detroit Publishing Co. · 1901
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

The Antlers, Colorado Springs · Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942 · 1901
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Pano. of Colorado Springs · Tipton, W. R. · 1908
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Colorado Springs, Colorado · 1912 · postcard
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Elks' Home, Colorado Springs, Colorado · 1912 · postcard
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

[Colorado Springs, Colorado] · Stewart Brothers (Firm) · 1913
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · Public domain · the record · indexed to this place by the archive
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

1 more at the Library of Congress.

Photographs near this crag

Taken within 1.5 km of this crag's map point and published under a licence that lets us show them, from Wikimedia Commons. The coordinates say where the camera was, not what it was pointed at, so some of these will be the creek or the trail rather than the rock.

South Boulder Creek (Colorado) · Jeffrey Beall · 2014 · 201 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Eldorado Canyon State Park · Jeffrey Beall · 2014 · 758 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Crags Hotel ruins, Boulder County, CO, framework structure at Guest Room Building 2024-09-21 · Xnatedawgx · 2024 · 922 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Crags Hotel ruins, Boulder County, CO, retaining wall near Clubhouse for the Denver Auto Club 2024-09-21 · Xnatedawgx · 2024 · 923 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Crags Hotel ruins, Boulder County, CO, corner structure at Guest Room Building 2024-09-21 · Xnatedawgx · 2024 · 934 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Welcome to the Crags Hotel, 1908-1912, Boulder County, CO info board 2024-09-21 · Xnatedawgx · 2024 · 936 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Crags Hotel ruins, Boulder County, CO, walkway towards fountain remains 2024-09-21 · Xnatedawgx · 2024 · 951 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Crags Hotel ruins, Boulder County, CO, retaining wall near Guest Room Building 2024-09-21 · Xnatedawgx · 2024 · 980 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

DJI 0245a--Stereo Photo 3D (50976750403) · relaxednow · 2021 · 427 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

DJI 0249a--Stereo Photo 3D (50976747458) · relaxednow · 2021 · 505 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Pseudotsuga glauca Eldorado Canyon · Jimmy Thomas from Grand Junction · 2009 · 220 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

Eldorado Canyon State Park, Ranger Station & Visitor Center, propane or gas grills only, signs & building 2024-09-21 · Xnatedawgx · 2024 · 730 m from the crag's map point
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · the record · placed by its coordinates
Report this item

Hidden as soon as you tell us, everywhere it appears, before anyone reviews it.

1 more on Commons.

Routes

Also within 3 km

Straight line between the two crags' map points, each of which can be some way from its rock. For when this wall is full, or the sun has found it.

Photos from climbers

No photos here yet. If you're at the crag, yours would be the first.

Pick a photo from your camera roll rather than taking one here: a picture taken inside a browser usually has no location saved in it, and we check that the photo was taken at this crag before publishing it. Photos of guidebook pages and topos are refused — they're the author's work. By sending one you're letting us publish it.

Nobody reviews these before they appear, so anyone can report one and it's hidden straight away — including you, if you change your mind, and including a photographer who finds their own picture here.

Taken at the crag by climbers and published as they sent them. Each one's own location had to be within 0.5 km of this crag before we accepted it. See something that shouldn't be here? Use Report this photo under it and it's hidden at once. Anything else, write to us.

Sun today
Wall direction not known yet.
Rain & forecast
No recent weather for this crag.

Conditions reported

Nothing reported recently.

Report what you see

Reports are dated and fade on their own: wet rock after 3 days, a bad bolt after a year. No names, no text.

Access & safety

Emergency: call 911. Read out your location: Works without signal. If GPS fails, this crag's approximate map point is 39.93074 N, 105.28382 W (Devil's Slide). That point can be off by hundreds of metres, so say so.

The map point for this crag is on land managed by Colorado Parks & Wildlife (state), in Eldorado Canyon State Park. It lies inside state park.

Land manager from USGS PAD-US (public domain), read 2026-09-29. It is the manager of the crag's map point, which can be a long way from the wall. What you may do on the rock is the manager's to say, not ours.

Rules for all Colorado Parks & Wildlife land

Fees
Every Colorado state park requires an entrance pass for motor vehicles. A daily vehicle pass is $4 to $17 depending on the park; an individual pass covers entry on foot or bike.
Reservations
Eldorado Canyon runs timed-entry vehicle reservations on summer weekends and holidays; see the park's own page. Other parks do not require one to enter.
Permits
A daily pass is valid until noon on the day after purchase. The annual Keep Colorado Wild pass is $29 and is bought with a vehicle registration.

Read on Colorado Parks & Wildlife's own pages, checked 2026-09-29 by John Crawford. What they require, in full, or their own climbing page. These apply to the manager's whole holding; anything specific to this crag is above.

Nearby, from OpenStreetMap

Toilets
263 m away (map)
Mapped parking
196 m away (map)

Distances are a straight line from this crag's map point, which can itself be hundreds of metres off; a road may be much longer. Mapped by OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), so a toilet missing here may simply be unmapped. Parking here is what OSM has drawn nearby, not a guidebook's directions.

Keep Deep Cut Guide free

No ads, no paywall, no account. You can chip in directly to help keep it running.