Indian Creek is a traditional climbing area in the middle of the Utah desert, USA, known as one of the world's best crack climbing destinations. Sport climbing is almost nonexistent here, but you'll find splitter cracks everywhere!

In October 2023, together with Felipe Maturana, we made the trip to the crack climbing paradise — the famous Indian Creek. Ever since we discovered trad climbing, going there had been a dream. We'd watched hundreds of videos of the world's best climbers on those endless splitters, and there we were. 

A few years back I became friends with Dave while working as snowboard instructors at Beaver Creek ski resort in the US. In the summer of 2023, Dave traveled to Chile where I took him to El Alfalfal, Cochamó, Cerro Apidame in Chile Chico, and Cerro Mackay in Coyhaique. Later that year I mentioned I wanted to climb Indian Creek with Felipe — and Dave was key to the whole trip. Beyond picking us up and dropping us off at the airport, he lent us a car, a triple rack, guidebooks for many sectors, a complete camping setup, and more. With friends like that, you need nothing else! 

We spent 3 full weeks in the desert climbing cracks of every size — it blew our minds. Beyond ticking many mega classics, we learned a ton about crack technique, made great friends, and got a taste of Creek culture!

If you love crack climbing, Indian Creek is a place you absolutely must visit in your life. That's why we're leaving you all the information to start planning your trip!

HOW TO GET THERE

One of the most direct routes from outside the US to Indian Creek is flying to Salt Lake City, Utah — one of the major cities closest to the area, about 5 hours by car. From Salt Lake City, head toward Moab, a small town about 1 hour from Indian Creek. Moab is the last stop to stock up on food, water, and gear.

Supplies

Moab is your strategic base for stocking up on everything. There's no potable water at Indian Creek, so you'll need to return to Moab for water. Two free water refill spots: Gear Heads store and the Lazy Lizzard hostel.

There are 2 stores where you can find almost everything: Gear Heads and Pagan. Gear Heads is a good stop — big parking, free water fill-up, and it's right next to City Market for groceries. You can also buy water jugs there to haul water to Indian Creek.

Camping

There are a few campgrounds like Super Bowl, which has bathrooms and picnic tables for $15/night. No water.

You can also camp for free in other spots. There's a dirt road called Beef Basin that intersects Highway 211, leading to 4×4 Wall, Altitude Wall, Way Rambo, and more. 

We camped below Altitude Wall.

Note: there's a bathroom at the Beef Basin/211 junction, another at the Super Crack parking lot, and another at Super Bowl. All bathrooms are free.

Recommendations

Before recommending where to climb, be aware of the wall's aspect — in fall/spring, climbing in full sun is brutal.

The best seasons are fall (September–November) or spring (March–May).

N: shade all day 

S: sun all day 

E: shade in the afternoon

W: shade in the morning

To make the most of our days, we climbed 3 days on and 1 day off. Rest days meant driving to Moab for showers, buying fresh food, and coming back rested for the next cycle. We kept to 3×1 for a few weeks but by the last week we were toast and had to switch to 2×1.

Transport

As far as we know, there's no public transport from Moab to Indian Creek. Everyone moves by car — sleeping in vehicles, campers, or tents.

We were lucky to have Dave's car and full camping gear, but we saw other international travelers renting cars, campervans, or buying a cheap car in the US.

Getting around without a car is very difficult. The sectors are far from camp, and no water makes walking a critical logistics issue.

Gear

Most Indian Creek routes are splitters where the size you need varies very little. Some routes ask for up to 10 of the same cam size.

We climbed with a 7-piece rack (!) because Dave lent us 3 racks and each of us brought doubles. Sounds like a lot — but on 40-meter pitches even 7 pieces sometimes means committing to runouts.

There's always other climbers around and combining racks with another team is totally normal. That said: a double rack gets you basically nowhere on the hard stuff.

Sectors and Classic Routes 

When you arrive in Moab, buy the Indian Creek climbing guidebook — it's essential for ticking the classics and planning your days in the desert.

Here are some of the incredible routes we climbed: 

Super Crack Wall 

Super crack 5.10 6⭐️

3 am crack 5.10 5⭐️

fingers in a lightsocket 5.11+ 5⭐️

Gorila crack 5.10 5⭐️

Pringles 5.11+ 6⭐️

Bringe a purge 5.11 OW 4⭐️

The Wave 5.10+ (maybe 5.11-) 5⭐️

Coyne crack 5.11 duro 6⭐️

Incredible hand crack 5.10 6⭐️

No name 5.10 5⭐️

International Affair 5.12 5⭐️

Battle of the Bulge

Jane Fonda's Total Body Work Out 5.11 5⭐️

Quarter of a Man 5.11+ 6⭐️

Black corner 5.11 5⭐️

Sweding ringle 5.12- 5⭐️

Reservoir Wall

Excuse Station 5.11 6⭐️

Dr Carl 5.10 4⭐️

Wigglin worm 5⭐️

Ninja 5.11+ 5⭐️

Burka 5.12- 5⭐️

Slot Machine 5.11 6⭐️

Sea Heartbreak 5.12- 5⭐️

Fisura de puño 5⭐️

Ow 5⭐️

Tenderloins

Route 14 from the book 5.11+ 4⭐️

Prime cut 5.11 5⭐️

Tenderloins 5.12 6⭐️

Optimator

Annunaki 5.12- 5⭐️

Neat 5.10 6⭐️

Jews on Crack 5.11 5⭐️

Way Rambo

Serrator 5.11 5⭐️

Way Rambo 5.12- 5⭐️

Slice and Dice 5.12 6⭐️

Layoff Plan 5.10 5⭐️

Spark Wall

Go Sparky Go 5.11+ 5⭐️

Sparks of the Tempest 5.11+ 5⭐️

Low Spark 5.11-+? 5⭐️

Second Meat Wall

T-bone 5.12- 6⭐️

Extra Lean 5.12- 5⭐️

Never Damage 5.10+ 5⭐️

Top Sirloin 5.11 6⭐️