Approach to Sherwood Forest
Class 4 · 2.1 mi · +2,431 ft
The approach to Horseshoe Wall.
For
From the lawnmower blade, carefully climb over the barbed wire fence and follow a vague trail through the desert. It takes you to a ridge: walk up the ridge towards the base of a gully on Mt Wilson (look for cairns). Continue up the hillside following cairns into a first gully. Ascend the gully, following the cairns and cutting through brush, until you reach the top of Gully 1.
From here head straight back towards an obvious chute with a handline. Ascend this and continue up, following a path of least resistance. At a certain point you may see cairns heading back left. Do not follow these: instead head up and right until Lady Wilson's Cleavage comes into view. Head towards the crack system, veering right and following cairns. Eventually you'll reach a brief high point, followed by a true high point where you get a view down into Sherwood Forest. Head down into the forest. Dogma is hard to miss: it's on the left side of the wall, to the left of a black water streak.
Route finding is very difficult in sections, and this track only roughly approximates this complex approach.
The recommended approach to Horseshoe Wall is to climb something below it, but this works too. You can also descend this way from the base of the wall, but it isn't as easy as rappelling Dogma or walking off the top.
Access
The 13-mile Scenic Drive requires a timed-entry reservation October to May and has seasonal gate hours. Calico Basin and Kraft Mountain sit outside the Scenic Drive and need no reservation.