Spur Road is a south-facing basalt crag. It has many good natural gear lines between 10 and 15m high with reasonable protection.
Sometimes the top of the routes can be a little dirty after rain and some of the blocky rock should handled carefully.
There are also many semi-suspect branches in the pine trees at the top of the crag. We recommend you always wear a helmet at Spur Road (even at the top of the crag) and definitely stay away during high winds.
Be very wary of using any old carrot or expansion bolts, the basalt here is quite soft. The newer glue-in bolts are good to go.
The routes often have painted letters to identify them. The abbreviations are included with the route name in the guide.
Routes Are Left to Right, different to "as you approach" which is from the right. Note any climbs left of 'Lion of Judah' have probably not been climbed for years and most are in need of a good clean up. Most climbs from Lion of Judah and right are relatively clean.
Ben and Kate Johnson own the top of the crag (the trees) and carpark area, while the cliff itself and the bottom of the crag is owned by Robert & Jo Rhodes. There is no need to contact either for permission to climb but please show respect; access is a privilege. Steer clear at lambing time, leave the dog at home, leave any gates as found, and respect all farm property. This will ensure access continues.
North of Timaru, turn inland onto Washdyke Flat Rd (just before the State Highway 8 turn off to Mt Cook). This road leads to an intersection with Spur Rd. Follow Spur Rd for 4km to a sweeping corner, 100m before the turnoff to Kings Rd. Park by the deer fence.
Over the fence is a track which leads through trees. Turn slightly right and follow the deer fence line in South-west direction, keeping the deer fence to your right for a few minutes to the pine trees. This takes you to the top of the crag. Go leftwards or east to find your way to the base of the cliff. The right-most routes are about 30m from the track exit at the base of the crag.
Easy enough to identify the routes in real life, between the red painted initials at the bottom of some routes and route descriptions of others.
A lot of routes are quite dirty and could use a brush but quality lines with lots of good gear options (especially nuts).
Grading is quite variable ie a 10 and adjacent 17 felt the same difficulty ~14/15...but then a 17 around the corner felt ~20.
A number of routes actually have double staple/ring anchors but we found it good to take an extra rope and set up extended anchors from the trees at the top which serviced a few routes each. Worth a visit!