Manure Pile Buttress Descent

Manure Pile Buttress — most climbers call it Ranger Rock — is a moderate-grade climbing formation in Yosemite Valley's El Cap Picnic Area, just east of El Capitan on the north side of the Valley. Its "descent" isn't a trail for visitors: it's the walk-off route climbers use to get back down after finishing a route on the formation, and it only matters if you're headed up there with a rack.

What the descent is for

The buttress has its own parking lot and bear boxes, with a short path leading to the base of the crag. From there, climbers reach classic moderate routes such as Nutcracker (5.8) — first climbed by Royal and Liz Robbins in 1967 using only removable nuts for protection, a landmark ascent that helped launch clean climbing in Yosemite — along with After Six and After Seven. Once a route tops out, the descent is a scramble down a use trail on the formation's flank back to the parking lot. It's straightforward in daylight but easy to lose after dark, so parties finishing late plan on headlamps.

Also an exit point for bigger routes

The same Manure Pile Buttress parking lot is the standard exit for the East Ledges descent off El Capitan's Nose — the route most climbers use to get down after a summit day on the Valley's biggest wall. This is technical climber beta, not a scenic hike: there's no trailhead signage or mileage marker, and there's no reason for a non-climbing visitor to go looking for it.