Penitente Canyon, Rock climbing canyon in San Luis Valley, Colorado.

Penitente Canyon is a climbing destination with steep walls of volcanic rock in southern Colorado. The site offers nearly 300 different climbing routes of varying difficulty.

Penitente Canyon takes its name from the Penitentes, a lay Catholic brotherhood of the San Luis Valley, who used the canyon as a refuge. The canyon lies on Bureau of Land Management land. The brotherhood's use of the site is the origin of its name.

The canyon takes its name from the Penitentes, a Catholic brotherhood that used it as a refuge. Visitors today come for the bolted sport-climbing routes on the canyon walls, and the site lies on Bureau of Land Management land.

The canyon lies on Bureau of Land Management land in the San Luis Valley, reached by local roads west of Highway 285. A vehicle is needed to get there and to move between climbing sectors. The site has a campground, so visitors can stay overnight near the walls.

The canyon takes its name from the Penitentes, a lay Catholic brotherhood that used it as a refuge; the name is the one fact most visitors never connect to the place. The land belongs to the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the climbing and the campground.