Question about mountain range on Utah / Arizona border

I'm new to Utah (just moved to Ogden) and I was driving up from Las Vegas along I-15 I saw these awesome mountains just before you cross the border in the Virgin River area (on the AZ side). There were rock bands everywhere. The hikes would be hard and there didn't seem to be much for parking but there was a side road beside the highway.

Has anyone climbed in this area? Do you know what is the mountain range is called?

If you were looking east, those would be the Virgin Mountains. Haven't explored 'em meself (yet), but I believe 4WD is needed for optimum access.

Those slabs to the east just before you enter the VRG on the Arizona side look cool. Behind Mequite to the east is a fantastic limestone area called Lime Kiln Canyon. Info on rockclimbing.com

Also nearby, but in Nevada, are the Mormon Mountains. Rough dirt roads, long hikes, tons of limestone. Some development has happened, but not a ton. Check out this video: vimeo.com/64697132 There's gold in them hills.

There are a fair number of established but burly sport climbs already in the Virgin River Gorge itself, mostly accessible from day use parking areas with minimal approaches. There is certainly massive amounts of unclimbed rock however as the Virgin Mountains have a thick stack of Paleozoic limestones and dolomites and are very rugged and hard to access.

mountainproject.com/v/virgi…

Thanks for the info...

I swear I was looking West though...

Huge mountains (well when driving North from Nevada they are huge) with vertical rock bands wrapping around the mountains about halfway up. They are definitely BEFORE St. George city.

And unlike the description for VRG, the views would be awesome and you wouldn't be near enough to the highway to not be able to hear what your partner was saying...

Hmm.. Google maps doesn't show mountain ranges, but from Wiki I think they are the Beaver Dam Mtns. The more I look though, the more I see climbers calling the area VRG. From the look of mtnproject, the area doesn't get much attention.

I spent a lot of time working on a nature preserve in the Beaver Dam wash (BYU's Lytle Ranch Preserve). Our field sites are right in between Littlefield, AZ (and I-15) to the south, and the Beaver Dam Mountains to the north. The way I remember it, the Beaver Dam Mountains MIGHT be visible from I-15, but they'd look very distant.

I agree with the guy that suggested the Mormon Mountains. Just from poking around on Google Earth, they seem closer to the highway, and the pictures I see on Panoramio look more like what you're talking about.

Those are the mormon mtns. in the right light they look good. I suspect they aren't....but ya never know

Went to Red Rocks over New Years and paid closer attention. It was VRG, I guess I thought of VRG as the part where the canyon narrows to basically only the highway, as people were describing the routes as noisy and not scenic. However, if you keep going North / North East along the highway, you'll see cliff bands everywhere you look.

According to the very few routes on Mtn Project, I bet there is a ton of exploration to be made.

Check out Lime Kiln Canyon. It's south of Mesquite. Maybe near what you were looking at.