First time Utah trip advice

Good afternoon gents and gals, I am traveling to Utah on March 26th to Zion NP with a group of friends on a climbing trip. We will be in Zion for 1 day and then plan to camp around Utah and climb. I was hoping we could get some advice from some natives on where/what would be good places to climb/camp. We will have a couple ropes, 1 rack (no IC sadly, only have doubles :( ) and ample sport gear. We are not planning on bouldering. If you were planning a similar trip where would you go? We are looking for sport/single pitch trad. What are the not-to-miss areas that fit our needs?

Thanks for your time and input,
Rob

TheClimbingChemist wrote:Good afternoon gents and gals, I am traveling to Utah on March 26th to Zion NP with a group of friends on a climbing trip. We will be in Zion for 1 day and then plan to camp around Utah and climb. I was hoping we could get some advice from some natives on where/what would be good places to climb/camp. We will have a couple ropes, 1 rack (no IC sadly, only have doubles :( ) and ample sport gear. We are not planning on bouldering. If you were planning a similar trip where would you go? We are looking for sport/single pitch trad. What are the not-to-miss areas that fit our needs? Thanks for your time and input, Rob

Zion cragging is very doable with a set of doubles, though more is nice. I'd suggest the Cerberus Gendarme for cragging in the park, a bunch of single climbs, some with second pitches. A couple of quality 5.9s and a range of 10s/11s. If you want a multi-pitch outing The Headache is fantastic and Ashtar Command Tower offers a fun 5.9 outing with rare (for Zion) bolt clipping.

Camping is available on BLM land outside of the park, check Gooseberry Mesa for a good selection.

Nearby, St. George has fantastic climbing, especially the limestone of Utah Hills. Kolob NP has a rather amazing group of sport climbs that are basically overhung jub-hauls for 100+ feet. It should be warm enough in March to climb up there. The location alone is worth the drive, the climbing is also good fun.

That tour of the SW corner of Utah should keep you stoked on climbing for a few days at least.

You might need to narrow down your criteria a bit. The number of "sport/single pitch trad" climbs in Utah is pretty big, and the state is 400 miles border-to-border. St. Georges alone has nearly 500 sport climbs listed here on Mountain Project.

Things like:
- How long are you going for (why only 1 day in Zion?).
- How far are you willing to travel.
- What grades are you looking for.
- Is other Utah sightseeing important to you?
- Any other activities besides climbing?

Zion is very close to Red Rocks, too. Probably closer than most climbing areas in Utah, actually.

Here's a little more info per Ian's request. Are entire trip is going to be from LA to RR first for a couple of days, then on to zion for the 26th (wed). We will be in Utah from Wed. to Saturday when we need to head back to Las Vegas. We are looking for moderate climbs (up to 5.10+ sport and 5.9 trad). with a focus on single-pitch as opposed to multi-pitch. We were actually not planning on climbing in Zion, we were just going to hike. Are there crags that fit those specifics in Zion? We are willing to travel to Moab or Salt Lake to climb and also experience Utah. No other real activities planned except sleeping in a tent and climbing. Ive been browsing the crags around st. george and zion etc. on MP for a while but was hoping for personal suggestions for us to best utilize our time.

Thanks guys!

Check out the Prophecy Wall outside S George.. good free camping by the little reservoir out there as well

+1 for the St george area..lots of stuff..you could go up to Brian head, but it might be a bit chilly.

Hit Mt Clark on the way home !give yourself a sport climbing scare.

I would second the Prophecy Wall. It has great camping almost right at the base and a lot of .9-.11 routes, almost all bolts- really fun area. Just down the road from there is Snow Canyon State park. Good stuff there. Vayo is very unique to the area but fun. There is so much climbing around the St. George area you shouldn't have any problem keeping yourself busy. Lots of Bolts to clip as well.
Dallen

stay around st george if you are short on time. temps will be hit and miss around SLC still- less driving, more climbing!

I will be doing a similar trip in May for a little over 2 weeks and need some advice on good sports climbing with nearby camping. I will also be doing a few days in Moab for some mountain biking but other than that my itenary is open. Just need some advice to some good sport climbing to sustain my 2 week trip. I have been looking around the Maple Canyon and also around the Salt Lake Area... just not sure if one is preferred over the other or if there is even better climbing else where. Just looking for single pitch 5.9 - 5.11ab. Also I need a partner if you know anybody......