Climbing road trip to the west.

Hi everyone

My husband and I plan on driving west leaving from Ohio in mid-May. We will be on the road for a month, and plan to mostly climb with some tourist attractions along the way. If anyone has any input of must climb areas (or even places to stay,see, eat, etc.) please feel free to share.

We sport climb up to the .11 range and will most likely sport climb to get the most routes on our trip. We do have a trad rack, but are relatively new, so an occasional beginner trad route would be fine as well. We have experience climbing in destinations such as the Red River Gorge, Red Rocks, New River Gorge, and various places in NC.

So far, the places that stand out are Smith Rock, Maple Canyon,Joshua Tree, and Ten Sleep.

Also, is Hueco Tanks way too hot this time of year?

Thanks in advance

Heather

I wouldn't go to Hueco or Joshua Tree at that time of year because of the heat and it would add a huge amount of driving for little gain. City of Rocks has similar climbing to Josh(better in my opinion, especially for sport) and is more conveniently located to the other areas on your list. For sport, you might consider an itinerary like this:

1. Black Hills - sport at Rushmore and Spearfish Canyon, memorable easy trad in the Needles and Cathedral Spires.
2. Tensleep
3. Maple/American Fork/SLC area
4. City of Rocks/Castle Rocks
5. Smith - you might skip Smith to cut down on the driving unless you really want to get to the coast.
6. Go back through Colorado, check out Rifle, Boulder, RMNP.

If you want to include bouldering you might consider Rushmore, Little Cottonwood, Joe's/Triassic in Utah, and Ibex in Utah.

Don't miss Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris if you're heading through Wyoming. They're both just outside of Lander.

Andrew Gram wrote:I wouldn't go to Hueco or Joshua Tree at that time of year because of the heat and it would add a huge amount of driving for little gain. City of Rocks has similar climbing to Josh(better in my opinion, especially for sport) and is more conveniently located to the other areas on your list. For sport, you might consider an itinerary like this: 1. Black Hills - sport at Rushmore and Spearfish Canyon, memorable easy trad in the Needles and Cathedral Spires. 2. Tensleep 3. Maple/American Fork/SLC area 4. City of Rocks/Castle Rocks 5. Smith - you might skip Smith to cut down on the driving unless you really want to get to the coast. 6. Go back through Colorado, check out Rifle, Boulder, RMNP. If you want to include bouldering you might consider Rushmore, Little Cottonwood, Joe's/Triassic in Utah, and Ibex in Utah.

As mentioned above, I would definitely skip Jtree, Hueco, and probably Smith in the Summer.

On my last western road trip, I realized that I got more out of areas the longer I stayed, rather than trying to fit as many places in as possible. With that in mind, I would narrow the trip down to just Tensleep and Maple. Two weeks at each place is just barely enough time to get your projects picked out and push your personal bests. Tensleep has free camping, Maple has cheap camping, and both places will have plenty of other climbers to hang out with if you guys get bored with each other.

If you want to get your trad on, follow Andrew's beta and hit City of Rocks. It is a bit less pleasant than Tensleep or Maple in the summer, but chasing shade is still really nice.

Mill Creek in the La Sals is some of the best sport climbing I've ever done. If it's not too hot definitely check it out.

I've lived all over the rockies for the last 15 years from jackson- Ouray-boulder and I've got to warn you that we get a lot of our rain/moisture in the spring (May in boulder saw 5 inches last year!) So to max out your climbing days I'd think about heading farther west first.

My list: in this order.
1.Smith
2.City/logen/maple
3.Lander
4. plan fall/winter trips to J-tree, red rocks,cochise stronghold,el potrero chico.

Thanks everyone for the input!

As of now thinking somewhere around the Denver area (have friends there that are non-climbers), Maple Canyon, Smith Rock, and Ten Sleep. I will look into City Of Rocks since it was mentioned by many of you and also check out some of the other recommended areas and narrow it down from there.

Anyone have an opinion on Owens River Gorge in Cali?

Bishop is generally heating up by the end of May, but it depends on the year. There are lots of shady options in the Gorge if it isn't blazing hot. I'm a huge fan of the Sierra and if it's not a big snow year (which so far is the case) you can also hit Tuolomne Meadows (~1.25 hours north of the Gorge). There are smaller, higher elevation crags in between (Pine Creek, Rock Creek, Clarks Canyon, and Tioga Wall in order S to N). Depending on the amount of snow this year, Tioga could be seeping. It's a beautiful part of the country so I would encourage you to squeeze it in if you can.

IMO the Bishop area has the best concentration and variety of quality climbing of anywhere in the US. I've climbed at ORG in every season -- if you're smart about working the sun/shade as appropriate blazing heat can be managed.

You must keep in mind the driving time to get from Ohio to the destinations you're considering, as well as back. Even with two people driving, it is going to take some days off your trip. One month on the road is a SHORT time if you are driving halfway cross country.

FORGET California and Texas, and, frankly, if you are set on Smith - the bust your butt getting there as quickly as can, spend some time there, and choose one or two - no more - places for the return.

I am not knowledgeable about sport climbing, so cannot make suggestions there. But don't hose yourselves by trying to put too many destinations in on the trip. Remember that it will take full days out of your short month driving between the destinations.

Happiegrrrl wrote:You must keep in mind the driving time to get from Ohio to the destinations you're considering, as well as back. Even with two people driving, it is going to take some days off your trip. One month on the road is a SHORT time if you are driving halfway cross country. FORGET California and Texas, and, frankly, if you are set on Smith - the bust your butt getting there as quickly as can, spend some time there, and choose one or two - no more - places for the return. I am not knowledgeable about sport climbing, so cannot make suggestions there. But don't hose yourselves by trying to put too many destinations in on the trip. Remember that it will take full days out of your short month driving between the destinations.

I think the best bet for sport climbing around Denver is Shelf Road. Rifle is the other "premiere" sport climbing area nearby but grades seem to start in the 12s. There are some 11s but they are really polished. I would also check out the flatirons in boulder for easy trad. The first flatiron offers world class 5.6 climbing (mostly well below 5.6). Eldo and lumpy ridge also both offer some great easy trad lines.

Sounds great. Although Ten Sleep would be high on my list, keep an eye on the weather. Tensleep the end of May- early June might be perfect, but it might be cold, snowy and wet. I am not a local, but I think it is tough to climb in the rain at Tensleep, but there could be steeper walls. If you hit Utah, PM me I can help with beta for lots of the northern utah crags.

Like others mentioned, a month is too short a time to drive all over kingdom come. Pick a few great areas and stick to them. You will get more climbing and really get to know the areas that you visit if you spend a week or two each at a few crags instead of driving all over the place trying to visit everything. Driving over to Smith or the ORG wouldn't be worth it, IMO; you can save yourself a ton of driving by staying in CO/UT/WY. Tons of great climbing in those states, and a lot closer to you. Plus, Smith and the ORG are getting hot by then anyway. Don't even think about J-Tree or Hueco-- hot!

The itinerary that you mentioned in your last post sounds like it would be pretty good if you had at least six weeks, but with a month I'd trim it down to lessen time lost to driving and increase the amount of time in each area. Essentially, cut out Smith. With that in mind, going Front Range -> Maple -> Tensleep would be perfect. If you want to mix it up with a little trad, then City of Rocks, Devil's Tower, Eldo, or Vedauwoo would be easy to add in for a few days visit. The Black Hills (offering both sport and trad areas) would also be easy to visit at the end of the trip.

A note on Tensleep: it is definitely worthy of the hype; a must visit. It is a great area in the summer, but there is a chance that in May it won't be properly summer yet. I'd recommend planning on visiting Tensleep during the second half of your trip (in June). Also, you should watch the weather forecast before heading up there, and having a contingency plan if it is still snowy. Sinks Canyon is a good nearby option. It is lower in elevation and sunnier than Tensleep, so it could be a good place to visit earlier in the trip or as a backup if Tensleep is still snowy. Tensleep is probably better climbing, but Sinks is great too and is a good (warmer) backup.

Overall, May is kind of an unpredictable time of year. It is a great time of year for climbing, but it can be hard to predict in advance where it will be great for climbing during that period. If it is a year when summer comes early, then the high-elevation summer crags will be perfect, but the lower-elevation spring/fall crags will be too hot. If it is a year with a late-to-arrive summer, then the high elevation crags might still be snowy, but the lower elevation crags will be perfect. The solution, then, is to be flexible. Don't lock yourself into a rigid itinerary; have an idea of where you want to go, but be ready to change plans to adapt to the conditions. With so many options, this should be pretty easy. If everywhere else is too hot, Tensleep is a great escape from the heat. If everywhere else gets hit by a freak late-spring blizzard, then Shelf Road is your warm and sunny refuge.

It's been said several times, but City of Rocks is awesome. You could easily spend two weeks there and not get bored.

If you are going to do the Front Range thing and 5.11 is your grade, I'd recommend spending a couple of days at Devil's Head . More than 500 bolted granite routes with a large concentration of .11's plus 3-pitch .10's. The guidebook, Rampart Range Rocks , can be found at most climbing shops in CO,NM,UT and WY.

Tom R wrote:If you are going to do the Front Range thing and 5.11 is your grade, I'd recommend spending a couple of days at Devil's Head . More than 500 bolted granite routes with a large concentration of .11's plus 3-pitch .10's. The guidebook, Rampart Range Rocks , can be found at most climbing shops in CO,NM,UT and WY.

Jon Moen wrote: What is the word on the spring/summer bird closures, though? Do they affect the main sport crags at Devil's Head?

Maple Canyon > City of Rocks > Ten Sleep.

IMHO these are three of the best climbing areas to be had, especially in May, for road trip-friendly, moderate sport routes. I recently drove through Ten Sleep Canyon and couldn't believe the sheer volume of limestone cliffs. It was freaking mind-boggling.

And Maple Canyon is, without a doubt, one of my favorite places to climb in the Western half of the US. Love the climbing and ambiance and everything about the place.

Great comments.

City of Rocks in May can be iffy. June is more stable. With a lot of east and west facing routes - easy to seek sun versus shade depending on conditions.

Month long road trip sounds great. Have fun! Wally