Riddled with rock art, this remote climbing destination located between Boulder City and Searchlight is a beautiful place to spend an afternoon. There are a few sport routes scattered along the walls; you may want to bring a small rack to supplement the bolts.
Getting There
To get to Keyhole Canyon from Las Vegas, take Hwy US 95 south through Henderson toward Boulder City. From the junction of Hwys 93 and 95, head south on 95 toward Searchlight for almost 16 miles. At an intersection, take a left (east) on to a dirt road. Follow this dirt road for just over 2 miles to series of power lines. Take a right (south) on the power line road, travel almost 2 miles to the Keyhole Cutoff. Take a left (east) and head less than a half mile to the mouth of the canyon. The crags are about a 1-minute hike from the car.
There is a map in the back of Swain's Rock Climbing Red Rocks book.
We made this approach in a front-wheel-drive passenger car and found the dirt roads to be passable.
On your way out, once on the power line road again, you can retrace your path or for a change of scenery, head south for 2.25 miles and you'll come across another dirt road that will take you out to the highway.
The routes are mixed and mostly an adventure. Most can be set up on TR via scrambling to the top. The grades in the wash (left side) were supposedly 5.10 at some point, but have become a little harder due to wash outs (like v3ish to boulder up to the 5.10 part)Good landings, though.
By Thomas Beck From: Las Vegas, Nevada Dec 26, 2008
John, we tried a corner and one of the splitter cracks - about 5.8, good gear, solid rock. See picture of the buttress (North Wall) in photo collection. Someone has bolted a couple of the easy slab routes across the scree gully from that photo. About 5.6-5.7
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