Red Rock Beta

Me, climber too lazy to do a deep internet dig. You, climber with much knowledge about Red Rock.

My partner and I are going to be going there for two weeks and either camping or car camping in a Toyota Yaris rental.

We need to know the important things like:

Is it Red Rock or Red Rocks?

Red Rocks, A Climber's Guide--is that the book to get?

Where should we acquire food (of the supermarket variety)?

Good local beer recommendations?

Where should we camp, preferably for free?

Are there any worthy 2-3 day backcountry hikes in the area that you'd recommend?

Thank you for any and all help.

Everything (almost) you want to know about Red Rock:

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/106983852/frequently-asked-red-rock-questions-with-links-to-the-answers

Thank you thank you. I always wish there was an easier way to find old threads

Be mindful of the weather.  Don't climb wet sandstone. https://wetrockpolice.com/redrock 

haha, NO CLIMBING WITH WET SANDSTONE, it seems to be everywhere. We promise promise to not be shitty visitors. I was hoping for a backcountry hike in the chance that it did rain.

Ian Fried wrote:

haha, NO CLIMBING WITH WET SANDSTONE, it seems to be everywhere. We promise promise to not be shitty visitors. I was hoping for a backcountry hike in the chance that it did rain.

Also, this is standard Red Rocks climbing beta, but if it is too wet to climb on the sandstone there is plenty good limestone climbing locally in Vegas and relatively nearby in Mesquite/St George that does not have the wet rock breakage issues of the sandstone. The limestone is OK to climbing on shortly after rain, and thus provides a good backup option. 

Also, a bit farther away but still accessible is J-Tree, which is a great option for longer periods of unsettled weather. The granite domes/blobs there dry extremely fast, so it is a good place to squeeze in pitches between showers. You definitely can't do that at Red Rocks.

The reality of Red Rocks climbing in the winter is that despite being in the desert, it actually isn't especially reliable.  It only takes a little bit of rain to shut you out for multiple days, and scattered rain throughout a week (which would be no big deal at a granite area) can shut out the whole week. Any trip to Red Rocks in the winter should have a solid backup plan - and be OK with the possibility you could spend a decent chunk of your trip there. That said, both "backup" areas are awesome destination in their own right, so if you actually spend your trip in JTree that is no hardship. 

Plenty of limestone to touch if it rains.. even for bouldering..

get some super yummy Ramen while youre out there... tons of other dank dank food to be had. Albertsons is the closest to RR, but there is everything from walmart to whole foods...