Rock Climbing in Nevada at Red Rocks
The best places to go rock climbing in Nevada are around Las Vegas, where there is a wide variety of climbing to be found including traditional multi-pitch rock climbing, single pitch sport routes and bouldering, including the famous Red Rocks.
Rock climbing at Red Rocks
The largest rock climbing area in Nevada is at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, often referred to as simply Red Rocks. Here there are many multi-pitch routes (some up to 20 pitches long), short traditional routes, sport routes and bouldering. The style of climbing at Red Rocks is generally on long continuous crack lines, or steep, exposed face climbing, all on exceptionally hard, high quality sandstone rock. In total there are several thousand routes across a wide range of grades from 5.5 to 5.14 (F3 to F8b).
Other bouldering areas in Nevada
As well as Rock Rocks Canyon, there are also several other good bouldering areas, with the largest being the sandstone Kraft Boulders at Calico Basin, which has nearly 200 problems. Other smaller areas include the sandstone area of Black Velvet Canyon, the high alpine limestone boulders at Mount Charleston, and the volcanic boulders at Big Sandy.
Map of the rock climbing areas around Las Vegas in Nevada
Nevada rock climbing logistics
Red Rocks guidebooks – The Best Climbs at Red Rocks guidebook describes almost 200 of the best sport and trad routes at Red Rocks covering both single pitch and multi-pitch routes. All the routes are shown on colour photo topos with an emphasis is on moderate routes in the 5.6 to 5.10 (F4 to F6c) grade range. Buy this Best Climbs at Red Rocks guidebook from our shop.
Accommodation - All of these climbing areas are very close to Las Vegas, for instance Red Rocks is only a 20 minute drive from the outskirts of the city. Hence most climbers base themselves at Las Vegas, taking advantage of the cheap flights, restaurants, coffee houses, supermarkets, and the infamous strip with its endless neon nightlife.
When to go to Rock Rocks - The best time to climb at Red rocks and boulder at the Kraft Boulders (Calico Basin) is from September through to May. During the majority of this period, climbers find good climbing conditions on dry rock.