Wanderlust trip through the south

Here's the quick version:
I've been climbing a year and climb V4-V5 in the gym, and v3 outdoors. I'm from Arizona and currently live in rock climber hell, Florida. I'm driving up to New Jersey to visit family and then back to Arizona., when I'm closer to home I plan on stopping at RMNP and Red Rocks, but I'm not familiar with any of the locations between Texas and North Carolina besides The Stone Fort in Tennessee. Can anyone provide me with information on good bouldering spots in Georgia, NC, WV, TN, KY, VA or AR? Anyone willing to meet up and show me around? I'm also interested in learning to climb sport outside if anyone is willing to teach.

Any input helps.

It really depends on which routes you take to/from each destination.

If you're taking I-75 out of Florida, then Boat Rock in Atlanta is a nice, convenient spot to visit. If you take I-95 up north, then you're pretty much SOL the whole way to NJ.

When heading out west, if you're coming down I-95 to I-85 to I-40 then you'll pass pretty close to Rumbling Bald in NC and the Obed in TN. Both of those are great bouldering spots.

I don't know anything about bouldering in VA or AR. Hopefully someone else can help fill in the blanks there.

LRC/Stone Fort is one of the nest SE boulderfields, dont miss it! Rocktown (NW Georgia) and Horse Pens 40 (Alabama) are 2 of the other best boulderfields in the SE, along with Boat Rock (Atlanta), Lily Boulders (TN) and Rumbling Bald (NC). The Highcountry around Boone NC has some of the best bouldering in the nation, but its not easy for an outsider to find there way around on a random visit. Grayson Highlands in Virginia is another great bouldering area, but as it gets colder and starts to snow, some of the bouldering areas within Grayson will be closed.

So I'm thinking making my stops when I head out west works a little better.

Here's the sequence That is subject to change:
1. Rumbling Bald, NC
2. Rock Town, GA
3. Boat Rock, GA
4. Horse Pens 40
5. LRC/Stone Fort, TN
6. Obed/Lily Boulders, TN

Which spots are worth purchasing a guide book for? And do you have a local rock climbing shop I should stop in to buy the guide? (I guess it's a way I can kind of contribute for getting this info, let me know if I'm driving too far out of the way and any tips you can think of)

thank you for any help.

If I was going to try to hit all those places, I'd probably do it in this order to minimize driving:

1. Rumbling Bald, NC
take I-40W to
2. Obed, TN
take US-27S to
3. Stone Fort, TN
take US-27S to
4. Rocktown, GA
take I-75S to
5. Boat Rock, GA
take I-20W to
6. Horse Pens 40, AL
then take I-59S and I-22W up to Memphis to get you back on I-40 and headed out west.

Should shave a couple hundred miles off your trip. It would look a little something like this.

Boat Rock is nice because it's so close to Atlanta, but I'm not sure it would be worth driving out of your way for. Definitely hit up Stone Fort, Rocktown, and HP40.

Cooper's Rock in WV is good too. It's already gotten some snow this year, though, so I'd check the forecast if I were thinking about heading out there.

When you go to LRC/Stone Fort you should stop at Leda and Lower Leda for some sport and/or trad. Don't wait in line, but if they're open, do Fanfair and Speedway Bogey, and for full value don't use a stick clip. At Lower Leda don't miss I Love Twins and Guardian Angel. Also, if you're used to northern arizona sport, you may want to downgrade by one at Leda. The Dixie Cragger's Atlas is a bit sandbagged. Oh and that guidebook is definitely worth looking at if not buying, especially given you live in Florida

Thank you all so much. I'm definetely going to stop by Stone Fort (LRC), Rock Town, and HP40 on my way out west, all of them look stellar. The directions and tips helped a lot, have any of you camped at/near these areas before?

First thing you need to know is that all 3 areas (Stone Fort, Rocktown, Horse Pens 40) require fees to climb there. Stone Fort and Horse Pens are both pretty obvious. You pay when you go in. For Rocktown, you need to go online and purchase a Georgia Outdoor Recreational Pass (GORP) for the Crockford-Pigeon Mountain WMA prior to arriving. It costs $3.50 for 3 days, so not a bad deal.

Horse Pens has pay camping right there. For Rocktown, the cost of your GORP includes camping right down the road within the WMA. I don't know of any camping nearby Stone Fort. Someone else may have better ideas about that. You could camp for free at T-Wall, but it's about 45 minutes away.