Red Rock Single Pitch Recommendations for Family Climbing Trip

Hi All!

I'm taking a family climbing trip to Red Rock later this year in November with my wife and daughter. Since my daughter is only 6, we are planning on sticking primarily to single pitch routes so I was hoping some folks would be able to recommend some classic single pitch trad and sport climbs. I have a copy of the Jerry Handren guidebook, but it's hard to sort through the apparently endless amounts of routes listed in that book and on MP. For context, my wife is a fairly strong sport climber climbing routes in the mid-upper 5.12 range and I on the other hand prefer trad routes in the upper 5.10 to lower 5.11 range (opposites attract?). Of course we would definitely like to know about any easier classic single pitch routes as well. I would also be happy to get some recommendations on some kid-friendly routes/areas so that our daughter can get some climbing in as well.

Also, I was hoping to bag a couple classic Red Rock multipitch routes while we're out there (with the wife's permission), so let me know if anyone (or you know anyone who) would be willing to meet up with me to climb a couple routes while my wife and daughter explore the rest of what the city has to offer. I don't have any particular routes in mind, but PM me if you are looking for a climbing partner for one day out in Red Rock between November 3-10.

Thanks!

Click on sub-AREA's, not necessarily routes...you get a quick overview of the routes at that area. Find a sub-area that looks good for you, and look it up in Handren's book as MP might not have all routes. (although MP's coverage of RR is quite good).  TR's & 1 pitch-ers mostly at Pullout 1, 2 and Sandstone Quarry.  If you get tired of the crowds, try Mechanics Wall (Sandstone Quarry AREA) which is out-of the way, but doesn't get sun until late in the afternoon in Nov, so depending on Temps might be too cold in Nov.

RR can be cold in Nov, colder than you'd expect, quite a bit higher than Las Vegas.

ps- John answered while I was typing...he pretty much said it all.

Hidden Falls area is a good place to take kids. Easy approach, nice place to chill at the base, can set up a top rope on a small slab for the kiddo, and there is enough to keep you busy for half a day at least. Warm up on black track and then do left out, super fun. Test your wife on outrageous fortune ;)

Thanks, John and Robert! Those were some of the areas I had in mind. Also, we're not necessarily looking for an area with both types of climbing since I know that's pretty unlikely at many crags. Just was hoping to get some recommendations on one or the other as you guys both have provided. We will probably do a sport area one day and then switch it up and go trad climbing the following day.

What do the approaches entail for those areas y'all listed above? I'm pretty confident our daughter can do any approach as she's done plenty of impressive approaches thus far for her age, but I would just like to know so we can adjust our approach times accordingly. Also, is the Sandstone Quarry outside of the Conservation Area boundary (so we don't need to worry about it closing at 5pm)? Lastly, Robert mentioned that it can be cold in November, how cold exactly? Last time I tried to do some climbing in Red Rock after driving from JTree a couple winters ago, it was white out conditions during our drive through the loop resulting in no climbing at all.

I've frozen my ass off in november in a down parka, and I've climbed in a t-shirt in december, it's a crap shoot. Generally it is pretty nice in November. 

Ashort wrote: Hidden Falls area is a good place to take kids. Easy approach, nice place to chill at the base, can set up a top rope on a small slab for the kiddo, and there is enough to keep you busy for half a day at least. Warm up on black track and then do left out, super fun. Test your wife on outrageous fortune ;)

Agreed^ ...this would work and is really good, buuut its gunna be in the shade so be prepared. Civilization crag has the wife and kid covered but only two or three trad lines(two easy .7 and I believe an .11) some other possible options fairly close to there. 

+1 for Hidden Falls.

Another great option for an area where your daughter would be comfortable, where both trad and sport climbs exist side-by-side that fit your criteria, is the Red Springs Rock area in Calico Basin. East facing so sun in the morning, shade in the evening. Fairly short (15 min. or so) approach on good rock/trail but a bit steep to get up there. You'll likely have the place to yourself as well.  

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105732114/red-springs-rock

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105915684/the-playground

Chris K's Calico Basin suggestion is good...but I don't recall too many 1 pitch climbs there the once I climbed there. Most seemed to be 2-3 pitch. But I was there only once.

By "1 pitch" I presume you actually mean "top rope-able" with one rope (even if you have to lead the climb), which I guess are " 1/2 pitch" climbs.  

Check out The Slab for your daughter's day.  Easy approach, well protected leads, climbs in the 5.5-5.8 range.  Expect other people there.  I may post on MP a better approach than given in the Handren guide...so look for it (if I can remember accurately).  The Meet Up Wall is nice, and has both 5.6's to 5.10's, but approach is longer and more altitude gain (you go about 1/2 way to the Great Red Book) than to places like the Slab or Panty Wall etc. (Again, there's a better approach than given in Handren...I'll try to post it. )

Last time I was there, I went to another "new" slab and found some nice climbing...I'll look it up and post it (if it's not "in" MP) and add another REPLY here.

BTW..did you ever consider hireing a guide for a day...just to show you around and give you an overview of approaches???

There's also a brand-new map (it's actually a set of 8-10 maps) with the climber's approach trails for all of Red Rocks.  I'd be really surprised if that wasn't available by mail from Dessert Rock Sports, Charleston Bldv, Las Vegas, since our local shop here in New Hampshire even had a few copies.

ps - Oh yes, if you're going to TR on these slabby climbs, and you have a choice between using an old rope and your nice new rope, use the old one!  The sandstone can really get worn into a rope quickly if there's any contact between rope and rock.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say, if you have an older (but still service-able) rope I'd bring that if you can only bring one.

Good comments by Robert. What he mentions absolutely could work. Just to clarify though. Other than a few random multi-pitch lines here and there in Calico Basin, basically every climb is single pitch. In the area I linked to at Red Springs Rock, every climb is single pitch. You want to make sure that the base of the climbs are safe for your child as well. My link fits the bill and contains both sport and trad in all the ranges you're desiring

Yup....Chris K's absolutely correct...lots of "single pitch stuff" in Calico.  I went in with a "old time trad climber" so we went into Riding Hood wall (about one of the few multi-pitch areas in Calico; at least I gather from a further look!) to do Physical Graffiti.

John Wilder wrote: I can't think of any crags off the top of my head that have both trad and sport where both are worth the trip. Most crags are either sport or trad.

Most of the classic sport climbing will be in the 2nd pullout for your wife- it's likely that in November, shade will still be wanted, so mornings will be best there. There's also a couple crags in Calico Basin (alternative crag comes to mind) that get all day shade.

Classic trad is mostly located in Willow and Pine Creek for the best rock quality, although Calico does have some great lines like the Fox and yin yang and Atman. Unfortunately, none of those routes are really near Alternative or the other crags, they're kind of on their own.

Sunny and Steep and Winter Heat are the only crags I can think of where you can tick off a classic sport 5.12 line and then walk 10 minutes to a classic 5.10 trad line. It'll likely be a bit hot for Sunny, but winter heat will be shaded.

As for bringing your 6 year old with you- the 2nd pullout and Willow will have areas she can get to pretty easily. Alternative crag and sunny and Steep are both longish approaches, with alternative being quite steep and full of 4th class.

Handren is stingy with the stars in his guide, so anything with one star is going to be pretty great- two or three and it's a mega classic not to be missed. 

Yin and Yang and Atman are one minute off the trail to sunny and steep. I'm sure John knows this but it seems a little unclear in this post. You can definitely hit those 2 crags in a day

Robert Hall wrote: Chris K's Calico Basin suggestion is good...but I don't recall too many 1 pitch climbs there the once I climbed there. Most seemed to be 2-3 pitch. But I was there only once.

By "1 pitch" I presume you actually mean "top rope-able" with one rope (even if you have to lead the climb), which I guess are " 1/2 pitch" climbs.  

Check out The Slab for your daughter's day.  Easy approach, well protected leads, climbs in the 5.5-5.8 range.  Expect other people there.  I may post on MP a better approach than given in the Handren guide...so look for it (if I can remember accurately).  The Meet Up Wall is nice, and has both 5.6's to 5.10's, but approach is longer and more altitude gain (you go about 1/2 way to the Great Red Book) than to places like the Slab or Panty Wall etc. (Again, there's a better approach than given in Handren...I'll try to post it. )

Last time I was there, I went to another "new" slab and found some nice climbing...I'll look it up and post it (if it's not "in" MP) and add another REPLY here.

BTW..did you ever consider hireing a guide for a day...just to show you around and give you an overview of approaches???

There's also a brand-new map (it's actually a set of 8-10 maps) with the climber's approach trails for all of Red Rocks.  I'd be really surprised if that wasn't available by mail from Dessert Rock Sports, Charleston Bldv, Las Vegas, since our local shop here in New Hampshire even had a few copies.

ps - Oh yes, if you're going to TR on these slabby climbs, and you have a choice between using an old rope and your nice new rope, use the old one!  The sandstone can really get worn into a rope quickly if there's any contact between rope and rock.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say, if you have an older (but still service-able) rope I'd bring that if you can only bring one.

Thanks, Robert! And yes, by single pitch climbs, I mean climbs that are 110' or less so that we would be able to lower/rappel from the anchors using a 70 meter rope. On the east coast, most single "pitches" equate anywhere from 60' to 100' on average, at least at my home crags of the New and Seneca. Sorry if I wasn't clear in my original post!

And we are definitely planning on bringing two ropes anyways, so that we have one backup rope in case anything should happen to our main rope. Last thing I ever want to do on a climbing trip is have to buy a new rope after damaging one, so we will probably have a new-ish one and an older one with us as a backup.

I thought about hiring a guide for one day, but I'd rather just explore the areas on our own. I understand that will likely burn a lot of time trying to follow directions for the approaches, but I feel like that's half of the experience of going to a new area. I've learned this many times on approaches to new areas, some resulting in doubling the approach time. Luckily I found some awesome photos posted by Nicholas: https://cdn-files.apstatic.com/climb/110321280_large_1494370874.jpg for a few of the areas. I think the beta/Mountain Project/Google Maps information I am able to pull together plus the guidebook plus having a plan for each day should alleviate a lot of the issues associated with climbing in a new area.

Do you happen to know what the publishing company is for those new maps?

Josh wrote:

Thanks, Robert! And yes, by single pitch climbs, I mean climbs that are 110' or less so that we would be able to lower/rappel from the anchors using a 70 meter rope. On the east coast, most single "pitches" equate anywhere from 60' to 100' on average, at least at my home crags of the New and Seneca. Sorry if I wasn't clear in my original post!

And we are definitely planning on bringing two ropes anyways, so that we have one backup rope in case anything should happen to our main rope. Last thing I ever want to do on a climbing trip is have to buy a new rope after damaging one, so we will probably have a new-ish one and an older one with us as a backup.

I thought about hiring a guide for one day, but I'd rather just explore the areas on our own. I understand that will likely burn a lot of time trying to follow directions for the approaches, but I feel like that's half of the experience of going to a new area. I've learned this many times on approaches to new areas, some resulting in doubling the approach time. Luckily I found some awesome photos posted by Nicholas: https://cdn-files.apstatic.com/climb/110321280_large_1494370874.jpg for a few of the areas. I think the beta/Mountain Project/Google Maps information I am able to pull together plus the guidebook plus having a plan for each day should alleviate a lot of the issues associated with climbing in a new area.

Do you happen to know what the publishing company is for those new maps?

I can't speak to exactly which maps he is referencing, as there are a few outfits that make them, but one of the best ones I've ever seen for the are comes from ClimbOn maps. I have no affiliation with them or anything, but they are rad!
https://www.climbonmaps.com/

Also Josh, I have little ones as well so I'm well versed in good areas for kids. When you arrive, if you'd like any company, let me know. No need for a guide.

Jer wrote:

Yin and Yang and Atman are one minute off the trail to sunny and steep. I'm sure John knows this but it seems a little unclear in this post. You can definitely hit those 2 crags in a day

Thanks, Jer! I think Calico Basin will be our first stop of the trip (on our arrival day), since it's outside of the Conservation Boundaries allowing us to stay a bit later than 5:00pm, correct? We will probably hike down to Sunny and Steep and then work our way back towards the parking lot hitting up a couple other areas on the way back.

I'm not too worried about approach times, but just mainly trying to avoid any approaches that might involve very hard 4th class climbing since we will have our daughter with us the whole trip.

Christopher K. wrote: Also Josh, I have little ones as well so I'm well versed in good areas for kids. When you arrive, if you'd like any company, let me know. No need for a guide.

Thanks, Christopher! I'll be sure to PM you before/during our trip!

Looking at climbonmap(s) on the internet, these look like the ones I saw.

So the Slab isn’t that great .... it’s the same route like 10 times in a row with one or two outliers that are different but overall pretty forgettable and pretty not worth the time investment as far as a destination trip. If you were trying to teach someone to lead or had a giant group of smaller kids then it might be the ticket but like if you have a handful of days there are way better places to spend your time.

The Panty has pretty good varaity and grade range but I’m my opinion the base in front of the “main wall” dosent lend itself to be super kid friendly imo and it dosent matter what time of year it is there will be a ton of people there.

My suggestion as far as a mellow area with your daughter in mind would be The Hamlet. Super short approach ( -\+ 15 minutes) and mellow grades (including to TR only action on some blocky stuff) that even though they are well below you and your wife’s climbing level are still fun climbing ....not only that but the J-Wall is right next to it (and by right next to it I mean it’s literally on the same wall lol ) for a slight uptick in difficulty for you and your wife.

The second pullout I think offers the best sweet spot of grades as far as you and your wife go ... places like Sweet Pain, The Gallery and The Black Corridor all speak for themselves and all offer atleast one or two low grade climbs next to spectacular top shelf sport climbing. Like a few other people have mentioned Meetup Wall would be a great place for your daughter but the approach is kinda steep and long compared to the rest of the second pullout. Just depends on her energy level. I could see a round trip of like Sweet Pain on the way to meetup ... then hitting the Black corridor on the way back down and out from meetup.

If you liked Physical Graffiti ... you should try Cookie Monster into Cat in the Hat (assuming you haven’t done it either) well below your leading ability... but super cool cruise of an outing.

I'll add a vote for the Hamlet. That's the "new" slab I mentioned in  my original comment, I'd forgotten its name.  I just added a few more photos to it (they may not yet show in the App, just the on-line version) and some descriptions.