Must do crags by state

Alan Rubinwrote:

New England:

Maine—I’d say Shagg Crag—mostly hard, though a few easier routes have recently been put up.  
New Hampshire—easy—Rumney.

Vermont—Probably Bolton —lots of crags and routes to choose from. Lone Rock Point, if you are primarily interested in very difficult routes.

Massachusetts—Farley Ledge.

Rhode Island—don’t know if there are sport climbing crags—not really that many crags, but very good bouldering at Lincoln Woods if that is a ‘consolation prize’ option.

Connecticut—Another state with very limited sport climbing options—though much more rock than R.I., and hard to say which is the ‘best’ of the limited options—and at almost all of them, pretty much only hard routes are bolted ( though there may well be some ‘under the radar’ locales, kept that way to preserve the bolts from vandalism). Of those I am familiar with, Chatfield Hollow, Firewall, and Pine Ledge are all ‘contenders’. Hanging Mountain, just over the border in MA has a better spread of grades—but doesn’t let you ‘check off’ CT on your ‘quest’.

Not New England, but I’ll be interested in what folks recommend for NY—a state with a considerable amount of rock and climbing; but overwhelmingly traditional. Probably Thatcher State Park, but I’m not a fan due to very questionable rock quality.

Al, how’d you forget Rumney in NH! Gotta be 1500 sport routes by now (without looking)! 

My attempt at states that I actually climbed sport routes at:

HI- Mokuleia (not very familiar with Maui)

OR- Smith

CA- Owens

AZ- Homestead (although I prefer the Arizona Strip limestone)

NV- Charleston/Potosi (VRG if not for apocalyptic hellscape)

UT- Maple

NM- Diablo Canyon or Last Chance

CO- Rifle

WY- Ten Sleep (I prefer Wild Iris)

TX- Reimers (sadly)

AR- Deep Creek (haven’t been to Horseshoe)

KY- The Red

WV- The New

NH- Rumney

NY- The Dacks (I know, not a sport area, but there are some very, very good small and hidden sport walls there)

Mark, Look carefully, Rumney is there!!!

I’m expanding on the question to include trad and sport. As the reigning king of Arizona I will give the 100% objective AZ crag list using my patented 1-5 rating system. My list is DEFINITELY infallible and definitely not just my opinion. My rating system rubric is below.

1/5: Bad/Meh. These crags are a last resort!

2/5: Ok/Good. Crag with many bad climbs and some good routes. Maybe a single classic.

3/5: Good/Great. These crags rock! Possibly destinations within a resonable radius. There has to be something unique about these crags either the movement, scenery, rock or quantity of climbs!

4/5: Great/Amazing. A destination for anyone in the state! Certainly a destination to those looking for something very special or unique. Filled to the brim with classics and must contain high quality movement on many climbs. 

5/5 Shit Yo Pants! A truly wonderous area that has truly remarkable climbing. A destination to anyone with overpriced climbing shoes and a harness. 

Northern Arizona: The highest quality crags and probably the only part of the state where quality surpasses quantity. Some of the most underrated single pitch trad climbing in the country with truly excellent limestone sport climbing all around the Flagstaff area and AZ strip.

1. The Waterfall (*****) (Trad)

2. The Virgin River Gorge (*****) (Sport)

3. Winslow Wall (*****) (Sport/Trad)

4. Lime Kiln (****) (Sport)

5. Higher Solitude (****) (Sport)

5. The Forks (****) (Trad)

6. The Peaks (****) (Sport)

Central Arizona: If you ask someone whose only climbed once in AZ they've likely only climbed in central AZ seeing as Phoenix is our biggest city. This makes me quite sad seeing as central AZ kinda stinks! Don't get offended but the climbing is mid at best, and the best crags listed under "central" are closer to Northern AZ anyways. I personally love Central AZ climbing but its more quantity of quality. That being said there's still some awesome crags and amazing destinations to be found.

1. The Homestead (*****) (Sport)

2. Granite Mountain (****) (Trad)

3. Isolation Canyon (***) (Sport/Trad)

4. Atlantis (***) (Sport)

Southern Arizona: Thousands of routes on Mount Lemmon, adventurous granite in Cochise and shockingly underrated limestone crags at the Dry and the Farmhouse. Its a awesome haven for climbers but unfortunately there's lots of choss amongst the gems.

1. Reef Of Rocks (*****) (Sport/Trad)

2. The Sheepshead/Rockfellow Group (*****) (Trad/Sport)

3.  The Orifice (****) (Sport)

4. The Dry Canyon (****) (Sport)

5. Beaver Wall (****) (Sport)

6. The Farmhouse (****) (Sport)

Jeremy Lwrote:

Not necessarily looking for "the best" but asking about "must do". I mentioned maple because of (what I thought was) the unique cobbles that I haven't seen anywhere else

Unique yes, yet every route in a given grade seems identical to the others of that grade. I find it boring.

Alan Rubinwrote:

Mark, Look carefully, Rumney is there!!!

Al, sorry ha ha! I missed it not being a separate line like the rest! 

I knew someone would say VRG. Although I'd agree that everyone should go there at least once, I didn't have a pleasant experience because of the highway sounds in the background. That & I'm too weak to climb there.

Lime kiln was on the menu but never went. Time to go back with all the sweet local beta. Thanks!

J Iwrote:

Not trying to call you out here, but definitely want to provide some more detail...  

The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge has a shit ton of crags, with a shit ton of proper granite Trad climbing, it is not a single crag, and not sport climbing.  Some may consider Quartz mountain to be superior, but again, there are numerous crags at Quartz Mountain, definitely old school granite trad, and not sport climbing.  

There are good sport climbs sprinkled in though! For the purpose of this thread, I think there are many arguments for Lost Dome being the best sport crag in Oklahoma. 

Frank Steinwrote:

AR- Deep Creek (haven’t been to Horseshoe)

Do you mean Rock Creek? My must visit list for Arkansas would include Horseshoe, Candy Mountain and Rock Creek.

Chase Webbwrote:

Do you mean Rock Creek? My must visit list for Arkansas would include Horseshoe, Candy Mountain and Rock Creek.

Right. That one.

Alan Rubinwrote:

New England:

Maine—I’d say Shagg Crag—mostly hard, though a few easier routes have recently been put up.  
New Hampshire—easy—Rumney.

Vermont—Probably Bolton —lots of crags and routes to choose from. Lone Rock Point, if you are primarily interested in very difficult routes.

Massachusetts—Farley Ledge.

Rhode Island—don’t know if there are sport climbing crags—not really that many crags, but very good bouldering at Lincoln Woods if that is a ‘consolation prize’ option.

Connecticut—Another state with very limited sport climbing options—though much more rock than R.I., and hard to say which is the ‘best’ of the limited options—and at almost all of them, pretty much only hard routes are bolted ( though there may well be some ‘under the radar’ locales, kept that way to preserve the bolts from vandalism). Of those I am familiar with, Chatfield Hollow, Firewall, and Pine Ledge are all ‘contenders’. Hanging Mountain, just over the border in MA has a better spread of grades—but doesn’t let you ‘check off’ CT on your ‘quest’.

Not New England, but I’ll be interested in what folks recommend for NY—a state with a considerable amount of rock and climbing; but overwhelmingly traditional. Probably Thatcher State Park, but I’m not a fan due to very questionable rock quality.

Al,

The sport climbing mecca in RI is Beach Pond.  People come from as far away as Boston and New Haven to climb here.  Why do they come to climb a 40 ft cliff with only 10 routes?...bolts.   climbri.org/beach.htm

Jordan Wilsonwrote:

Northern Utah:  AF, Logan/Blacksmith, Maple, Poptire, bunch of sleeper hits after that. 

Southern Utah hits mix in with the AZ strip and Nevada stuff but if you're in the Area: Utah Hills, Lime Kiln, Lambs Knoll, VRG, Kolab.

ID: Fins, Riggins, Massacre, 

Massacre is definitely one of the most underrated sport areas in the mountain west.

Wyoming (this one’s pretty obvious): wild Iris and ten sleep. Secondarily sinks canyon in the colder end of shoulder seasons and Blacktail Butte or the Goat Cave if you’re passing through Jackson area.

Jeremy Lwrote:

Not asking about "the best" but SPORT crags that I shouldn't miss if I'm in the neighborhood.

Obviously RRG for KY, NRG for WV, maple for UT, smith for OR, etc...

Curious to hear about obscure crags that are probably overlooked. 

Based in Utah. Never been to Maple but I’d love to go. That being said, some must hits are the Billboard Crag in American Fork Canyon and the Wailing Wall in Saint George. Such good, 3D movement.

Jeremy Lwrote:

Not necessarily looking for "the best" but asking about "must do". I mentioned maple because of (what I thought was) the unique cobbles that I haven't seen anywhere else

Ok obviously just my two cents from what I’ve heard but I’m going to be the token mountain project person who sprays about a place they’ve never been to. Most of my friends say maple is pretty overrated. The cobbles are cool but a lot of the routes lack amazing movement and are just big pump fests. Cobble in the sky is just can you climb V2 for a 100 feet. Also lots of scary rockfall apparently. If you go, WEAR A HELMET. That being said the cobbles are certainly unique!

Of the crags I’ve been to in Utah, you’ve got to hit Wailing Wall, Utah Hills, Logan Canyon, and Billboard specifically in AF though Hell Cave has a lot of sick hard lines to try

Addy Swrote:

Ok obviously just my two cents from what I’ve heard but I’m going to be the token mountain project person who sprays about a place they’ve never been to. Most of my friends say maple is pretty overrated. The cobbles are cool but a lot of the routes lack amazing movement and are just big pump fests. Cobble in the sky is just can you climb V2 for a 100 feet. Also lots of scary rockfall apparently. If you go, WEAR A HELMET. That being said the cobbles are certainly unique!

Of the crags I’ve been to in Utah, you’ve got to hit Wailing Wall, Utah Hills, Logan Canyon, and Billboard specifically in AF though Hell Cave has a lot of sick hard lines to try

I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but using Cobble in the Sky as an example is pretty silly, as it is probably the worst route on that particular wall.  It is literally a two or one star route on a four star scale, even by Maple standards. 

Frank Steinwrote:

I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but using Cobble in the Sky as an example is pretty silly, as it is probably the worst route on that particular wall.  It is literally a two or one star route on a four star scale, even by Maple standards. 

Fair, again I’ve never been haha. I do want some route suggestions for when I go!

WA- I gotta say Mazama for sport is super cool

Enchanted Tower should definitely be on this list for New Mexico, moreso than Diablo or Last Chance Canyon.

Addy Swrote:

Based in Utah. Never been to Maple but I’d love to go. That being said, some must hits are the Billboard Crag in American Fork Canyon and the Wailing Wall in Saint George. Such good, 3D movement.

American Fork is on the list. We got lost looking for wailing wall. Need to go back...

I consider maple a must do just because it was unique. Admittedly, I haven't been to a lot of crags but I've never seen cobbles that were so densely packed like that before.

Thanks for the WA & NM suggestions. Will add it to the list