Best Sandstone in the US?

+1 for the fountain formation. Eldo and the Flatirons are the titties. The stone is so damn beautiful.

Fisher Towers! Fisher Towers!

Fountain formation of Eldorado Canyon and the Flatirons. Sandstone features but nearly granite hardness.

I like
Flatirons colorado
Eldo colorado
namaste huecos rancherous and half route zion utah
Chuckawalla Wall saint gorge utah
Mars atacks Sedona Arizona

im probably gonna get shit on for this but T-wall. I much prefer a small local crag than some super-crag like RRG or NRG. but what do i know, i've only been climbing for about a year and a half?

Red Rock NV is amazing. Moab, Indian Creek, Zion as well. Thats all the sandstone I've climbed though.

I love the iron and solution pockets in the stone at Red River Gorge.

EricF wrote:No question about it. New River Gorge, WVA.

There are so many kinds of sandstone and so many ways to climb it!

Western desert areas (Red Rocks, Moab, Zion, etc) have magical climbing and amazing scenery, but let's be real the rock quality itself is crap. Go to Utah (+Red Rocks, NV) for multi-pitch & adventure gear climbing. Bring a helmet.

For single-pitch sandstone climbing the Southeast has got the goods. If you're looking for less traveled stone just follow East Tennessee's Hwy 27 from Chattanooga to Kentucky (including TWall!). It's all there...and a lot of it is steep.

Overall consistent, concentrated best sandstone I have ever seen was in New River Gorge, WVA (although I will say that the RRG is my jam).

I guess you had better get to driving because it will take you a while to climb it all! All of these suggestions I have seen in this post are high-quality.

Jackson falls SO. ILL

Having lived in or near most of these places intentionally for sandstone climbing, here's my preferences:

NRG & Summersville WV - Stands out above all stone in America in pure aesthetic rock quality Cons: it rains about 50% of the time and some of the locals like to get weird together below the bridge either harassing or stealing from climbers. The trad is often sparse on pro or mixed so this only gets #1 for sport.

Eldo - gorgeous multi-pitch trad highly featured solid and aesthetic but not quite the quality of NRG in aesthetics. Cons: Weather is killer if you aren't hit by lightning in the summer or gumby rockfall. Too metro and scened at times. #3 for trad.

TN Wall - Close to New River quality and often more brillant colors than any stone in America. Awesome if you can take the heat and humidity of Nooga half the year and rain the other half. #1 for trad

Indian Cr - best desert stone and best cracks in america hands down. can be monotonous as soon as all of the skins is pulled from your body. cons: middle of nowhere. #2 for trad

Obed/Clear Cr/Foster Falls/Dayton areas of TN; Good places to duck out of the rain, climb super solid steep stone. Cons: gotta drive at least an hr from all the metros and deer ticks can suck through your undies at Obed. #2 for sport

For Bouldering easily Chatty stuff: Rocktown/Little Rock City #1 followed by a close #2 of Triassic and Joe's Valley in Utah, I'd also say that even though Priest Draw is technically limestone the stone is loaded with sand and climbs like killer sandstone jug hauling and pockets with less tears to the flesh so I have to say it is as good as those bouldering areas above in movement and fun factor but not quite as much in aesthetics with the exception of gorgeous pondo pines. Flag is also the bomb for best climber town and weather. Coopers Rock and Pioneer Rocks in Morgantown come in at a distant last due to the rough rock but aesthetics, movement, and fun factor are highly ranked. Coopers is probably the nicest setting for bouldering in a beautiful old growth forest.

Runners up: Seneca Rocks (although more like climbing quartzite), Red Rocks/Zion, Red River Gorge.

Ian McAlexander wrote:Fisher Towers! Fisher Towers!

eli poss wrote:im probably gonna get shit on for this but T-wall. I much prefer a small local crag than some super-crag like RRG or NRG. but what do i know, i've only been climbing for about a year and a half?

Wow, I'm surprised joes valley only got mentioned once... Pretty all time sandstone even IF it's bouldering. what about the swell? Or snow canyon SP? Are the approaches too long in sedona to earn a mention? This thread is purely speculative.... Keep it coming. RRG has got to be on top of the fun list though. Too bad those dogs are always barking at the AAC CG IN NRG.

BrianWS wrote: The Red is also sandstone. Both the new and red are the best, in my experience. Rock quality in terms of durability and gear goes to the new, but the wild features and unrelenting steepness at the red more than makes up for the lower quality (albeit still very solid) stone.

No no, you want Dakota Sandstone. The stuff found around Bryce Canyon.

I'm a bit biased, but Jackson Falls in So. Ill. has some bullet sandstone, an example is Mary's Cookies wall, aka Big Star Wall. I've climbed in Eldo and T-wall, I found both had great stone, Eldo has the splitters that Jackson lacks as does T wall, I haven't made it to NRG but sounds like its great stone.

Gotta go with the greater Moab area mainly because the number of routes is pretty darn close to the number of people living within the 100 mile radius around it. The sandstone up in the La Sals is very hard solid rock that very rarely sees crowds.

Eldo is SWEET to climb at then leave...god living in the Front Range would suck.

I can't stand masses of people, the traffic that is associated with said masses, or humidity so I don't really care how nice the rock at RRG or NRG is.

Stoney Point....obviously

Oh man, you guys really got after it. I hadn't checked this in over a day and came back to two full pages haha

The only sandstone I have climbed at in the U.S. would be Red Rocks, Fountain Formation along the Front Range, Eldo, and Morrison Formation (also in the front range). Personally, I can't stand climbing on Fountain Formation. It doesn't matter how solid it is, it just plain hurts haha Too coarse grained with way too many sharp crystals. On the other hand, I really enjoy pulling Morrison Formation (eolian sandstone). Nice and fine grained, and for the most part, very solid. Red rocks is great, but obviously isn't the best quality. It sounds like I need to get out to the east coast! I was thought Joe's Valley was suppose to be pretty bomber, but I was recently told the quality is actually pretty poor? I have yet to make a trip out there my self to gather my own opinion...