Summer trad climbing destinations

I am a freshmen in college and live in New York, but am looking to road trip across the country to the west at the beginning of the summer. I am looking for a climbing area which would allow me to set up a tent in a scenic area, park my car near it, and live there for the summer. Ideally, there would be public bathrooms nearby, and a grocery store. Advice? Suggestions? Climbing Areas? I am breaking into leading trad, I have double rack and rope. I was leaning towards Indian Creek because I want the exposure to stellar crack climbs. However, something with alpine views and longer multipitch would also be sick. 

indian creek will be pretty hot in the summer, i'd look into squamish

Spend June at City of Rocks (ID), then drive to Squamish for the rest of the summer. Both will provide good opportunities for someone learning to trad and crack climb.

Wyoming.

Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The cost of living is cheap and you are less than an hour away from Devil's Tower and The Needles. Many a fine dirtbag has lived for months on the abundant pine cones supplemented by the occasional BBQ. 

I would definitely head to Squamish, but if you are leaving from NY by car I might take May and June to experience some other places. New England and the South East can be pretty good that time of year. City of Rocks sounds awesome around then too. Colorado might also be a good stop (no area suggestions from me). If you haven't spent much time at the gunks I'd suggest spending a week up there before you depart westward. You can really dig into trad climbing there and May/June are great there. Camping can be difficult there but you might be able to figure something out with some creativity

If you are just breaking into trad I don't think many places can beat Squamish tho... That place is amazing

I musta missed it.  When did "dirtbag" become a verb?

BBQ wrote:

Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The cost of living is cheap and you are less than an hour away from Devil's Tower and The Needles. Many a fine dirtbag has lived for months on the abundant pine cones supplemented by the occasional BBQ. 

Yeah, Spearfish is great climbing-wise and can be cheap as fuck as free camping is of quality and aboundance.... But if you're dirtbagging alone it's not the easiest place to find a partner.

John Byrnes wrote:

I musta missed it.  When did "dirtbag" become a verb?

About 15 years ago.

Just near Spearfish but in Wyoming is another great canyon, Ten Sleep. I think it is even better than Spearfish.

Greg Koeppen wrote:

Just near Spearfish but in Wyoming is another great canyon, Ten Sleep. I think it is even better than Spearfish.

Yeah and I've heard grades are pretty soft at Ten Sleep, so better for the ego....

In response to Frank Vee. Yeah, bud! We the locals were pretty happy about how stoked you were this summer at our local crags. It's too bad my wife and I were on a road trip to Oregon. But we were following your adventures in Spearfish on MP. We were rooting for ya! Looked like you had a blast. We'd check MP at dinner and yell out, "YEAH! Go! Frank, go! Climb like the wind, bud! Climb like the wind." 

(The last sentence was whispered for dramatic effect) You should come back soon and crush Spearfish again, it's so much better than Ten Sleep. But you are right, finding a partner there can be hard. It is rural America and all...most of us locals have jobs and don't dirtbag much anymore.

"Alpine views" sorta screams Tetons, to me, but that could have it's own difficulties for your other requirements.

City of Rocks isn't alpine, but it is very scenic. One advantage there, is almost everyone at the park in climbing season, is a climber. Hot springs is a plus, too!

If you do go there, get more info. There's other stuff close by too, for day trips or half day trips.

Best, OLH

BBQ wrote:

In response to Frank Vee. Yeah, bud! We the locals were pretty happy about how stoked you were this summer at our local crags. It's too bad my wife and I were on a road trip to Oregon. But we were following your adventures in Spearfish on MP. We were rooting for ya! Looked like you had a blast. We'd check MP at dinner and yell out, "YEAH! Go! Frank, go! Climb like the wind, bud! Climb like the wind." 

(The last sentence was whispered for dramatic effect) You should come back soon and crush Spearfish again, it's so much better than Ten Sleep. But you are right, finding a partner there can be hard. It is rural America and all...most of us locals have jobs and don't dirtbag much anymore.

Haha, funny. Yeah we tried to log most of our climbs & comment them, given that there isn't as much info them compared to lots of other places. Definitely coming back at some point. Amazing place for everything about sport climbing - just needs time to develop a wider climber community. I'm sure it'll come - everything else is there.

(Sorry to disappoint though, I am still stopping by Ten Sleep again as well!). Not willing to take sides too too much in the Ten Sleep / Spearfish - Spearfish has overall nicer weather I think (easier to climb) and a cold creek to swim in near every crag, BUT Ten sleep has soft grades AND you can camp at a Brewery!

Haven't ever been there, but I hear Lander is cool. Kinda remote though might be hard getting food. 

Would you consider the San Juans in CO? We got some cool stuff down there. Montrose, Ouray, Telluride, Silverton, Durango, Ridgeway, and tons of national forest land. 

Lardtazium wrote:

Haven't ever been there, but I hear Lander is cool. Kinda remote though might be hard getting food. 

Would you consider the San Juans in CO? We got some cool stuff down there. Montrose, Ouray, Telluride, Silverton, Durango, Ridgeway, and tons of national forest land. 

Talk about stunning! Telluride is paradise! Only been there in the summer. San Juans are so steep!

This doesn't have to be your "last free summer." Unless that's really how you want it. 

Lardtazium wrote:

Haven't ever been there, but I hear Lander is cool. Kinda remote though might be hard getting food. 

Would you consider the San Juans in CO? We got some cool stuff down there. Montrose, Ouray, Telluride, Silverton, Durango, Ridgeway, and tons of national forest land. 

Whats the camping situation in Telluride? Also, how remote are climbing areas

Sopmore in college here at the University of Utah, If you end up coming through Salt Lake wanting to climb, I’d be willing to show you around. As for location reccomendations, it’s hard to beat the Tetons in late July/early August.

I'm biased bc I lived in Co for while and havnt been to Wyoming but I have been to southeast Utah and there is great climbing there but it's crazy hot in the summer, it's the desert. 

In Colorado you can camp for free on the forest service roads all over the state for up to 14days at a time

You got lumpy ridge in estes park and rocky mtn. National park right next to it both with amazing world class trad climbs, multi pitch and alpine climbs.

If you take the back way down south on 72 and 119 from the park towards Nederland,  there are a couple forest service roads to camp for free. Some however are suppost to be first come first serve camp only in designated spots. 

But you can hit boulder or cleer creek canyon with amazing crag after crag after crag and bolts galore, 

You can find 14ers to climb like 2nd Apron on mt.evans and ellingwood ledges on the needle .

Gregory Medak wrote:

I also notice nobody suggested Yosemite. Is the climbing not world class? The law is you can only stay for a week inside the park, how long is the drive to be "outside" the park (like honnold). Worth it? 

Yosemite is world class, no question. But in the summer it is really hot, and packed with tourists, and the camping/legal situation is f'd. Also, as a newish trad leader the really impressive walls that make Yosemite world class are out of range. There are much better options for a new trad leader in the summer. Save the Yosemite trip for sometime in the future when you are a bit more experienced, and can visit at a better time of year (October).

That said, if you want to go to CA there are some really good higher elevation crags that could be good for you. Spend most of your trip in Tuoumne Meadows, in Tahoe (Lovers Leap), and at crags near Mammoth. And also take trips into the High Sierra. You can squeeze in a week or so in the Valley to check it out for some future visit. That would make for a good summer.