[JamieG]

My wife and I will be taking a road trip from Dallas to Las Vegas at the end of October later this year and I thought I might take my shoes and stop at a couple places along the way.

Looks like there is some bouldering around Flagstaff (Priest Draw and Kelly Canyon) as well as Red Rocks near Vegas. Just wondering if anyone had been to any of these venues (or others nearby) and had any recommendations.

I climb up to about V6/7a (on a very good day) and tend to prefer walls/aretes/slabs rather than burly roofs. Cheers in advance.

[SA Chris]

You could go via Hueco? I had a few days in Flagstaff when I was there, it's a great place. Did mostly routes though, plus some amazing DWS near Winslow (but you would need a boat). There is some other bouldering in New Mexico, was some recent articles on it, plus some spots in Stone Crusade.

[a dense loner]

Red rocks is excellent for stuff up to 7A. Will try and think of names

[JamieG]

Cheers guys. I didn't realise Hueco was kind of along that route. Close by American standards I guess. Red rocks looks very cool too. The number of climbings days might have to increase. :-)

[SA Chris]

Be aware of the permit system at Hueco though.

You can do day trips to Red Rock from the Strip, how long will you have in Vegas?

[andyd]

Hueco is good and en route.
Priest Draw didn't have a guide book back when I went. Good though. Watch rampage.
Driving from Dallas looks like a big bunch of nothing. I imagine, nay prophesise, there will be a lot of skinny cows along the way.

[JamieG]

Yeah, we're only setting off from Dallas because we're at a conference there before hand. I think the first day is going to be driving as fast and as far as possible away. Although I think we might stop at six flags for some rollercoaster action! I'll have to check out Rampage.

[SA Chris]

Priest Draw didn't have a guide book back when I went. Good though. Watch rampage.

I downloaded the guidelet here, but never used it.

http://www.drtopo.com/north-america/united-states/arizona/priest-draw

Spot the split infinitive?

I like driving the empty roads of the US. Easy driving, time to listen to the crazy radio stations and enjoy the blue skies and horizons. And skinny cows.

[andyd]

Nowt like that back in my day. Kelly's was top secret too. Locals weren't keen on telling us where to go either.

[Sasquatch]

Are you more interested in checking out multiple areas, or spending multiple days at any given one?

Are you more interested in Desert or Mountains?

Adding Hueco in makes it 21 hrs frm Dallas to Vegas.  Other than climbing, Grand Canyon is worth a gander, White Sands and Carlsbad caverns are doable from Hueco. Sedona is pretty and a bit new age hippy/funky. As is Tucson which also has bouldering at Mt Lemmon.   

Another option would be to go more north and loop through Denver, which is 22.5 hours driving.  Easy to hit Colorado areas, Moab or Joe's Valley, Moe's Valley.  Non-Climbing pluses are a much much more scenic drive, Zion and Bryce are amazing, but could also be done as a trip from Vegas. 

[SA Chris]

Sedona is pretty and a bit new age hippy/funky.

No kidding. A cloud of patchouli and weed hangs low over the place.

[Paul B]

Zion is pretty close to Vegas too.

Day-tripping from the strip is fairly easy too (as suggested).

[SA Chris]

So I estimate currently, this trip is going to take about 3 months.

How long you got

[JamieG]

Haha about 10 days, so should be able to squeeze it all in. :-) We'll definitely go see the grand canyon from Flagstaff. I hadn't thought about going further north. I think i need to sit down with a map and make a rough plan. Probably rather visit a few different places rather than several days at one venue.

[Sasquatch]

Google map is your friend. 

[Andy D]

Box canyon at Socorro is pretty much en route for you I think
http://www.mountainproject.com/v/the-box-climbing-areas/105791039#a_105791041
Nice quiet spot without hueco style hassle