Logistics
Getting there
St. George sits roughly 200 miles southwest of Salt Lake City and 120 miles northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. There is a small airstrip in town, but most people fly into either Salt Lake or Vegas and rent a car.

Seasons
St. George is best from late fall to early spring. Summers are hot, with highs pushing 110 degrees during July and August. Luckily, St. George boasts crags at myriad elevations, so it’s possible to climb year round.

Regulations
Most of the climbing in St. George is located on BLM land, with four notable exceptions: the Paradise Canyon crags, Snow Canyon, and Pioneer Park are situated inside the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve (redcliffsdesertreserve.com), and Crawdad Canyon (crawdadcanyon.com) is operated on private land.

Amenities
Downtown St. George is centrally located between the various crags and has several burrito joints and coffee shops. Restaurants and hotels can be found on St. George Boulevard, or by contacting the St. George Chamber of Commerce (stgeorgechamber.com). If you need a new pair of shoes or just some friendly Beta, Bo Beck and the crew at the Outdoor Outlet (800-726-8106) can usually provide assistance.

Guide services
Paragon Climbing Instruction, operated by Todd Goss, is the premiere guiding service in St. George, and offers instruction as well as guided climbing (435-673-1709).

Camping and accommodations
Camping is free on BLM land, and permits can be acquired at Snow Canyon State Park for $14 per night. The nearby Virgin River Casino (virginriver.com) in Mesquite, Nevada, offers rooms for as little as $19 during weeknights ($29 a night for weekends), and boasts a massive buffet and laundry machines. Hotels can be found along St. George Boulevard, or through the Chamber of Commerce.

Rest-day diversions
St. George is a quiet town that falls asleep way early. For folks seeking bright lights, Vegas is less than a two-hour drive. The ghost towns of Silver Reef, Harrisburg, and Grafton are interesting, and nature lovers are encouraged to check out the sandstone wonders of nearby Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks.

Guidebooks
Todd Goss’s 2000 guidebook, Rock Climbs of Southwest Utah and the Arizona Strip (Sharp End Press, sharpendbooks.com/guidebooks.html) is the best guidebook to St. George, and also contains Beta on the Virgin River Gorge.

David Schmidt is a Contributing Editor at Climbing and a New Hampshire-based climber and freelance writer.