Nevada · Rock climbing · Las Vegas

Sheep Skull Crags

Sheep Skull Crags in Nevada has 7 traditional climbing routes across 5 grades.

Photo: Marianne Serra from Miami, USA, CC BY 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

7 routes

5.8 – 5.12d

Trad

Best time to visit Sheep Skull Crags

Best months: February–May and October–November. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.

Jan
53° / 32°
4 wet
Feb
56° / 35°
5 wet
Mar
64° / 41°
4 wet
Apr
70° / 47°
2 wet
May
80° / 56°
1 wet
Jun
90° / 66°
1 wet
Jul
95° / 73°
2 wet
Aug
94° / 72°
2 wet
Sep
87° / 62°
2 wet
Oct
75° / 50°
2 wet
Nov
62° / 38°
2 wet
Dec
52° / 31°
3 wet

Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Red Rock Canyon - Spg Mt Rch S, NV, 6.7 mi away at 3,780 ft. The station sits about 1,000 ft lower than this place, so expect it a little cooler here. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

Sheep Skull Crags is a climbing area in Nevada's La Madre Mountain Wilderness, on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management's Red Rock/Sloan Field Office. It sits within the wilderness, so it falls under its own rules as well as the agency's. Spring and fall are the most comfortable times to visit. A nearby weather station records typical April highs around 70°F with lows near 47°F and October highs around 75°F. That station sits several hundred feet lower than the crags, so expect conditions up top to run a bit cooler. Summer is hot, with typical July highs in the mid-90s. The area has seven trad routes, ranging from 5.8 to 5.12d. Among them are "Intestinal Flu" (5.8) and "The Tipping Point" (5.12d), both first ascents by Joe Herbst and others. The closest neighbors are White Rock Spring and Willow Springs Boulders, each about 0.3 miles away, and the Grand Circle Trail, also about 0.3 miles off. Red Rock Canyon Campground is roughly 6.4 miles away.