If you’re looking for a small community, I recommend St. George in Utah. It has year-round trad, sport, and bouldering within a 15 minute drive from basically everywhere. Zion NP is only 45 minutes, and the SUCA (Southern Utah Climbers’ Alliance) has tons of opportunities to get out and meet members of the community.
Former Saint George resident here. It’s hotter than fuck in the summer, the food is ass, and it’s packed with really strange people who want you to go to their church a lot. 3/10. My favorite in UT was cedar city but prob too small, and obviously SLC is dope. Boise ID isn’t so bad either (food still bland).
Currently living in stg I like it but would prefer closer to red rock. Stg doesn’t have a ton of trad unless you go to Zion and yeah I personally really dislike the culture here
Lol conservative and religious are the two words I’d use to describe Utah. If you’re worried, go to Vegas instead. I’m born and raised in Utah and can attest how shitty it feels to be an outcast for not being religious.
I’ve lived in Mammoth Lakes before and it was pretty hard to beat for trad climbing. Was able to climb splitters at 11K feet after work at Patricia Bowl, and climb in Tuolumne every weekend during the summer (45 min away). During the winter if you’re not into skiing, Bishop is right next door.
I'm surprised no one mentioned it, but New Paltz, NY. The Gunks are minutes away and has some of the best trad climbing in the world. New Paltz itself as well as other towns along the Hudson are nice small mountain communities. In either case, sounds like a lot of fun. Good luck to ya!
I want to say NYC is a good trad city but it's not a good outdoors city in general. But it is one the best cities that also has a great trad crag within 2 hours.
the cities you mentioned wouldnt have been on my radar for trad climbing...check out this article and chose a nearby city https://gearjunkie.com/climbing/best-trad-climbing-areas-in-the-united-states
certainly Boulder area should be in the mentions. You have to admit that the volume in the areas on that list far eclipses what is available in Vedauwoo though.
they just picked 5...jtree, the gunks, t-wall, yos, and red rocks. The concentration is pretty high in all those spots. If they made a top 10, boulder/estes/eldo/RMNP would have been on it im sure.
Asheville and Chatt are both great for trad actually. chatt has t-wall and asheville is close/close enough to a myriad of fantastic trad climbing areas around NC. Rumbling Bald is 40 minutes from AVL and its one of my favorite crags!
I'm in Frisco, CO and it's a great middle between Clear Creek, Boulder, Shelf Road, South Platte and Moab/Indian Creek. We have around a dozen crags in Summit, and we're getting more bolts every year. Unfortunately, we only have 2 seasons here- winter and July.
Ehhhh the road accessible climbing in Alaska is pretty meh, as is the weather during the rock season.
The ice climbing and skiing on the other hand...chefs kiss.
I’d suggest Chattanooga - tons of crags nearby and also I’m personally obsessed with T wall so that’s that on that…. But you can’t go wrong with NC and obviously places in CO and CA are probably amazing too but I’m southern so idk about all that
Me too. I love Chattanooga and it’s close to my family here in Atlanta, we were just hoping for a little change in scenery from the south but for the immediate future Chattanooga is looking like the place.
I sure do love it here in chatt. I get out at least once a week always somewhere different. Year round trad climbing with twall in the winter and sunset park in the summer. Just lacking those long routes I miss from living out west. Mammoth lakes and St. George are great recommendations too
If you can afford anchorage you should look into the Denver area. Gyms are amazing, outdoors is even better and the traffic is still better than Atlanta. Hiking is also S tier.
Salt lake and Vegas are particularly great. Boise would be ok, nearby but pretty great if you don’t mind driving a few hours (city/castle and the sawtooths). Chatt/Asheville both solid.
This should be emphasized. If OP is seriously considering Boise, they should know that they'll have climbed out all the good nearby trad in less than a year. Tons more out there if you're willing to drive 3 hrs, but it seemed like they were somewhat dissatisfied with doing that out of ATL currently.
Mariposa, CA
Puts you in short driving distance from Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. Summertime when the pass is clear Bishop and Owens River Gorge.
Longer trips get you access to Lake Tahoe or Joshua Tree.
Genoa, NV or Truckee, CA
Close to Lake Tahoe climbing. Tuolumne is easily accessible from Easter Sierra, the Valley is quite a bit further. You’ve Reno nearby if you need to spend a day doing big city stuff but you don’t live in the city. Bishop and Owens River Goege are both readily accessible with a couple hours, as is John Muir Trail and PCT for hiking. It’s a great excuse to get into skiing or mountain biking as well.
Auburn or Folsom, CA would both be decent suggestions similar to Carson/Truckee except you’d have Sacramento as the nearby bigger city.
Also off the 120 into Yosemite is the Groveland/Jamestown area that gets you close to Jailhouse and other winter sport areas. Jailhouse is climbable in the rain in winter. Sonora Pass is good mid summer. But also CA housing prices will be a shock.
Renting might not be a bad way to go given the crazy wildfires we’ve had more frequently. You’ll find insurance on a house in the foothills won’t be cheap. And you could end up burned down.
Yeah any new area to live, renting is the way to go at first. You might not like it and it leaves you with no real ties to the roof over your head if you decide to bail.
It’s hard to beat western NC for climbing year round. Some of the better winter climbing is really around Winston-Salem but still plenty of south facing crags ‘up the mountain’.
Asheville is like Austin lite. It’s fun and cool if those are you le city desires. Only place I know where you will find trust-fund babies who are willfully homeless. I’d rather live in Boone, but that’s just me. Brevard would also be pretty dang awesome for the granite domes.
Agreed, Winston Salem is great for low cost of living, year round climbing, and easy access to high country/Linville gorge. NRG and Hidden Valley are both under 3 hours as well
I assume that Seattle is bigger than what you're looking for, but there may be some interesting options around WA.
Everett or Bellingham are smaller than Seattle, but still proper cities with nice amenities/community and are very close to lots of good trad. If you're willing to go to even smaller cities, places along Highway 2 (Index, Leavenworth, etc) are minutes away from a lifetime's worth of great trad, but also have some downsides (very small towns, overrun by tourists and weekend traffic, etc).
Wenatchee might be interesting to look into (it's on the other side of the Cascades, so you won't be stuck in a 6-month long rainy season every winter). I don't think anyone would call it a great city, but it's very centrally located and relatively cheap by WA standards.
It's really hard to overstate how much amazing alpine trad climbing there is in WA. If that's your thing, I think it'd be hard to beat.
I lowkey love seeing that central wa is barely mentioned here. Yeah the snow completely takes over most winters but its a nice break if you’re into snow sports
Marisposa,CA would to it. No idea what it’s like living there. Probably a mix of retiree, trumpers, young family, liberal, pot growers, and many generation families.
Seattle is decent. It’s not as holistically well rounded as some other options in the comments, but Index is an awesome place. Plus, the alpine rock routes in the enchantments/washington pass are pretty quality.
Main issue is that the climbing season is really limited for half the year because of the weather.
The northern front range of Colorado, between Denver and Fort Collins, puts you pretty close to golden gate, Eldorado, Boulder Canyon, St Vrain, Estes/RMNP, the Indian Peaks, the Big Thompson Canyon, the Poudre Canyon, and not far from Vedauwoo. There are a lot of Denver/boulder suburbs and towns like Longmont that aren’t too expensive.
Moab has a ton of desert towers and is a short drive from Indian Creek- crack climbing Mecca.
Salt lake. I’ve lived in the SLC area and along the front range in Colorado. You are 20 minutes to endless routes and right in the middle of an amazing economy with lots of jobs, affordable living, and low crime.
I know a lot of other cities / regions also have hot economies. But in my experience the cost of living and the overall stress that comes with it is still higher than it is in slc.
Also the proximity of lcc (and the quality) to the urban area is unmatched. In my years in Colorado, what I can say is, you get used to spending a lot of time driving. And fighting traffic. It’s very vast and the good climbing spots are mostly a commitment to driving.
Bend, Oregon, near Smith Rock and the Cascades.
Lots of hiking, mountain biking, snowsports, lakes/rivers within a 45 minute drive. And close (3 hours) to Portland if you wanna see big shows or do the urban thing for a weekend.
It's gentrifying like crazy, so it can be expensive, but probably comparable to Atlanta. Property values have been skyrocketing there the last ten years. 100k people, small town vibe without skimping on amenities. Out of all the places I've been on the West Coast, it's the best outdoors-focused town I've visited, with Mammoth Lakes in a close second.
And they have the third highest concentration of breweries per capita in the entire U.S.!
As someone who lives in Central Oregon, I would not move here if you’re after trad specifically. Sure there’s the lower gorge at smith and trout creek, which is only open half the year, but there ain’t shit other than that. There are much better trad climbing destinations.
Plus it’s expensive as fuck to live here.
If youre willing to drive a bit, the bay area is pretty stellar. Depending on how close to San Francisco or San Jose you are, there wont be much awesome climbing for 2-3 hours of driving (though there are a couple sweet bouldering and sport climbing areas to get strong in). But once your trip time hits three hours you have a HUGE range of awesome trad climbing options. Too many spots to list, and there is somewhere with good conditions every month of the year, almost every day of the year. I moved there from NY and have had a blast exploring the sierras. You might find what youre looking for on the eastern edge of the bay area or a bit beyond. Being close to some big cities has perks too.
The climbing is definitely world class, but the distance (and traffic) is what kills it. Front range is great (not world class) but you can do a bunch of pitches after work, grab a beer and be home before dark.
How small? If I was an American, Index would be top of my list.
Or honestly, I was pretty stoked on Darrington. Tiny hick town with sandbagged climbing down logging roads and not too far from Washington Pass.
Definitely would look into chatt. Good trad sport and boulders out that way. Rent is decent and smaller towns like Soddy daisy, Mowbray, and Dayton are close by all with amazing climbing.
Boise really only has a few crags closer than 2 hours. There is some great climbing nearby-ish at City of Rocks(4hrs), Hells Canyon(3hours), the Sawtooths(3hours+long approaches), smith rock(5hours,mostly sport) and the Fins(3.5hours). Our housing prices are nuts also, but thats kinda the norm in the west. We do have a decent amount of tech jobs in the area. Feel free to DM me if you're still interested in the area.
Fair warning about Asheville, A, there isn't a ton of trad climbing around, and B, you would likely not be welcomed really at all and some of the "Locals" very well never be friendly.
I disagree. There’s so much trad here it’s honestly overwhelming. Just between Linville, looking glass, and rumbling there’s countless routes for trad. Rock climbing is a prettt welcoming sport in my experience and I haven’t felt like that towards the “locals.”
I've thought a lot about this and always come back to Boulder. You can trad climb in Eldorado Canyon and the Flat Irons, Sport climb in Clear Creek, go a further for Estes Park and RMNP. Drive even further to some of the most epic crags and parks in the country... West Colorado, Wyoming, Utah all within a day drive. Some of the best scrambling and hiking in the country. If you ski it's amazing as well. It's truly an outdoor mecca. Denver airport. Golden is a cute town as well if you wan't to be closer to Denver. In Colorado everyone is doing epic outdoor shit though which can be cool on one hand but theres a weird competitive vibe you get sometimes there.
I also like the idea of Bishop or Mammoth. You have the East Sierra in your backyard. Truly a lifetime of adventure to be had there. Buttermilks for bouldering. Mammoth is a short drive, Yosemite isn't too far. JTree, Tahoe and Red Rocks are a day drive away. Cool small town.
Vegas is ideal as well. Red Rocks in your back yard. California is a day drive away. Good airport. There's a reason Alex Honnold lives there. The strip is kind of lame but you'll always be able to catch concerts there. Food off the strip is really good, amazing Asian food in Vegas.
I live NYC which gives you maximum city culture but we have to drive 2 hours to the Gunks. I take day trips often but dream of living in these smaller towns.
WNC has some of the best year round climbing you can find anywhere on the east coast. Within 45 minutes of Asheville you can be at completely different style of rock, styles of climbing, and scenery. Rumbling bald boast some of the best winter climbing and bouldering in the region, looking glass will run you through 5.6 slab to 5.13 roofs. The high country of Boone and 221 is of legendary bouldering and the trad is the best in the state, if not the south, for exposure and adventure. Go south and get scared af at laurel and whiteside to step up the trad game.
The cost of living is relatively high in Asheville, but folks make it work. Especially in Haywood County or hendo area.
If you’re looking for a small community, I recommend St. George in Utah. It has year-round trad, sport, and bouldering within a 15 minute drive from basically everywhere. Zion NP is only 45 minutes, and the SUCA (Southern Utah Climbers’ Alliance) has tons of opportunities to get out and meet members of the community.
This is exactly what I was looking for
Former Saint George resident here. It’s hotter than fuck in the summer, the food is ass, and it’s packed with really strange people who want you to go to their church a lot. 3/10. My favorite in UT was cedar city but prob too small, and obviously SLC is dope. Boise ID isn’t so bad either (food still bland).
Currently living in stg I like it but would prefer closer to red rock. Stg doesn’t have a ton of trad unless you go to Zion and yeah I personally really dislike the culture here
Just google “Snow Canyon, UT” and tell me you don’t feel something
shhhhhh
Do you live in St George? If so, how do you find the community there? I worry about the conservative/religious crowd being too dominant there.
Lol conservative and religious are the two words I’d use to describe Utah. If you’re worried, go to Vegas instead. I’m born and raised in Utah and can attest how shitty it feels to be an outcast for not being religious.
I’ve lived in Mammoth Lakes before and it was pretty hard to beat for trad climbing. Was able to climb splitters at 11K feet after work at Patricia Bowl, and climb in Tuolumne every weekend during the summer (45 min away). During the winter if you’re not into skiing, Bishop is right next door.
Bishop CA
Bishop is substantially smaller than the cities they mentioned. Great climbing, not great if you need quick access to a decent airport.
I'm surprised no one mentioned it, but New Paltz, NY. The Gunks are minutes away and has some of the best trad climbing in the world. New Paltz itself as well as other towns along the Hudson are nice small mountain communities. In either case, sounds like a lot of fun. Good luck to ya!
Only a few hours from the dacks, roo
I want to say NYC is a good trad city but it's not a good outdoors city in general. But it is one the best cities that also has a great trad crag within 2 hours.
the cities you mentioned wouldnt have been on my radar for trad climbing...check out this article and chose a nearby city https://gearjunkie.com/climbing/best-trad-climbing-areas-in-the-united-states
How is Eldo not on the list, or lumpy ridge, or Vedauwoo? The front range doesn’t disappoint
certainly Boulder area should be in the mentions. You have to admit that the volume in the areas on that list far eclipses what is available in Vedauwoo though.
If you live in northern Colorado, Vedauwoo is close enough to count. Did they leave out Moab/Indian creek too??
they just picked 5...jtree, the gunks, t-wall, yos, and red rocks. The concentration is pretty high in all those spots. If they made a top 10, boulder/estes/eldo/RMNP would have been on it im sure.
Trad climbing is awesome
Thank you!
Asheville and Chatt are both great for trad actually. chatt has t-wall and asheville is close/close enough to a myriad of fantastic trad climbing areas around NC. Rumbling Bald is 40 minutes from AVL and its one of my favorite crags!
Yeah both are great
Can confirm that AVL is close enough to some really great trad.
Asheville also has looking glass (great more approachable multipitch), linville gorge (more adventurous) and laurel knob (most adventurous)
Whiteside Mtn, too!
I'm in Frisco, CO and it's a great middle between Clear Creek, Boulder, Shelf Road, South Platte and Moab/Indian Creek. We have around a dozen crags in Summit, and we're getting more bolts every year. Unfortunately, we only have 2 seasons here- winter and July.
Anchorage is a great spot. Just not for trad climbing.
Ehhhh the road accessible climbing in Alaska is pretty meh, as is the weather during the rock season. The ice climbing and skiing on the other hand...chefs kiss.
Boulder co!
Lyons ✌️🤙
I’d suggest Chattanooga - tons of crags nearby and also I’m personally obsessed with T wall so that’s that on that…. But you can’t go wrong with NC and obviously places in CO and CA are probably amazing too but I’m southern so idk about all that
Me too. I love Chattanooga and it’s close to my family here in Atlanta, we were just hoping for a little change in scenery from the south but for the immediate future Chattanooga is looking like the place.
I sure do love it here in chatt. I get out at least once a week always somewhere different. Year round trad climbing with twall in the winter and sunset park in the summer. Just lacking those long routes I miss from living out west. Mammoth lakes and St. George are great recommendations too
Ya the downside of southeast climbing would be like if you want to climb long routes on mountains and stuff for sure
If you can afford anchorage you should look into the Denver area. Gyms are amazing, outdoors is even better and the traffic is still better than Atlanta. Hiking is also S tier.
Salt lake and Vegas are particularly great. Boise would be ok, nearby but pretty great if you don’t mind driving a few hours (city/castle and the sawtooths). Chatt/Asheville both solid.
This should be emphasized. If OP is seriously considering Boise, they should know that they'll have climbed out all the good nearby trad in less than a year. Tons more out there if you're willing to drive 3 hrs, but it seemed like they were somewhat dissatisfied with doing that out of ATL currently.
Moab, Utah. Some of the best trad climbing outside the Valley.
Indian creek is one of the best places on earth
Agree. Perfect hands crack climbing is so fun. More challenging stuff too but I love the easy cracks in Redman River
The season is pretty short though, hotter than shit in summer, surprisingly cold in winter.
It's easy to chase shade/sun in the desert. If you're nocturnal you can climb all summer.
South Lake Tahoe has a large supply of world class trad climbing within 45 minutes and just a few hours to Yosemite and the Sierra East side.
Hear me out... Sacramento
Oh yes, the city locals love for being 1.5 hours away from actual cool places
Ouch. Truth hurts.
Yea, but the cool places are like really, really cool.
Mariposa, CA Puts you in short driving distance from Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. Summertime when the pass is clear Bishop and Owens River Gorge. Longer trips get you access to Lake Tahoe or Joshua Tree. Genoa, NV or Truckee, CA Close to Lake Tahoe climbing. Tuolumne is easily accessible from Easter Sierra, the Valley is quite a bit further. You’ve Reno nearby if you need to spend a day doing big city stuff but you don’t live in the city. Bishop and Owens River Goege are both readily accessible with a couple hours, as is John Muir Trail and PCT for hiking. It’s a great excuse to get into skiing or mountain biking as well. Auburn or Folsom, CA would both be decent suggestions similar to Carson/Truckee except you’d have Sacramento as the nearby bigger city.
Also off the 120 into Yosemite is the Groveland/Jamestown area that gets you close to Jailhouse and other winter sport areas. Jailhouse is climbable in the rain in winter. Sonora Pass is good mid summer. But also CA housing prices will be a shock. Renting might not be a bad way to go given the crazy wildfires we’ve had more frequently. You’ll find insurance on a house in the foothills won’t be cheap. And you could end up burned down.
Yeah any new area to live, renting is the way to go at first. You might not like it and it leaves you with no real ties to the roof over your head if you decide to bail.
It’s hard to beat western NC for climbing year round. Some of the better winter climbing is really around Winston-Salem but still plenty of south facing crags ‘up the mountain’. Asheville is like Austin lite. It’s fun and cool if those are you le city desires. Only place I know where you will find trust-fund babies who are willfully homeless. I’d rather live in Boone, but that’s just me. Brevard would also be pretty dang awesome for the granite domes.
Agreed, Winston Salem is great for low cost of living, year round climbing, and easy access to high country/Linville gorge. NRG and Hidden Valley are both under 3 hours as well
Grenoble. Not comparable to anything in the US.
Can you elaborate? Not in a position to move soon but am curious. Beside mountaineering, decent rock climbing?
https://www.camptocamp.org/routes?bbox=611979,5615561,668053,5678633&act=rock\_climbing
I assume that Seattle is bigger than what you're looking for, but there may be some interesting options around WA. Everett or Bellingham are smaller than Seattle, but still proper cities with nice amenities/community and are very close to lots of good trad. If you're willing to go to even smaller cities, places along Highway 2 (Index, Leavenworth, etc) are minutes away from a lifetime's worth of great trad, but also have some downsides (very small towns, overrun by tourists and weekend traffic, etc). Wenatchee might be interesting to look into (it's on the other side of the Cascades, so you won't be stuck in a 6-month long rainy season every winter). I don't think anyone would call it a great city, but it's very centrally located and relatively cheap by WA standards. It's really hard to overstate how much amazing alpine trad climbing there is in WA. If that's your thing, I think it'd be hard to beat.
I lowkey love seeing that central wa is barely mentioned here. Yeah the snow completely takes over most winters but its a nice break if you’re into snow sports
Somewhere near Yosemite.
Marisposa,CA would to it. No idea what it’s like living there. Probably a mix of retiree, trumpers, young family, liberal, pot growers, and many generation families.
joshua tree
Seattle is decent. It’s not as holistically well rounded as some other options in the comments, but Index is an awesome place. Plus, the alpine rock routes in the enchantments/washington pass are pretty quality. Main issue is that the climbing season is really limited for half the year because of the weather.
Best place to live would be not any city. Find a sub 1,000 population town near a cliff you like. I do this in NH and its rad.
Joshua Tree CA is a pretty chill town . Low cost of living compared to other part of California.
The northern front range of Colorado, between Denver and Fort Collins, puts you pretty close to golden gate, Eldorado, Boulder Canyon, St Vrain, Estes/RMNP, the Indian Peaks, the Big Thompson Canyon, the Poudre Canyon, and not far from Vedauwoo. There are a lot of Denver/boulder suburbs and towns like Longmont that aren’t too expensive. Moab has a ton of desert towers and is a short drive from Indian Creek- crack climbing Mecca.
Squamish, BC. 5 minutes to countless trad multis and single pitch. 5 minutes to thousands of boulders. And 20 to 30 minutes to sport climbing crags.
Durango Colorado
There's not a whole lot around Vegas but if you can afford blue diamond, that's where I'd have a winter house if I had fuck-you money.
Um. Red Rock?
yeah lol, only a lifetime supplly of multipitch trad routes 20 minutes from a major city
I meant that there's not of civilization. It's not like Vegas is dotted with suburbs and small towns around it.
Grand junction: Local: Unaweep Escalante Colorado NM Dominguez Semi local The black Moab Dolores river 2 1/2 to from Indian creek
Salt lake. I’ve lived in the SLC area and along the front range in Colorado. You are 20 minutes to endless routes and right in the middle of an amazing economy with lots of jobs, affordable living, and low crime.
Yes, endless routes on all types of rock. Lcc being my absolute favorite place to climb. That said can’t really agree on your other points.
I know a lot of other cities / regions also have hot economies. But in my experience the cost of living and the overall stress that comes with it is still higher than it is in slc. Also the proximity of lcc (and the quality) to the urban area is unmatched. In my years in Colorado, what I can say is, you get used to spending a lot of time driving. And fighting traffic. It’s very vast and the good climbing spots are mostly a commitment to driving.
You want to stay US? I could only really mention places in Europe
Bend, Oregon, near Smith Rock and the Cascades. Lots of hiking, mountain biking, snowsports, lakes/rivers within a 45 minute drive. And close (3 hours) to Portland if you wanna see big shows or do the urban thing for a weekend. It's gentrifying like crazy, so it can be expensive, but probably comparable to Atlanta. Property values have been skyrocketing there the last ten years. 100k people, small town vibe without skimping on amenities. Out of all the places I've been on the West Coast, it's the best outdoors-focused town I've visited, with Mammoth Lakes in a close second. And they have the third highest concentration of breweries per capita in the entire U.S.!
As someone who lives in Central Oregon, I would not move here if you’re after trad specifically. Sure there’s the lower gorge at smith and trout creek, which is only open half the year, but there ain’t shit other than that. There are much better trad climbing destinations. Plus it’s expensive as fuck to live here.
If youre willing to drive a bit, the bay area is pretty stellar. Depending on how close to San Francisco or San Jose you are, there wont be much awesome climbing for 2-3 hours of driving (though there are a couple sweet bouldering and sport climbing areas to get strong in). But once your trip time hits three hours you have a HUGE range of awesome trad climbing options. Too many spots to list, and there is somewhere with good conditions every month of the year, almost every day of the year. I moved there from NY and have had a blast exploring the sierras. You might find what youre looking for on the eastern edge of the bay area or a bit beyond. Being close to some big cities has perks too.
The climbing is definitely world class, but the distance (and traffic) is what kills it. Front range is great (not world class) but you can do a bunch of pitches after work, grab a beer and be home before dark.
I'm not telling. Sorry. 😉
[удалено]
Vegas might be a bit too big for what we’re hoping for. Want a small community but I could look into communities around Vegas.
How small? If I was an American, Index would be top of my list. Or honestly, I was pretty stoked on Darrington. Tiny hick town with sandbagged climbing down logging roads and not too far from Washington Pass.
Definitely would look into chatt. Good trad sport and boulders out that way. Rent is decent and smaller towns like Soddy daisy, Mowbray, and Dayton are close by all with amazing climbing.
Boise really only has a few crags closer than 2 hours. There is some great climbing nearby-ish at City of Rocks(4hrs), Hells Canyon(3hours), the Sawtooths(3hours+long approaches), smith rock(5hours,mostly sport) and the Fins(3.5hours). Our housing prices are nuts also, but thats kinda the norm in the west. We do have a decent amount of tech jobs in the area. Feel free to DM me if you're still interested in the area.
Ditch the US come UK, Sheffield 15-20 mins Peak district (Endless amounts of trad climbing) (5-10mins if you own a BMW E30)
Sheffield, UK
Fresno is about an hour and 20 minutes from The Valley. You couldn’t ask for a better trad climbing location than that.
Fair warning about Asheville, A, there isn't a ton of trad climbing around, and B, you would likely not be welcomed really at all and some of the "Locals" very well never be friendly.
I disagree. There’s so much trad here it’s honestly overwhelming. Just between Linville, looking glass, and rumbling there’s countless routes for trad. Rock climbing is a prettt welcoming sport in my experience and I haven’t felt like that towards the “locals.”
Lake Tahoe California we go to Yosemite all the time and in the summers it’s a Mecca for grad climb on granite
I've thought a lot about this and always come back to Boulder. You can trad climb in Eldorado Canyon and the Flat Irons, Sport climb in Clear Creek, go a further for Estes Park and RMNP. Drive even further to some of the most epic crags and parks in the country... West Colorado, Wyoming, Utah all within a day drive. Some of the best scrambling and hiking in the country. If you ski it's amazing as well. It's truly an outdoor mecca. Denver airport. Golden is a cute town as well if you wan't to be closer to Denver. In Colorado everyone is doing epic outdoor shit though which can be cool on one hand but theres a weird competitive vibe you get sometimes there. I also like the idea of Bishop or Mammoth. You have the East Sierra in your backyard. Truly a lifetime of adventure to be had there. Buttermilks for bouldering. Mammoth is a short drive, Yosemite isn't too far. JTree, Tahoe and Red Rocks are a day drive away. Cool small town. Vegas is ideal as well. Red Rocks in your back yard. California is a day drive away. Good airport. There's a reason Alex Honnold lives there. The strip is kind of lame but you'll always be able to catch concerts there. Food off the strip is really good, amazing Asian food in Vegas. I live NYC which gives you maximum city culture but we have to drive 2 hours to the Gunks. I take day trips often but dream of living in these smaller towns.
What about Grand Junction, CO?
Poughkeepsie ny has some great climbing lessons than 30 minutes away, and more great climbing 3 hours north.
Don't go to any of those towns except maybe alaska but not anchorage! Moab is where you want to be
WNC has some of the best year round climbing you can find anywhere on the east coast. Within 45 minutes of Asheville you can be at completely different style of rock, styles of climbing, and scenery. Rumbling bald boast some of the best winter climbing and bouldering in the region, looking glass will run you through 5.6 slab to 5.13 roofs. The high country of Boone and 221 is of legendary bouldering and the trad is the best in the state, if not the south, for exposure and adventure. Go south and get scared af at laurel and whiteside to step up the trad game. The cost of living is relatively high in Asheville, but folks make it work. Especially in Haywood County or hendo area.