Reddit reviews The Trad Guide to Joshua Tree: 60 Favorite Climbs from 5.5 to 5.9

Not sure if my comment was coming across as mean-spirited, but I didn't intend it to be so. I genuinely appreciate what you're doing. My story about the guidebook happens pretty often to me in southern CA, I'll show up someplace with a ticklist of high rated <V4 problems, only to find they are highballs or have landings full of rocks / down large hills.

I wish more route developers had a keen eye toward noobs. I own this book, and if books like this existed for other areas, I would definitely pick them up.

https://www.amazon.com/Trad-Guide-Joshua-Tree-Favorite/dp/0972441395

That's what you want then for sure! Just good clean fun.

There are tons of guidebooks for Josh. Depends on what you want though as some are more just a list of climbs without much commentary.(even gear!) Some are more of a best of which I would recommend. I have the "trad guide to josh" which has 60 climbs from 5.5 to 5.9 that the author recommends. It's good but I'd probably get this one instead; in fact I just picked it up.

Tahquitz only has one really

malibu creek has sport climbing the santa monicas is ok. but nowhere near the quality of the color pictures and descriptions of the josh ones.

hidden treasures east covers holcomb valley. You can get a lot of info from the mountain project page too.

Red rock is way out of the way but tons of amazing climbing. this is really the defacto guidebook. I am hesitant to say that I have seen a better guidebook anywhere.

There is some hard sport at the riverside quarry(though some really easy stuff too but not a moderate destination crag by any stretch of the mind). You can get the second edition of louie's guide book directly from him. Full color and very good.