That sounds pretty wicked. To be honest I have never ventured to Texas before.
Are there any particular routes or climbs you'd recommend?
I cannot recommend climbing so much only because I don't climb. Yet. It is on my list of things to get tf done in my life though. I think Id prefer bouldering if I was going to venture to what I'd eventually like, but the reality is is that I've only climbed a handful of times in gyms. And Im not good at it there.
Anywher along the greenbelt in Austin is going to satisfy, I'd say. It's halfway between El Paso and East Texas, Austin is full of things to do, and there are a ton of hot spots.. so you can make a day road-trip out of things, starting at Natural Bridge Caverns (Near San Antonio), and hit up a ton of watering holes and hiking spots all along the outskirts of Austin, go into downtown for the night, then emerge for Green Belt and Zilker park the next day.
These are all water exhibits because I'm obsessed with water and hiking.
Asheville, NC has a TON of amazing hiking ranging from light hikes to near vertical areas to see the upper falls. As lame as it sounds, romanticasheville is a website that has an amazing wealth of information on things to do in the area for anyone--romantic or not.
If you want my opinion, the BEST place I ever went to for outdoor sites and hiking ever was the Grand Canyon. Just outside of it, over 100 miles away from the national park, when I booked a trip to Havasu Falls. It was a (really expensive) whim based on a single picture I saw of one of the falls. I got maybe 6 hours of sleep in 3 days, was on horseback 3 hours a day getting there and back, and only had shreds of daylight to see what I wanted to see. It was the best best place I ever went to, and I'd like to go back when I can go play more and do it some justice. Make sure you see the Grand Canyon Caverns too, it's literally on the way out.
Anyways, the list we did on a weekend trip out there to Austin:
Natural Bridge Caverns
McKinney Falls State park
Jacob's well in Wimberley TX
Krause Springs
Hamilton Pool Preserve
Greenbelt Austin
Zilker Park and Barton Springs
honorable mentions I wish we'd done:
Enchanted Rock
Balcones Canyonlands
more of Round Rock
The Salt Lick BBQ
some exploration of Dripping Springs
Some research ahead of time of events in Austin and stuff to do there so we could have done more legit partying downtown.