Best Climbing Gym near Sf, California

Dogpatch Boulders is hands down one of the best climbing gyms in the Bay Area! The facility is massive, with walls for all levels—from beginner to advanced. The route setting is creative and challenging, keeping things fresh and exciting every time I visit. The staff are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, always ready to help with tips or advice. The community vibe here is amazing—welcoming and encouraging, no matter your skill level. One of the highlights? They have a sauna in each of the locker rooms! It’s the perfect way to unwind after a tough session on the walls. Combine that with their clean and well-maintained gym, spacious training areas, and even a yoga studio, and this place really has it all. Highly recommend for climbers of all levels!

one of the best gyms in the bay by far. all new holds, gym equipment, and sauna. plenty of space to study and stretch when you're not climbing. FANTASTIC service. employees are kind, helpful, and fun to talk to. can get busy weekday evenings but there's plenty of well-set routes to try including a comp wall.

Really nice facility for bouldering -- huge space filled with commercial boulders, as well as Kilter board and spray walls which are certainly nice to have. Pretty good selection of training equipment (campus rungs, a few hangboards, adequate weights section for climbers, no pegboard). However, it's a bit too pricey and crowded for me. Maybe I'm just a bit grouchy remembering the crowds and prices of Bay Area gyms 10 years ago, but it's hard for me to justify the cost, especially considering there's a number of things that I don't particularly want to subsidize through my membership (classes, yoga, events, coworking space) and the number of people I have to fight through to get to the things I do want to use.

I had a really great experience bouldering here as a novice. The routes helped me practice a lot of skills and techniques which are either new or unfamiliar to me. It’s climbing so obviously there’s going to be an emphasis on the vertical aspects of movement, but it’s nice to be challenged also horizontally in that setting. I feel like a lot of routes for beginners put too much emphasis on going up and down while a lot of the V0-V1 in this gym exposed you to different elements of bouldering.

Pretty great setting, but a steep incline of difficulty from v6 to v7, really greasy holds, terrible brushes, and not the best ventilation. I went in for a few hours and could not only flash v6 consistently, but also do them as 4x4s and couldn't get a single 7. I don't think anyone brushes the holds and there's a ton of traffic before they are reset so the holds are VERY greasy. Part of the reason no one brushes the holds is because they only have 2 brushes, both of which are just poles with brushes poorly taped to their ends. The general facilities, weight area, hangboards, spray walls, bathrooms, and other aspects of the gym are actually quite nice, though!

A fantastic space for bouldering. Nice chill vibes, and just so welcoming, even as an out-of-towner. The walls themselves are quite big so plenty of routes to try. I would say that the initial difficulty curve for beginners is a bit steep (

Friendly staff and people in the gym. The equipment is clean and new. There's also a shower room too. Many different routes for different levels of challenges. It's also very working/laptop-friendly. No problem staying here for the whole day.

Love Benchmark at first visit today :) it is closer than Dogpatch (from downtown). Problems are interesting (v4+) - more cave than slab problems. The vibe is prob the best part, super chill. Reminds me of the Seattle Project - Fremont location. The gym is not big but feels airy and not crowded, no screaming/running children (!!!) on a Sunday morning (10a - 1p). Music is good, people are friendly. I feel bad for the lone person working here on this particular Sunday - it is a lot with people coming in / out and managing the whole 10,000 sqft space. THANK YOU ❤️ Pricing is comparable to any other city gym, cheaper than NYC. One pet-peeve: would be nice if they can open early, say 8a if not earlier. I will be back next time in town, which is monthly lol

Quality over quantity here. The routes are great, and really push you. The community and staff are some of the nicest I have met in the climbing scene. This place is truly a gem for climbers at all levels ~ the upstairs gives it just enough area to be a full time gym… but it is much smaller when comparing to the other gyms in the area. Maybe 1/4th or 1/3rd the size of Dogpatch for reference. Great vibe! Always happy to climb here! Stay awesome Benchmark ~

Great climbing gym in the middle of the city. There's plenty of space, both on the wall but also around the bouldering mattresses, there's a small gym + exercise machine and a shower the staff is very friendly and the set has a good difficulty progression. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is the steep entry price ($30 for a day pass) especially if you're not a local

Top notch climbing gym in SF. Great for lead and belay Bouldering section is a bit cramped when crowded. The weights section is pretty good. Good lockers and sauna

Been going here for years. Honestly, I only go anymore because it's very close to where I live. The gym is pretty worn and crappy. It's also SUPER crowded after work on weekdays, to the point it's impossible to climb with any efficiency. Workout machines are old and crappy and frequently broken and they have a very limited selection. Sauna is nice, but very small. The classes are kind of a joke, there are literally zero hiit classes that are not during 9-5 working hours, so if you have a normal work schedule you will never be able to attend. I did go to one once and it was also very strange, just an instructor writing the exercises on a board and then you do them at your own pace. Zero energy, zero good music to pump you up, literally just like working out on your own? Get better instructors and get more classes at times people who have jobs can attend. Getting harder and harder to justify the ever increasing cost of membership. Movement is much nicer and has better classes, more interesting routes, cleaner, and less crowded.

It's been over a decade since I last climbed, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to return to the sport while visiting town to see my son. I remembered the climbing community being incredibly supportive, and I was reminded of their warmth and kindness as soon as I walked into Mission Cliffs. A special shout-out to Laurie at the front desk. He couldn't have been more welcoming and enthusiastic about having me back and climbing with my son. His positive energy and genuine friendliness set the tone for an amazing experience. Mission Cliffs is a great example of how exceptional customer service can make a big difference. Their welcoming attitude and friendly staff created a memorable experience. Thank you for providing a fantastic climbing experience and helping me create a lasting memory with my son.

I rarely write negative reviews — especially for a climbing gym — but my experience at Mission Cliffs in SF was so disappointing in so many ways. Maria (staff member) was extremely condescending. We were visiting from out of town and my partner needed to take his lead certification because he hadn’t visited a touchstone before. Between us, we have hundreds of hours of lead climbing experiences, both indoors and outside. We were made to wait over an hour — despite repeatedly coming back to the front desk to ask when we could take it and if anyone was available (they were, but were just chit chatting at the desk). After the hour, we finally went to the desk to ask again and she said “oh, hasn’t someone already tested you yet?” to which she finally agreed to come administer the test. I have previously passed a lead test at touchstone, but was told that by participating in the test again that if I did anything wrong my lead cert would be revoked. Get the need to be safe here, but this felt super unnecessary. She then pointed out that I didn’t have a lead card (we had told her when checking in that we were visiting from out of town and didn’t have this). She then said in an accusatory tone that she could take away my lead cert for not having the card (all before the test, all still extremely unnecessary). She then proceeded to administer the test — which is one of the unnecessarily hardest lead routes for a test imo having visited many gyms in many countries. There is no need for a lead climber to be able to climb an overhung 10b successfully and clean in one go — the emphasis should clearly be on safety rather than ability (other gyms I have visited have plenty of great 10.b and below lead routes). There is also no need to intimidate the climber taking the test prior to them taking the test. Her instructions were convoluted (“clip 6 clips, you can discuss which ones between you” — unclear why she couldn’t just say clip all the draws on the route) and she was just downright mean. The cumulative effect of this is a gym that feels extremely oppressive and unfriendly to climbers — both old and new. I cannot even imagine how a newer lead climber would feel taking this test — intimidated, scared, and frankly not wanting to bother to clear these hurdles. Sadly, to top it off, the route setting was not even good. Straight up and down and nothing very interesting.

The gym was clean and has great facilities. I thought the grades were a little funky and all over the place. The bouldering grades were quite hard and the lead/top-rope grades were very soft. Either way, I had a good climbing experience. I was appreciative of the staff’s safety standards but I felt ripped off on my lead test. We arrived around ~10am and had to wait till 4:30 to take our test, we were failed over minor backstepping and specific rules of the test that weren’t communicated. Our examiner was very condescending, cold, rude, and borderline confrontational from the start. For example, when my friend took the top-rope exam, he was asked how long the tail needed to be. He responded “about a fist and a finger or so”. The examiner glared and snarled “it has to be at least 6 inches!”. It was all ironic because most of the permanent top-rope ropes didn’t have stopper knots. I really wanted to like the gym, and my buddy and I had a great time on the wall but the treatment of a certain staff member really stained my experience.