Rock climbing is the ultimate full body work out that doesn’t actually feel like exercise. Don’t get it twisted, it’s no walk in the park, in terms of calorie burn it beats your bog-standard gym class any day.
Rock climbing adventures will strengthen and stretch every muscle in your body—and no, there’s no cheating. That includes your arms, fingers, shoulders, core, legs, and yes, even your toes. And that’s before we even get to the mental challenge of a climb! It’s the perfect top-to-toe workout for mind and body.
So, go on, break your gym rut; we’ve gathered up Brisbane’s best rock climbing spots to really get your blood pumping.
9 Degrees
72 Pickering Street, Enoggera & 3/500 Lytton Road, Morningside
After hitting the Brisbane rock climbing scene a few years back with their Enoggera bouldering gym, 9 Degrees has now come to the east side, opening a brand new location in Morningside. And what on earth is bouldering you say? It’s rock climbing stripped back to its bare essentials. No ropes and harnesses, it’s a faster paced challenge with shorter problem solving routes—and ideal for anyone who can't find a climbing buddy. The name is a sneaky reference to the nine degrees of difficulty you'll find on the walls, with dozens of bouldering routes suited to all abilities, so you can jump, swing and bound until your grip strength runs out. We also love that the gym is solar powered, has coffee and laptop stations if you want to hang a while after your session and also provides Kilter board sessions and a weights area.
Urban Climb
2/220 Montague Road, West End, 5 Morse Street, Newstead & 17 Roy Street, Milton
Urban Climb offers the full package, combing climbing, yoga and gym fitness training. For those who really want to hone their skills (or just have no idea what they're doing), the West End gym offers climbing classes to get you tackling harder grades in no time. The community is all about helping you reach new heights, with regular member nights and mixers, and a membership will get you access to any of their gyms.
Kangaroo Point Cliffs
Riverlife Adventure Centre Kangaroo Point Cliffs Drive, Kangaroo Point
Of course, we can’t go past our most iconic outdoor adventure location, the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. This is the ultimate riverside climbing and abseiling experience right in the heart of Brisbane. The naturally weathered walls are beautifully illuminated for night climbs (when it's cooler), and you are rewarded with some of the best views in Brisbane at the top. We’d pick this ascent to the Kangaroo Point Stairs any day. We recommend booking in a night climb with Pinnacle Sports —they'll supply all the equipment and a guide, you just have to hang on. See other sessions here.
Rocksports
224 Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley
The first ever indoor rock climbing gym in Brisbane, Rocksports continues to take the lead with mountains of challenges to tick off your list. We’re talking bouldering, eight metre high top rope climbing with auto belays, lead climbing, personal coaching, parties, junior programs and much more. With a maze of nooks and crannies covered in climbing routes, climbing here is an experience all in itself, with regular resets that will keep you coming back to try new challenges over and over again.
Crank Indoor Climbing
537 Kessels Road, Macgregor
Crank is all about functional fitness fun. On top of sky scraping rock walls they’ve got Parkour training and a Ninja Warrior Park to scramble your way through. On the climbing side of things though, you'll find 38 top-ropes, 60m of bouldering walls, 8 aut belays and literally hundreds of rock climbing routes to tackle. They also offer run climbing technique classes and climbing training, as well as a ninja warrior course and a full weights gym if you want to cut ties with your regular gym.
Urban Xtreme
4/370 Nudgee Road, Hendra
Urban Xtreme is all about variety, with 10 adventure activities all under the same roof. We’re talking rock climbing, snowsports, and adventure parks, not to mention some pretty awesome kid-friendly activities that are perfect to set them up for an early night (and some quiet time). For those a bit more serious about the rock climbing sport, Urban Xtreme is the home of a championship competition space, the perfect training playground to conquer new heights.
ICP Boulder Hall
1/435 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley
A new addition to the Brisbane rockclimbing scene, ICP Boulder Hall has taken over a cavernous warehouse with a full-size competition boulder wall, as well a range of training board systems. ICP designs and creates climbing walls Australia-wide, so you can guarantee that you're going to be challenged by the bouldering routes here.
Want more outdoor activities to try? Check out Brisbane's best mini golf.
Image credit: 9 Degrees/Melanie Hinds