Best Mountaineering Class Grand Rapids Near Me

Jentzen Mehl: Doesn’t allow you to bring any chalk apart from chalk balls. Charges $3 to verify you can belay. Very prideful place, there are many other great gyms to climb at in GR. I suggest Inside Moves LLC and TerraFirma for bouldering.

Noah Lynch: Great staff here, and an all around great place to climb.

Michael McDermed: I’ve climbed at this gym since the 1990s! I learned to climb here and whenever I come back to West Michigan I make sure to stop in and boulder or use the rope facilities.

Matthew Asselin: Always a great place to climb staff is always so welcoming and helpful!

Austin Alexander: Higher grounds and inside moves are my go to climbing destinations in MI. The workers are awesome the owners are even better they set realistic routes its amazing!! I love these two places so much!! I spend every bday at the gym!!

Theresa Anderson Varney: Love this place!! Pauley is great!!

Grand Kai Gaming: I went the other day with a group and we had a such a great time, I truly applaud Paulie as he is probably the best rock climbing instructor I have ever met because he made myself and the whole group feel extremely comfortable with the whole process. We had a great time, would highly recommend this place!

Karine Rose: Great local climbing gym. The staff are very vigilant about safely while also being kind and respectful.Higher ground is a great place to learn top rope because the walls are shorter than a lot of chain/bigger commercial gyms. It's a great place to learn climbing technique and try it out on fun routes!

Sam Hinkley: Very nice small gym. 1 room of ropes and 2 rooms of bouldering, with some interesting topography. The staff was also super friendly and welcoming!

Jonny Verde: I went without expectations and Polly made this experience amazing his knowledge gave me the preparation to feel comfortable in the gym which I never been before. Very profesional staff and fun environment. Totally recommend for any stage of bouldering or rock climbing.

Nicholas Starn: my homie and i got back into climbing and paulie really helped us out. didnt treat us like noobs and is a great teacher. very cool environment. routes changed frequently to keep things fresh

Xander L.: Paulie is a very clear communicator, extremely friendly, and genuinely appreciative of patrons. He's everything you'd want in a wall climbing instructor, and made my first time very memorable!

Gabriel Lynn: Myself and my girlfriend are total beginners. We've been wanting to get into climbing for a while, and decided to try out Higher Ground after reading some reviews. I'M SO GLAD THAT WE DID! The place itself is so awesome, and so is the staff we received help from! They made sure we understood everything and that we were comfortable after our lesson on belaying. They've earned permanent fans. And we will be returning as members here shortly. If you're on the fence, go for it! You won't regret it

Ryan Kooy: Awesome gym and awesome community for both the staff and the people who go here. Don't be afraid to ask anyone questions. The bouldering is excellent for all skill levels and the top rope is also good. Excellent place to for a first time climber or someone who's familiar with climbing and wants to meet some new people or just get better!

Ryan Bartz: Fun bouldering here! The space is a bit small, so I recommend going on weeknights to avoid the crowd.

Josh Emelander: Paulie was amazing and incredibly friendly. Would definitly visit again with the wide variety of walls and warm welcome from Paulie. He was patient, very knowledgeable and extremely friendly. Would 100 percent reccomend setting aside a few hours to explore and conquer this place!

Mark P: Yoshi was the person who helped my fiance and I set up our harnesses, teach us how to belay, how to communicate safely with each other, and how to use the auto-belayer. It was my first time and he was patient and checked in on us a few times while we were climbing. He really went above and beyond.There are a ton of runs and the difficulty increases reasonably. We had a blast!

Anonymous: As an experienced climber, the routes are interesting and well set. Approachable for both beginners and moderately experienced climbers. However, we visited on an expectedly busy day and the safety protocol was lacking. The workers were kind, but very understaffed. Only one worker to check in and perform belay training while another ran an event. As a result, belay training was inadequate and I saw numerous unsafe practices with new belayers and an very scary, preventable injury that occurred as a direct result. Additionally, it seemed as though there were too many people to safely climb in a small space and we were frequently bumped into or walked in front of while belaying by those who were unaware. Climbing is inherently risky and needs to be treated as such with proper training. Other gyms require classes and extensive safety checks, which I did not observe to be up to par here.

Ahmad Khalil: It was my first time trying this. Good experience and staff is very nice and helpful as well. Has multiple difficulty levels, but walls to climb are not that high.

Antonia Furlo: Nice small gym! I think Paulie was the name of the staff member helping us, and he was wonderful. Very patient and gave great instruction to my mom when she was learning to belay, on top of keeping an eye on the other novice climbers around us. Very friendly, welcoming, and informative.Decent price for a daypass and honestly the prices for classes looked like a steal compared to other places.Gear looked decent if a bit worn but nothing felt unsafe or neglected. I can't stand the fits-all harnesses they use for rental harnesses but luckily had my own harness with me.Belay instruction was great but extremely simplified (which is great for beginners! Just not what I would teach but it's not my gym and at the end of the day it's still safe and that's what counts) and they teach on an assisted-braking device so you miss out on learning some of the basics.Had a great time overall and would visit again!

Michelangelo Kern: I have a membership here, hands down best climbing gym in the area. Well worth the price (I pay $66/mo with my student ID)

Louis Vieregge: Terra is a great bouldering gym & I have been coming for years! I enjoy sport climbing more than bouldering, but Terra has the best facility excel in your climbing goals!The fitness classes that Terra Firma offers have been the best supplemental workout for my climbing! I have been a regular to the fitness classes on Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday mornings, and I have nothing but great things to say about the class and the instructor!Isaiah’s classes are perfect for any level of fitness. There are always easier or harder modifications if you are proficient or lacking in a certain muscle group! If you haven’t signed up for one yet, make sure you try one out!I only have positive things to say about this gym! Only change I would love to see is more early hour days for the 9-5 workers 👀Would highly recommend getting a day pass/membership and experience it for yourself!

heroangel20: I'm honestly surprised at the near 5 star rating... It was well maintained and clean but definitely not build for beginners. Very few pink (beginner) courses, many of which were too easy; but then you try the next level and there's no way to even get half way up. The gym is big enough to where they could have specific areas of the gym for each skill level; my girlfriend and I are first timers and we often felt in the way of the experienced people. That or the experienced people were climbing across the entire wall face, hogging all the routes. Staff was friendly to start, but very aloof after checkout. Could easily earn their near 5 star if ran/set up properly and be far more inviting to beginners who might want to get into the sport.

Henry Godin: Awesome experience as a beginner. The staff is very knowledgeable and helpful.

Olia: Awesome place, however note that this is bouldering only place (as the name states 😂 lol, I.e no rope rock climbing).Pretty cool though, all you need is climbing shoes, which you can rent at the place too 👍

Zach: Great place. Only knocking it a star because it’s super expensive.

Shelby Denhof: The vibe here is great! It’s a wonderful place to go with friends or to even make new friends. I like that they have lgbtq+ climb nights. This place is a win for the city.

Joe Munsterteiger: I have already been here more than once, fun activity you can do anytime and the community is unlike any other. :)

Garrett Moore: Best climbing gym on the west side of Michigan

Alisha Davidson: Fantastic facility, friendly staff, very clean and kid friendly.

Kristin Marcus: Friendly atmosphere. Great climbing!!

Madison Moore: We drive 2 hours one way every so often to visit this gym and it’s well worth the trip. Clean and modern facility with newer holds and volumes; super pleasant climbing environment. Setting leaves a bit to be desired in terms of more technical, problem-solving climbs, but otherwise a very solid gym.

Charlie Beals: Lots of space, very well set routes with good variety. Pricy.

MichiganMikeG: Great climbing facility for bouldering. Staff were friendly and helpful. Comfortable layout and clean.

Nicole Czuhajewski: First time visitor and our first time ever bouldering and I was blown away with the kindness of everyone at the facility. Very clean, good variety of route for newbies to more seasoned veterans. I would highly recommend and we will be visiting once in the area again.

Troy Munchbach: Cool environment and friendly staff. I was able to chat with a lot of the patrons as well, who all seem to be friendly. This is a good spot to try climbing/bouldering if you may be intimidated, nobody is judgmental.

Bob Nickerson: Fun, affordable, and clean. This place is a great choice for bouldering for any skill level.

David P: My favorite gym in the greater Grand Rapids area. Super clean and friendly staff. New problems rotated frequently.

Ardell Persenaire: A lot of fun even for a neophyte

Todd Carpenter: Another great date day with my wife today. Our date poster said rock climbing, so that's what we did! This was our first time at Terra Firma, and we had a blast. The girl at the front counter was super helpful and explained the rules and expectations really well. The facility was clean, and they had a lot of different types and dofficulty levels of walls available. I'm not sure if we will be back as we didn't climb so well, but we had a lot of fun ajd enjoyed our day at Terra Firma. We highly recommend checking them out!

Ty hutterson: Great organization and so glad that it's in our neighborhood. They have just about everything you need to go outdoors and have an amazing time.

David Jenkins: I'm a long time member (7 years). I really wish I could say good things because Inside Moves has been dear to my heart for many years. The first few years were great, but then things changed. This gym hasn't cared about its members for years. I've actually talked to them several times over the years about my concerns and they are always ignored. Basically, they are the only top roping gym in the area and they do not reset routes nearly fast enough (Higher Ground top rope doesn't count because they don't reset those at all and they are a max of 15 feet tall). When they do reset, they set less routes than previously existed and there is no rhyme or reason to which routes get reset. I'm not kidding when I say some walls are a year old where as other walls were reset multiple times over the same year. Most walls have 2-3 routes on them which is just pathetic and they lately consist of 5.9 or less (blue, green, or white). I've repeatedly asked for more 5.10-12 and it's rare to get any. They tore down the bouldering cave and routes outside the cave for a desk area, they added a bouldering room but lost a whole wall as a result, and they took down the entire old bouldering area and are putting in a type of kilter board in it's place instead of more top rope (they abandoned setting that area a long time ago though which was also frustrating). It's a huge shame that they have the monopoly on top rope and lead. I'd go to terra firma, but they don't have any ropes so I am stuck. Honestly, I wouldn't say anything about this if they actually took my concerns to heart. Inside Moves should scrap everything bouldering related and be top rope only and Higher Ground should scrap everything top rope related and be purely a bouldering gym.

Thomas Huynh: Big bouldering room as well as top rope, and one of the cheapest rates

Paul Henderson: Inside Moves is an amazing gym! The staff is super helpful and all have experience climbing outside of the gym. The gym can always provide a challenge whether you're just beginning or are looking for a big challenge! Whether you're training for a trip or just looking for a new adventure in your life - this place can help you out! They'll sell the gear you need too!

Emina Delic: Love it! Kids club is perfect!

Tasia Blaesser: 4 stars because the grading system is trash. I like old school gyms and my home gym is one but it was near impossible to truly get an idea of the grade for boulders and top rope. 5 stars for the location, cleanliness, and staff.

Deanna Shaw: Staff member Elyse (unsure if that's correct, sorry!) Was very kind, informative and willing to answer any questions we had. Being first time climbers, we're happy we chose Inside Moves!

Isaiah Taylor: This has been my for 4 years and could not ask for more. This is also the gym that got me into climbing. Climbing here from the start all the way to now I have always felt like there has been a great mix of easy, challenging, and difficult routes. Everybody here from the workers to the people that climb here are some of the nicest people I know. This place feels like less of a gym and more of a community of climbers who are all rooting for each other. Love this place.

Chad L: The staff is friendly and the climbers are friendly too.

Kaleb Greenan: Went for a family climbing day yesterday. About six years since they had climbed so we did the intro class with Mike. He was great with the two boys and clearly explained gear and skills in a way that everyone could understand. It would have been a great experience based on the variety of climbs available, and quality of the facility. Mike pushed it to the next level with his outstanding interactions with the family.

Karine Rose: I love going to local climbing gyms! Inside moves has great vibes; last time I was really struggling to get up a route and I heard a lot of people cheering me in on (both my belay buddy and total strangers).I got a year membership at this gym and have enjoyed being here every time!

Megan D.: One of the best gyms I've ever been to. The staff are incredibly knowledgeable and some of the friendliest out of any climbing gym I've been to. The setting is also great. If you want challenging rope and boulder routes, this is the place you need to go. There is a cool dynamic of old school walls and a new school boulder area that shows the growth of the gym over time. I cannot recommend this gym enough!

Samuel Couch: Fantastic climbing gym. I climb here once a week on average. All staff is very friendly and helpful, there are frequently new routes of varying difficulty for top rope as well as bouldering, and other regulars are chill. Prices are fair and there is plenty of gear to choose from for new and experienced climbers. Only con is that it gets ridiculously hot in the summer… bring water!!

Anders: Great place love it

Anders Stormo: Great best experience ever

Nicolas Widdis-Dishaw: Great place if you want to die but aren't quite ready yet👍

Aaron Rose: Love how tall the walls are here, bouldering area is pretty good size too!

Jessica Fields: What an awesome place! We had so much fun. The lesson was quick and to the point and the prices are very reasonable. I will definitely be back and will recommend to others.

Justin Bohnett: Far more challenging than I expected! I'll absolutely be coming back.

Joshua V: Good routes... bouldering, top roping, lead climbing (if you let them certify you), even a couple auto-belay routes if you want to climb alone...

Dave Rimar: The route setting is top notch in terms of creativity, the staff was cool and I didn't have to take a $50 class just to boulder...like some gyms that will remain nameless

Zoe Payne: Such a nice place to take the Littles for a walk, very well maintained and lots of wild life!Wait time No wait Price for adult entry $1–5 …More

Seth Kanten: Visited on Weekday Wait time No wait Reservation recommended Not sure Price for adult entry $1–5More

jack Zieger: Amazing Gem in downtown grand rapids for great hiking trails and nature walks. Always quiet and never too busy. We mostly just hike the grounds, but they have a great community center with animals and interactive exhibits.Visited on Weekend …More

Dave Olson: Beautiful trails, educational animals, visitor center, working farm. One room schoolhouse, blacksmith, old cabin, and maple syrup building are fun.

Bhavani Ananthan: It's free entry during the month of April.. Nice hiking trails.. Family & kids can enjoy..Visited on Weekend Wait time No wait Reservation recommended No Price for adult entry Free …More

Genny Stevens: Visited on Weekend Wait time No wait Reservation recommended Not sure Price for adult entry FreeMore

Amanda R: Kind and patient staff made the visit so special. They took extra time talking with my kids, and you can tell they love the animals! The grounds are lovely with great trails and boardwalks. The property connects to The Highlands, giving you even more to explore!Wait time No wait Reservation recommended No …More

Mr Swamp Gass: Visited on Weekend Wait time No wait Reservation recommended Yes Price for adult entry FreeMore

Gregory Fritz: We love this place. Kids always have a great time. Super friendly, well informed staff. Reasonably priced.Visited on Weekend Wait time No wait Price for adult entry $6–10 …More

Gary Eichen: Absolutely awesome. Historic village, owls, turtles and an opossum, (oh my - lol) I'm betting fall there is incredible.

Elizabeth Pierce: Lots of hiking areas, some paths are paved, most are woodchip. Many hills, flora and wild creatures. There are some rescue animals on premise, a nice visitor center with bathrooms, a marsh outlook. Check for events, there are many programs offered and cool out-buildings that are used for education.Visited on Weekday Wait time No wait Reservation recommended No …More

Doug Miller: Great place to visit..back to nature. Nice hiking trails

Casey D: Don't bring your dog here if it's a bully breed of any sort. The workers will 100% stereotype them and follow you.

Christine Gallup: Visited on Weekday Wait time No wait Reservation recommended No Price for adult entry FreeMore

Rich: Had a great time! Especially loved the Highlands areaVisited on Weekday Wait time No wait Reservation recommended Not sure Price for adult entry Free …More

LAURA RAMIREZ LIRA: Wait time No wait Reservation recommended Yes Price for adult entry FreeMore

Gabrielle Hensch: I’d definitely check out their website for events— they have a lot of fun events all year round. I’ve been a few times to craft shows, art workshops and of course, got to meet some very cute critters! They have HUGE nature trails. Not a huge parking lot so on busy days, parking can be tough.

Sandi White: A nice place to go. There are rescued animals that you can see very closely and lots of nature trails to roam. Most of the trails off the main one were flooded or muddy because we had rain a few days in a row.Visited on Weekday Wait time No wait Reservation recommended No Price for adult entry $1–5 …More

Damir “Grof” Kesar: Went with my daughters 3rd grade class as a chaperone and I have to say it had been a decade or longer since I went there last time and the place is much improved and very educational for kids and adults. Their guides ended up getting sick the night before and I thought that would make the tour less fun (as the parents had to act as guides) but no it was still easy to navigate and full of both nature and history that remains relevant.

BrendA Kerwin: Had an enjoyable time walking the trails. So much to explore.Visited on Weekend Wait time No wait Reservation recommended No Price for adult entry Free …More