Grand River Rocks Kitchener

Fantastic experience: great place to climb. me and my daughter had a lot of fun.

Fantastic experience: Well organized and very fun

Fantastic experience: Great fun with my son.

Fantastic experience: Helpful! Made me feel comfortable and safe!

Fantastic experience: Awesome place! Took two kiddos age 9 there last week and was blown away by the staff and welcoming environment. Clean facilities and family friendly environment.

Fantastic experience: Perfect combination of Fun and challenging

Fantastic experience: It was Such a fun place to visit ... I had 1 day pass ... they didnt have any time limit for how long you can stay inside which was amazing ... worth every penny ... Staff girl was very friendly ... Wash rooms and changing area were clean .. I wore a hoodie .. nothing underneath but I would suggest you to bring your gym clothes with you to change in changing room .. and do not forget to bring a water bottle ... You will need it for sure ...

Fantastic experience: Fun and welcoming gym for all levels of climbers. Was skeptical on my commitment but moved from a punch card to a membership within 2 months time. Climbs always changing new challenges always await.

Fantastic experience: Super friendly staff and a great spot to climb! Good split of Bouldering and Top-Rope along with climbs for every level of climber! Big fan of their "Slab of the Week" challenge, as well as how frequently they update the climbs on their walls!

Fantastic experience: Great gym, really friendly staff and very helpful. I brought my partner who's never climbed before and they walked her through the top rope set up and all the bouldering etiquette. Lots of climbing surfaces and variation in difficulties. Great for newbies and experts.

Positive experience: The new place is nice and well put to put together.

Fantastic experience: Took my daughter . Had a great time . Reasonably priced and great staff . Very helpful and pleasant.

Fantastic experience: Super nice staff and great rock climbing gym

Negative experience: I thoroughly enjoyed the old location, the new location's bouldering section has no creativity, a lack of total climbs with very bad grading. I am struggling on some v5's and then have no problem with a v9, which makes no sense as well as charging $20 more for less quality.

Fantastic experience: Friendly, kind humans. Great setting with a lot of interesting climbs. 10/10 - would go everyday.

Fantastic experience: Staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Great atmosphere and very welcoming. Will Definitely be back.

Fantastic experience: I had a fantastic first experience at Grand River Rocks! The facility is gorgeous, bright and clean. I love the orientation room and the layout of the space! A lot of thought went into someone's first climbing experience there, and it shows. Also, as someone who has been to quite a few gyms, I thoroughly enjoyed my climbing experience at GRR. I'll be back again soon!

Positive experience: Caveat: I only boulder, not AB/Lead/Top Rope. Context: I was a GRR Kitchener member at the old location for 2-3 years before moving to Toronto. I've been bouldering for 8.5 years and have climbed in 30+ gyms. GRR Kitchener was a huge disappointment. The location is good. There's tons of space inside the building, and yet the bouldering feels like an afterthought. It lacks quantity and uniqueness. There's tons of bland empty space. The mats feel odd and rigid. The odd part is that the setting is good, and yet I still feel like I had a mediocre experience at best. I'll be returning to GRR Waterloo from here on out.

Negative experience: The atmosphere seems good. The lead climbing looked impressive, but I went for the bouldering. In all honesty the climbs seemed like they were put up by lead climbers. There wasn’t much creativity. No real dyno, no go toe or heel hook placements, crack climbs etc. And the grading system didn’t seem at all right, you shouldn’t struggle on a v5 and then be able to a v9. Ultimately i was really just disappointed with the creativity of the climbs, they just seemed lackluster. It’s really unfortunate because I loved the old bouldering gym, it had lots of creativity. Unfortunately for the price point to what I feel I’m getting I won’t be coming back.

Fantastic experience: Awesome climbing gym and great staff.

Negative experience: Didnt even enter because the staff is a joke. They wouldn't accept a valid student card for their * discounted rate * would reccomend the grotto in gueloh as an alternative as the staff their is friendly and knowledgeable

Fantastic experience: This organization is incredible. Best rock climbing gym. Staff are really great!

Fantastic experience: This place is super fun for all ages and levels. They provide all equipment or you can bring your own; training/coaching is available also. Would be a great spot for a birthday, and you’re even able to come and go with your day pass!! Lots of climbing options and bouldering walls, there’s even a gym area thats included in the day-pass

Negative experience: Member since 2018. The new location although shiny and very spacious for the non climbing areas, has lost the “love” or “essence” that GRR once had. All the walls are mostly vertical, mats are very hard, and features fall flat and uninteresting. Much love for the owners and crew that run and have contributed to the climbing community in KW and around, but we left feeling uninspired. We can say that there is a lot of room for improvement and a redesign of the climbing wall faces. For such a large area to work with, Walltopia did not do a good job with the design. Will continue to support the folks at GRR, just through the Waterloo location until something changes at the Kitchener one.

Positive experience: Its a good gym with lots of well-set routes but I wish the walls were taller and there was more variety in wall angle

Fantastic experience: Nice place to relax, enjoy the green field around you. Walking around the jungle is very nice. Quite place

Fantastic experience: Love the biweekly top-rope route rotations. There's something new and exciting to try out every time we go.

Fantastic experience: Been going to GRR since 2017 and I love how they make rock climbing accessible for people of all skill levels. The new gym is very spacious, and has a huge wall filled with auto belays, along with a variety of top rope walls, to keep any new and experienced climbers busy. Now that they have lockers, be sure to bring a lock so you can secure your stuff. Great staff too!

Fantastic experience: Very helpful and friendly. My grandson loves to climb there. It's a clean and happy place.

Fantastic experience: Love the new location! Lots of space and variety. I only wish the Go Bananas area was a little bigger.

Fantastic experience: Grand River Rocks has created such an incredible, uplifting & positive community amongst local climbers. In the wake of moving from their previous location, which so many called "home", their hard work shows in the space they've created on Victoria. Their new location is bright, air conditioned(!!) and welcoming! All the kudos to the GRR team.

Fantastic experience: Modern new setting has many advantages & encourages a new and different set of skill developments. Yes, I do miss some of the aspects (eg. overhang) of Borden (hope they can add some later) but I love how the wall now affords insane levels of smear, making me think in a completely different way than I’ve ever thought before & also how much safer it feels with so much space between everything. Seems like a very good complement to Waterloo GRR imo. Minor weird note is that as an old guy I love cooling off sitting in front of the floor level air filters & staring out the incredible windows lol

Positive experience: I absolutely love GRR and have for years. Fantastic community and wonderful staff and setting. I’ve had a two gym family membership for years. With the move to the new location I’m actually going to be dropping to a single gym membership. I understand that they’re making the most of the space they have. I spend all my time bouldering and the Borden gym had a ton of bouldering with great variety. The new gym feels like it has 70% less bouldering. If you prefer tall wall climbing or have kids then this is the gym for you. For me, I’m going to stick with GRR Waterloo for the increased focus on bouldering.

Fantastic experience: 7+ years of climbing at GRR and with the personal fear of change….. I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE NEW GYM. I haven’t been motivated to climb in a long time and this place has renewed the spark of climbing for me. Yes, it’s very different in comparison to the old location but it is significantly better in every single way. If you haven’t been climbing before this is the place to go. I’m very much looking forward to all that this new gym has to offer!

Positive experience: Have been a member for many years. Loved the old location even with no air conditioning and how overcrowded it was. But this one is a miss for me, sadly. It looks nicer and more spacious, and much better change rooms and washrooms. That's about it. The bouldering, that i do the most, is basically a torture now with great rush of falling on the rock hard mattress and getting a whiplash, that i got today. I know how to fall, i climbed at dozens of gyms. This is not it. You basically have to stuck only to the climbs you know you can climb 100 percent and can safely downclimb after... So climb 2 grades below. What the point again? And tires routes cross each other so much that one half of the boulder wall can accommodate only two climbers at a time... It's a disappointment, to be honest.

Positive experience: I've been going to GRR since it opened so I'm probably a bit biased towards the old location, but the new location just isn't up to par. (I've been top roping and bouldering at the new location, but not lead.) The Good: the setting is still great and enjoyable. The bad: The cheese grater walls combined with almost exclusively slab or almost slab walls, copious amounts of volumes, higher walls, and rock hard bouldering matts is a recipe for disaster. Committing to a move and failing almost guarantees some kind of an injury, either to your skin or from the impact. The alleged air condition also seems to be not working, or just very inadequate. Doesn't feel much different to Borden (it has been 40* out though so maybe it just cant handle the extremes) I know the walls will smooth over time, maybe the matts will too. But the wall design is pretty sad when Borden was so unique and had so much variety. And the increased danger of injury is disappointing, especially for new climbers and the "senior" climbers. Borden was fun and unique, and while the light at the new location, bigger change rooms, etc. are nice perks, it feels like people who have never climbed designed the gym.

Fantastic experience: I've been visiting GRR for years. Great gym with a great vibe. Excited to visit their new location in the coming months!

Positive experience: Nice climbs and lots to choose from, whether it's top rope, auto belay, or bouldering. Main issue is the lack of floor space and sitting areas. When it's busy there's just no where to sit and it becomes extremely hard to navigate the floor to the point where your forced to go onto the grey mats or walk really close to people doing top rope. It's not a deal breaker but sitting on the floor while I wait to climb is really not what I'm going for when I'm resting.

Fantastic experience: Had a great time here! Nice diverse high climbs. Last time i was at this place was 2 years ago & still the staff seems to be great & on point with getting you in quickly & explaining things with a good attitude! Not too busy either, which is great!

Fantastic experience: Nice place to climb! As a single climber, I appreciated the auto-belay routes. Good, quick instruction for first-time visitors. No complaints!

Fantastic experience: By far my favourite dating app. Highly recommend. Everyone seems to be relatively fit and share common interests and hobbies. Gets awkward if you use it too much though. Be wise. With great power comes great responsibility.

Fantastic experience: Climbs are cycled frequently, the gym is clean and the staff are friendly.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic facility for bouldering… friendly and inclusive atmosphere and a lot of fun climbs

Fantastic experience: Was a super fun place to climb! Great variety for all levels.

Fantastic experience: A great place for a date night, or family night out, or even solo climb. We have been members for 1 year and love the friendly environment.

Fantastic experience: Come here every week mostly for top rope! Friendly staff and nice community! Can get a little busy but there is so much to climb that you don't have to wait to get on the wall. New wall areas are set weekly which maintains a constant challenge. There is a weekly bouldering slab challenge that is always fun to try even if I can't finish it! First started climbing here (and in general) last year, definitely a great place to start out at. Highly recommend trying auto belays first! I also love the retail area! So many cute climbing gift ideas!

Fantastic experience: I love Grand River Rocks Kitchener. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, there are routes for you. I do belay, auto belay, and bouldering. Chalk, climbing shoes, and harnesses are all available for purchase or to rent for the day. (Regular runners are fine on the climbs, but climbing shoes give a very different experience, especially if you're a little daredevil.) There are also 2 themed kids routes, lead climbing, a grip training station and a mini-gym (regular running shoes required, no chalk in the gym). Lockers are available for day use (BYO lock), and the change/washrooms are always kept quite tidy. Whether you're new to climbing or looking to try a new gym to fuel your passion for climbing, I very highly recommend checking out the GRR Kitchener location. The staff are friendly, the routes get changed up often, and it's always a good time.

Positive experience: Great boulders, great staff, a few too many kinds running around but still a real time

Fantastic experience: Very helpful staff, was a bit worried at the start being fairly new but the environment from other climbers and staff was very friendly.

Fantastic experience: Wow, This place is amazing for kid's. They have a vendor snack machine and drinks as well for breaks, and washrooms if needed. Take your kid's out there and enjoy the fun. Friendly and caring staff to help you answer all your questions.

Positive experience: Honestly a really bad experience, went there for the first time and bought climbing shoes and all. Read the rules on the wall then got called down and then basically offered a refund to leave. We were there for 10 minutes and weren't even told what we did wrong. Not to mention the next family that came in was treated completely different and was tought "the rules". We weren't. I would like to add no one who was climbing was under the influence in my group. Our driver had smoked a small joint way earlier that day and we respected the request when staff asked him not to climb, he sat to watch our items and was being told to leave.

Positive experience: Facilities there are good, routes are good as well, but very disappointed that they don’t do Lead Test there on Saturday.

Fantastic experience: Love this place. Friendly staff, safe and informative, good variety of climbs even for amateurs like myself and my partner. They have bandaids on site too lol.

Positive experience: Awesome! Helpful staff. The bouldering mats in the new location are harder than the previous location. That makes things really difficult for beginners like me. I can’t make any risky moves and I have to stick to down-climbing. What is the point of bouldering if you can only do the moves that you are sure will work? The whole point is to try new things. I CANNOT imagine a possible reason for changing the mats. Were people complaining that mats were too soft or something? Help me understand why they would spend money to make something worse.

Positive experience: Great height, lots of top rope and lead options, while having bouldering available as well. If you're just going to boulder, I would opt for the wloo gym instead. Rocks and walls lack texture/cleanliness imo. The fitness gym looks incredible, bumper plates and even a curve treadmill!!

Positive experience: Walls a bit old. New location should be better. Great setting - pretty stiff. Decent workout area. Just a bit crowded at peak times.

Fantastic experience: Really love this place. Great for family, their prices are very realistic and you can spend all day here. You can get right into climbing very fast and they have options for everyone from kids to experienced adults. They have water fountains and energy drink vending machine. I would have loved to see them offer lockers. Bathrooms are nice and clean. Gym is very well ventilated.

Fantastic experience: The best place to climb in Kitchener! Well it’s the only place but still it’s amazing. You should go!

Fantastic experience: Excellent climbing gym for bouldering, top rope and lead. Friendly staff and lots of options for all ages/skill level. Have visited this location 30+ times and there's always new things to try

Positive experience: High walls, 50% off belay at the time. Auto belays we’re broken. Didn’t try the bolders. New location will likely be awesome

Negative experience: We set up my son's 9 year old birthday party here. We showed up paid and then were told they had no harnesses for anyone. All the kids were disappointed!

Fantastic experience: I took my 11 year old daughter here yesterday. What an amazing experience all due to one staff member who went over and above my expectations. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a smiling young woman named Alison. She explained that due to some unforeseen circumstances, their automatic belay systems were down and if my daughter wanted to climb the walls we would require someone to belay for her. Me stepping in dad mode said “oh I could belay for her” lol. Turns out I really don’t know how to properly belay… haha Alison was quick to offer her services and toss on a harness. She said they weren’t terribly busy and she would walk around the space with us and belay for my daughter while she climbed. I was flabbergasted! Alison was so friendly and explained everything to my daughter to ensure my daughter felt safe and had fun. My daughter climbed for well over an hour, all the while Alison showed great patience and encouragement and literally stuck by our side the entire time. Upon leaving yesterday afternoon all my daughter could talk about was how great it was and how awesome Alison was! Just wanted to Thank Grand River Rocks and especially Alison for such an amazing experience! I hope a manager or supervisor gets to read this review and rewards Alison appropriately.

Fantastic experience: Great gym with plenty of climbs. They have auto belay walls as well! So good- the staff were also super friendly. There is bouldering in the middle as well.

Fantastic experience: I love GRR, the staff is so amazing and the climbing walls have something for everyone. My daughter and I love going every week.

Fantastic experience: Always came here back when I was undergrad. Good climbing problems, nice staff and fun vibes.

Negative experience: Inexperienced staff apply unwritten rules inconsistently, harshly and without warning. I've gone here for years and bonded with many of the climbers here. But I'll find somewhere else to climb now because of the high turnover of welcoming and friendly staff.

Positive experience: It’s good climbing but extremely busy especially on weeknights. Expect laps of kids on the boulder problems every day except Sunday. Membership options are cumbersome.

Positive experience: The biggest rock climbing gym in the KW The staff are not friendly most of the times it’s really crowded with camps. walls are not replaced very frequently, One of the biggest complaints I have is the lighting it very well lit.

Fantastic experience: Great gym. Great staff. Love the setters always mixing things up. Thanks

Fantastic experience: Just fantastic! Such a great climbing gym, great staff, and lots of amazing options for fist timer and young children.

Positive experience: Most of the walls were belay or super advanced auto belay walls and they don’t have very many auto belay walls that weren’t super advanced but it was still fun but we wouldn’t go again

Fantastic experience: It's a really great place. The kids absolutely loved it. We received a crash course on how it all works. The staff was very lovely and the prices were good. The washrooms could have been nicer. It was a great activity and we will be back.

Fantastic experience: Great climbing gym! Kind staff, great route setting, good atmosphere.

Positive experience: Good gym, lots of fun, the route setting is good the walls are a good height and theyre resonably priced too!

Fantastic experience: Excellent gym. Quality route setting, lots of variety from beginner to 5.12, and nice staff.

Fantastic experience: super fun. awesome gym with lots of all-skill-level friendliness. options of kids as well. very friendly, helpful, and professional staff. can't wait to come back!

Positive experience: Took a couple kids to climb. Staff was amazing, both with orientation & helpful tips. It was really busy tho, and felt a bit crowded.

Positive experience: Love the walls! And they get constantly updated. It does gets busy in the afternoons. Also gets super hot during summer

Fantastic experience: My son loves this place! Very friendly and helpful staff, and good taste in music last night :)

Fantastic experience: I don't see how an indoor facility for this gets any better. Staff is experienced and helpful. If your interested but nervous I implore you to go. Virtually all ages and abilities can achieve new goals and have a blast. Take the kids...all of them. Go now.

Fantastic experience: Loved it here! Tons of different routes and a great mix of grades. I appricitate how many auto belays they had! It's a great option if you want to bring someone new to climbing, or go by yourself. Bouldering section was sick. Really fun problems with a great mix of difficulty again. Routes were creative and fun to solve. Killer staff and great vibe. Everyone there including other guests are nice and welcoming. I will absolutely be returning when I visit Ontario. Highly highly reccomend going here.

Fantastic experience: I love this place. Great staff and the climbs are updated often. New and diverse setting.

Positive experience: It's starting to feel a little tired. Alot of holds are small compared to newer standards, while also feeling old and polished. They pack a lot of climbing wall into the space though, with enough variety for everyone. A good gym for Kitchener, but better gyms in Ontario!

Fantastic experience: Good sized gym with lots of boulders, troopers, autobelays, and lead routes. Grades are much softer than outdoors but comparable to other gyms in Ontario.

Fantastic experience: First rock climbing gym I went and it was amazing. They have a lot of different climbs, have an amazing staff, and is sanitary.

Positive experience: Everything about this place is great. Update: Been climbing here 5 months now. Started doing v3-v4 climbs. Really love this place overall. Need to try the waterloo location more as well. Edit: Been climbing almost 2 years now. I am not a huge fan of the new location due to the amount bouldering and a few other things. But still a great community of people. I would only say that I recommend the Waterloo location for people who strictly boulder now.

Negative experience: Recommendation tldr: not for beginners; no sense of friendliness or community. It was way too crowded, (Tuesday night) and the instructions were strictly to stay off the mats, but the gym is set up in a way where you can't walk through unless you're under top-ropers or.. shocker, you walk on the mats. To me, it felt claustrophobic and dangerous. Also the atmosphere was not very friendly - compared to other gyms, there wasn't any community encouragement.

Fantastic experience: My 6yo and 16yo enjoying this place, they love to be there with their friends and with family

Fantastic experience: Having tried many of the climbing gyms in the province, I can say this is one is good. There's lots of variety, the cost is reasonable. You can come as a beginner with no experience or equipment and have a good time. Or, you can advance up to lead climbing in the caves. I only wish the walls were taller (or massive ceiling route), and that Tuesday & Thursday from 7 to 8 pm weren't so hectic. Why does everyone pick these times to go to the gym? The hypocrisy is noted. Only beware that if you've never climbed before, it may lead you down a dark path of fitness and international travel, finding the best climbing places along the way. And grr is a good place to start that journey.

Fantastic experience: Great gym with lots of fun problems. It is a bit older and some problems are more burly but still good setting. They have bouldering, top rope, lead and auto belay. It does get a little busy in the evening when running kids classes but not really an issue. It also does get hot in there during the summer

Fantastic experience: Liam was awesome!! It was our first time in a while and Liam did an excellent job explaining how the bouldering worked and what the rules were We had a great time and will definitely come back!

Fantastic experience: Different patterns every couple weeks, lots of walls for belay climbing, a big boulder and a small wall cave like area. Really friendly people and atmosphere, and decently clean. I have been going here for years and really recommend it!

Fantastic experience: I checked out this place on my busy trip. It was a great place and people are really friendly in the gym. Many auto-badly so even if you are climbing by yourself you won’t be bored.

Fantastic experience: I was there with my 6 years old son. He was extremely happy, and for the next three days was asking me non stop about our next visit...

Fantastic experience: Love this place. Great facility with even better staff. They have high walls and bouldering here so it's a great mix. Can't say enough good things! Keep up the great work!

Fantastic experience: The moment I first time climbed at GRR over 7 years ago, I fell in love with the place and immediately signed up... over the years I got to know the staff and made great friendships with other climbers, young and old. Great family venue, knowledgeable staff, and fantastic routesetters... friendly community. And a nice little workout gym for that extra training.

Fantastic experience: Great rock climbing gym, great climbs and I love that the climbs change every few months. All staff are so nice and make you want to go again.

Fantastic experience: Always a good place to go, I like to find routes with specific moves I wish to practice or do a lot of ropes just for training my climbing endurance. The staff is pretty good never a complaint with them. Best time to get an annual membership is with their back to school sale in the fall.

Fantastic experience: My favourite place in Kitchener to work out. Friendly staff, nice environment, ever-changing routes. Membership price is reasonable and worth it.

Fantastic experience: Awesome rock climbing gym. I go around weekly and it is definitely worth the price. The problems vary in difficulty and are extremely well suited for anyone starting out to advanced climbers. I also haven't ever seen it too crowded which is really nice. Would recommend to anyone 10/10