The redesigned Reading Rocks was a blast!!! Angela was incredibly helpful and kind, a wealth of knowledge and wonderful towards our 11 year old daughter! The kilter board was so fun. The updated flooring was fantastic, she could boulder everywhere now with that installed and best thing is they can vacuum it for cleanliness. The routes were fun and challenging. Do yourself a favor and get the bag of chalk, your hands will thank you later. Heads up, you must have climbing shoes now to get on the walls (more sanitary, they can be rented there for a nominal fee) Also, you need to be certified to belay, one-time fee as well, quick waiver and you're ready to climb! read more

See all

I am apart of the Venturing Crew 5.14, and I go here mostly every Wednesday for crew meetings. The staff at Reading Rocks are very kind and helpful they critique you if you wear your harness wrong, or your climbing technique is incorrect. Also the snacks and drinks in their vending machines are very affordable compared to other places. Only 75 cents for a soda and 50 cents for cookies I think. The admission is $14, but if you join Venturing Crew 5.14 you get half price for $7. I recommend this business to climbers of all skill levels. I also recommend you join Venturing Crew 5.14. You get to go on campouts, climb outdoors, and learn lots of life skills, and you don't need to know any skills prior to joining. It says the crew is for ages 14-21 but I joined at age 13. read more

See all

Reading, PA is lucky to have Reading Rocks, since there are no other options in the area, and we will go again, but compared to climbing gyms elsewhere, it's not that great for a few reasons. 1) They don't have auto belays so your group needs to have multiple capable belayers if everyone wants to climb, but for folks like me with kids, you will be the one tying knots and belaying for hours and be limited on the climbing you get to do, so not a great option. 2) The boulder in the center of the climbing area looks nice, but it has minimal holds and routes and a terrible use of potential bouldering space. The bouldering cave is better, but it's a very small area and pretty much all at incline. This is too bad because bouldering doesn't require belayers and my kids can do it while I belay the others. 3) The gym has plenty of routes/levels to give you a pump and tire everyone out, but it's kind of small and lacks variety relative to other climbing gyms. The price is okay, the staff is very nice and helpful, there are reasonable amenities, and as someone who's done a good bit of climbing, I plan to return many times, but I wish they would upgrade the items above to make it a higher tier climbing gym. read more

Very disappointed in this business. I had posted to their Facebook in order to address someone who was maliciously posting things through online social media towards the BLM movement. I would've appreciated a response but found they ignored my comment and blocked me from contacting them. Very disappointed in this gym, the climbing world should be an inclusive place. But I doubt this gyms commitment. read more

For the money this is one of the best climbing gyms I've been to. Very friendly staff, challenging routes for all levels and a very professional atmosphere. My only criticism would be a lack of any really bumped out overhangs. The ceiling being part of the climbing surface does make things interesting. read more

Reading Rocks - Gyms Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

Fantastic place to rock climb. For serious climbers to practice and also for kids. So helpful!

If your ego has bloated to the point where you have perpeutal neck pain, this is the place for you.Reading Rocks will humble you. It will pain you. It will conquer you. It's been years since I was at Reading Rocks...last time I was there, they were located next to The Works. I am as amateur as climbers can get, and there may be bigger and better, but thier new location on George Street is very impressive. The climbing areas consist of one wall of relatively flat climbs, with taped hand holds indicating the difficlty of each climbing route. The backwall will offer a series of angled/cantalevered walls, where you must climb off-pitch, around angles, and of course, eventually to the point where you are hanging upside down. The far wall- and the "island" in the middle- are made of faux-rock composite that forces the climber to face the reality of real-rock geometry, texture, and shape, with fewer installed hand holds. Ground-up tire shreds provide the soft landing on the ground. Upon arrival, the staff will suit you up with a harness ($3), teach you bellaying (sp?) technique, and stay with you until they are confident in your ability to safely lower your partner to the ground. Once you are deemed confident, you are on your own. A day pass for unlimited climbing is $12; other rentals (shooes, chalk, etc.) are available. Both times I've been there, the staff has been friendly, helpful,knowledgable, andyes, safety-oriented. They do also like to host groups, for team building; they help Boy Scouts with various badges; and, they do nights for advanced climbers- last Thursday they offered a "lights out" climb, where all that was allowed was headlamps; even the vending machine and bathrooms were blacked out! Cool! Attire? Long pants and T's are the climbing fashion. I found out why; two skinned knees from a roughly-textured wall will serve as a reminder! In case you haven't climbed for awhile, prepare to feel muslces that nature had long forgotten. Follow the white tape routes and you have chance to reach the roof; limit yourself to more difficult colors, and the holds get smaller, and are placed at more difficult intervals. Bottom line: you will feel the pain, and you will fall off. You will shake, you will burn, you will fall. Even those who show up with their own harnesses, shoes, gear, etc. fall also. It is inevitable. These walls will win. Reading Rocks has thrown down the gauntlet to those who love an adventure, even if it is indoors. So, watch Stallone in "Cliffhanger", thump your chest, and get your chalk on! read more

This place is a lot of fun! The staff is knowledgeable and friendly. Reading Rocks offers various levels for all climbers, from simple and easy to stretch to your limits tough. I had gone with a group of friends, (We found going in even numbers works best) We received a discount for our group size, and since there was an even number of us, we could all pair up and take turns climbing and assisting the one climbing. It was a good price for the time we spent, we actually left before our time was up, cause we were all sore, it's a great workout that's for sure! It was a blast and we will all return again! read more

I've been to Reading Rocks now 4 times in the past couple months and I've had a wonderful experience every time. Twice I've gone with my boyfriend and the other two times I've gone with a group of friends (The Crew OCR) to train grip strength for obstacle course racing. Each time, I've been able to climb a different path than I had previously, as there are so many walls and paths available for patrons. They also have two fun bouldering areas to try your skills at climbing without ropes (belay). I grew up going to a rock climbing gym in Chester County and it has nothing on Reading Rocks. The owners/employees are so friendly and incredibly helpful, and the climbers that you can tell are regulars are really down-to-earth too. I look forward to climbing every time, knowing I'm going to Reading Rocks. They also have a team building course that I'm hoping to get The Crew OCR to attend one day. I will try to remember to update again once we have done so. read more

I'm not an avid rock climber, but this has become a "date" destination for my wife and I when we can get grandparents to watch the kids. Basically we are not avid rock climbers, but we are active. The staff is super knowledgeable and patient, and gave us very clear and concise directions on safety and the gear itself. We tried to bring our son here (who at 4, probably was too young but we figured we would let him toy around to see if he had interest) however he wasn't crazy about the idea of climbing and thus didn't partake. The nice woman at the counter gave us a voucher for him to come back for free to try it again, good until the end of the year. We didn't take them up on the offer, but the gesture sure showed the kind of service you will get here. Thus, this fine establishment gets the elusive 5th star. read more

Awesome gym! Live that they have bouldering in the middle of the gym. Looks small in the outside but large once you go in!

Great place to get some climbing in! Staff are super friendly and helpful, great atmosphere.

Reading Rock is SUCH an awesome gym! I've visited a lot of climbing gyms and this is the warmest, friendliest gym I've ever had the pleasure to climb in. The staff is very knowledgeable and will help you if you don't know what you're doing, so this is a great place to go if it's your first time. If you're experienced and you don't have a partner, you can go in there and meet new people and find a partner to climb with. The gym has such a friendly vibe. I also love that they don't nickel and dime you here like a lot of other gyms. You go, pay your admission fee (which is very reasonable) and rent gear if you need to. They provide belay devices on all the ropes so you won't need to bring your own or rent (which is a hidden cost at a lot of other gyms). They don't charge extra for teaching you how to belay or get through a difficult climb -- they are so helpful! If they see you doing something wrong, they'll kindly tell you how to correct yourself. I heard they also do free clinics for new climbers too, so ask about that. The only downside is that it can get crowded sometimes if there are a lot of parties or kids in there at once, but it's never been too bad. It just means that this place is popular! read more

Great place for climbing -- decided to go here over Spooky Nook (even though it's ~20 minutes farther away for us) because the walls look more real/natural and because their entire focus is climbing. My wife and I had a bit of climbing experience at Sportrock in Virginia and wanted to get back into climbing for the exercise and challenge. We haven't tried the bouldering yet, but the top roping has lots of challenging routes with solid markings. They also have some very realistic looking "mountains" where you can plot your own route -- the difficulty is rated by which rope you use (limiting what wall features you have access to). We were used to Sportrock's belay system where you would bring your own belay device, but here they have ATCs already hooked into the rope that you clip into (also using their freely provided twist-lock carabiners). Belaying is easier and safer here -- the rope is double wrapped at the top so the descent is much smoother and slower. Routes are labeled by color, the lighter the color the easier the route. I may be wrong, but I think all the walls are about the same height, higher than the shorter size walls we would do at Sportrock but shorter than their taller walls. It's a good distance, not overly tiring and not overly scary :) It may be because we've limited ourselves to the 5.6/5.7 routes, but the routes seem more narrow than what we're used to. Also, instead of floor mats they have some soft shredded material filling the climbing area (except for bouldering areas which do have mats in addition). As others have mentioned, very friendly and helpful staff; we were back up to speed and climbing in just a few minutes. We went today (a Sunday) and it wasn't overly crowded, always had plenty of space and go to try out lots of routes. Looking forward to going back now that we're members! I'm told they take groups out for learning outdoor climbing as well if that's something you're interested in trying. read more