Excellent climbing center! So many different routes for all levels and lots of auto-belay options, which are great if you don't have a belay partner. Fun place to hang out with kids. read more

Sportrock - Top rope climbing - Rock Climbing Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Welcoming to everyone. Really! Plenty of bouldering, top rope, lead climbing routes and autobelay routes. Fun things to do if you need a break, too (ping pong, air hockey, games). read more

Sportrock has been such a haven for my family. My husband and I climbed before we had a child. We wanted to return to this hobby, and Sportrock has made it possible for our family to come back to a sport we love. Sportrock is very family friendly. There are so many places for kids to roam around without getting in the way of climbers. We primarily Boulder and take turns climbing while one of us tends to our 1 year old. When we are at "the backcourts" our daughter stays amused by cruising around the mats and checking out the ping pong table. When we are at "the pool" my daughter loves climbing on the stairs. Sportrock has so much space! The climbs are fun and the range of difficulty is great. I love that they have community meetups for vegetarians and moms! They have great workout facilities I can use on climbing rest days. And I am excited that one day my daughter can celebrate her birthday party at Sportrock with their party room. We look forward to many more adventures at Sportrock and cannot wait for our daughter to learn to climb one day soon. read more

Sportrock - The pool - Rock Climbing Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

hands down best rock climbing gym I've been to. I usually boulder and they have lots of great climbs! Route setters always cooook, good mix of easy, hard, and interesting. Very nice clean facilities, and staff is amazing. They have an insane college student deal on Friday nights where passes are $15 read more

Visited on my friend's guest pass. Since my regular gym is Movement CC I very much appreciated the taller walls here. Only did rope climbing, liked their routes and feel pretty accomplished trying a bunch of their youth competition routes from recent Youth USAC comp. Since the gym is so new the holds are very frictiony! read more

5/5! With Rio being the newest addition to the Sportrock Climbing locations, expectations were very high. The Facility: The facility is huge! Plenty of top rope/lead and bouldering to go around. There are three main areas, the front top rope/lead area downstairs, the upstairs pool area (boulders) with a section to top rope as well, and the backcourts (bouldering/top rope). With it being such a huge facility, there's plenty of space to go around and it doesn't feel cramped even during peak hours. There's also a very nice gym on the bottom floor with very nice equipment. All updated with Rogue machines and accessories. The Routes/Grades: Routes are set pretty fairly here. I found that every grade I was reading looked pretty fair for each level of climber. It helps with the new grading system, so all levels aren't discouraged for trying new routes/grades. The holds are also very clean and fresh. So no slippery, dirty hold here! The Staff: The staff here are very nice and welcoming too! They are very informative and helpful if you have any questions. Overall, a 5/5. Sportrock is already one of my favorite climbing gyms in the DMV area, and with the addition of Rio, Sportrock members have another great option to travel too. read more

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I'm excited a new, cheaper climbing opened near me.  Sportrock Climbing Center just opened at the Rio, where the Sport & Health used to be. I used to go to the Sport & Health. It is cool to see how they transformed the space. I wish they kept the swimming pool, but they turned it into a bouldering area. I'm not too fond of the layout of the gym. It feels like a maze. They have plenty of toprope and lead climbs and boulder problems. The brand new holds are really rough.  Got some scrapes here and there, but I'm still having fun on their routes. I loved climbing next to the giant window where you can see the lake down below. I wish they had more overhung climbs. If you are new to Sportrock and want to climb the walls, you will need to pass a belay test that's pretty easy to do. They also have some auto-belay routes, if you don't have a partner. You will need to a lesson and then get tested when you return the next time. The lowering part was interesting. The first few seconds feels like a drop, but then slows down when you're lowered.  They also have yoga room, workout room, and a small cardio room. I usually ride the stationary bike, but the ones here are a little too high for my 5 foot self. I'm excited to see what workout classes they have.  One of my favorite things at the gym are the individual saunas in the bathrooms. You can play music in them.  They also have two mini arcade game machines, Foosball, and table tennis.  Plenty of parking in the garage. $90/month for individuals. You get 12 guest passes a year. *Edit to add: I hope they add foot showers in the bathrooms. Also for the individual saunas, it'd be great if they frosted the glass doors. It's not very relaxing to have people look at you whenever they walk by. read more

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The staff when you first walk in throughout your entire visit is so friendly and willing to go above and beyond to make you feel comfortable. The environment as a whole is very large and clean and provides plenty of space to feel relaxed and have a great experience. I highly recommend place and definitely plan on coming back read more

Been a part of Sportrock since 2014 when Living Social was a thing! Ever since my first climbing class (intro to top roping), I have fallen in love with rock climbing. While I do not come to Gaithersburg often, it is always nice to visit this location in Rio. The views are really great, the facility used to be a pool, but they transformed it into a top-notch facility. There are two speed climbing walls. Incredibly tall rope courses, a ton of bouldering space, a really nice gym with brand new equipment, sauna, shower, and other activities. The bouldering walls here are a bit high, but everything is well padded and there are safety holds that you can use to climb down if you prefer. Make sure to fill out the safety waiver if you bring guests. It really pays to be a member of Sportrock. You can access all three locations (Sterling, Alexandria, Rio) when you have a membership and invite first time visitors for free as long as you bring them. The gym is located on the highest level of the Dave and Busters parking garage. There's plenty of things to do around this location. Your whole day can pass by quickly. read more

I'm a climber. My home gym is Movement in Columbia. Some love it and some hate it. But a bunch of us who gather there headed to SR Rio for a change of pace. It was definitely different than the local Movement gyms. It was built in what used to be a pool/swimming area. That, at the least, makes the entire environment different and interesting. It did take us all a few minutes and laps around the entire gym to find our way around. There are two floors (at least we only saw two floors) and the ways to get up and down are kinda hidden. But it's a cool looking layout, mainly because it's the remnants of the previous swim center. The climbs were different. The holds, ALL of them, were much more sticky (read: very new and raw feeling) than anywhere else I've ever been. In the main bouldering area upstairs most of the climbs lead to top-outs. If you're not comfortable climbing up and over the 'roof', then you'd better get used to it before you head here, if you're gonna boulder in that area. The ropes walls in the main area were crazy high, 60 feet I think I was told. Nice routes and a nice variety of them. One very cool note: The main ropes area overlooks a huge glass wall, the one you can see from Rt. 270. Climb up, turn around and have a look at traffic zooming along from up high. Very nice view. My main issues are 1) Almost no down-climbing holds. A few on the tops of most of the problems, but there should be a LOT more going much further down. Nobody should have to jump more than a few feet off of the problems to the ground. That's just bad practice. 2) The other thing that is admittedly a *me thing* is that the entire look, to me, makes the gym appear to be focused very much on kids. Everything from bright primary colors (holds and everything) to the signs (which need really really to be updated from the old swim center). Oh and 3) the problems were really confusing. The way they mark the starts, holds, and ends is not at all obvious. Our group several times stood in front of a few problems discussing where they might go. That's not right --- this stuff should be absolutely obvious for beginners, let alone for a group with a combined 20-25 years of climbing experience. It's a nice place, don't get me wrong. Just not my personal style of climbing gym. I may try it again in a year or so; things may change since they just recently opened. read more

Super super cool !! To find out we have one of the best climbing gyms right here in Maryland is wild. This place is used for Olympic tryouts. Kids love it. Ping pong in the back for breaks. Great team building experiences for the family or work events. You only live one. Enjoy your climbs in style and colorful ambiance. read more

Sportrock - Rock Climbing Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

This place was really cool! Stopped in for the youth climbing competition and got to boulder around a little bit after. The boulder room is situated in an old pool and they lean into that old fact with a few cool touches - for example, the neon "no diving" sign and the ladders for top-out looked like pool ladders. They had top ropes as well and workout gyms. One specifically for cardio and another section for weightlifting. The gym was clean and nice! Really enjoyed it. read more

Sportrock - Climbing comp - Rock Climbing Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

(4.5) ~ Very Good indoor Bouldering & Rock Climbing Facility. NOTES: Free Parking garage next door. It's located on the 3rd floor via elevator. They offer lessons & shoe rentals too;) read more

Staff is super nice and helpful. Instructors are super approachable and knowledgeable. Experience was phenomenal, and I'll definitely be back! read more

I loved how challenging it was and that I got stuck on a few of the walls and the adrenaline really added onto all the fun. I thought the staff was very helpful and friendly. I had so much fun, although I do wish the hardest walls were a little more challenging it was still really exiting to be there. read more