Reviews of Planet Rock Climbing Gym (Gym)

Michael Thelen

This place is awesome. Nice staff. Regularly change up routes. Yoga classes included for members. I spend a lot of time here and would recommend it to anyone.

Logan Shelagowski

This is one of, if not the best gym in Michigan, I regularly make an hour and a half drive to climb here. Lots of bouldering, top rope and lead climbing. This was also the fist place that I had ever climbed, so there is something for every skill level.

Kait Roszak

This is a great gym to get you in shape for climbing in the good ol Red River Gorge KY!

Kile Mcclure

Really good gym with good routes.

amadeo rodriguez

Good instructors everything is perfect :)

Tyler

A lot of fun and a great workout!

katarchy

Went for the first time and the lesson was outstanding. The instructor made us feel very comfortable with every step of learning our safety checks for belaying and climbing. Great facility and excellent staff! I will be back

Chad Baker

I learned to climb indoors and outdoors in Austin, TX and other places, and I can say that Planet Rock is as good as any gym I've been to. The prices are a little high, but the wall is pretty high too so it's totally worth it.

Shanna Sansom

I hosted my son's birthday party here and I was blown away! What an amazing staff and facility!!! I couldn't have asked for better service, support and outcome.

Dawson Barcey

Great place so great that I request you guys open up for Sundays. So many climbers love Sunday climbing

Lonnie Freiburger

It's the best place for a family workout!! I take my two young kids with me to hit the wall. The growth the kids are having is impacting their character with the hard work, persistence, and grit. Great!

Kayla Mitchell

This gym is a fantastic place to learn how to climb safely! The staff create a welcoming environment. They're always willing to answer questions, give you information about products/climbing techniques, and are extremely thoughtful and outgoing. As someone who struggles with severe anxiety, this makes going to the gym a low stress environment. I think staff being so kind encourages the other climbers to be the same way. The vast majority of the other patrons are friendly. The other climbers are good about grabbing the staff if they see anything unsafe. The gym is kept clean, organized, and in good upkeep - I have yet to encounter any loose rocks or other safety hazards while climbing. The staff patrol the gym to keep an eye on all climbers. If they notice anyone participating in unsafe behavior, they are quick to correct the behavior. The routes are changed once a month or so in order to give climbers new challenges. Each climb is ranked to show if it is a beginner climb or more advanced. Different climbs teach different techniques. Other reviews complain about the orientation price. I don't agree. I believe the orientation price is around $44. This includes a day pass (normally $17-20), an additional day pass (usable within 30 days), your gear (belay device, harness, shoes - altogether ~$10), AND the safety course (which teaches how to safely tie in to the rope and how to safely belay a partner). Overall, this is a fantastic gym with professional/phenomenal staff. You guys are doing amazing work!

Misha McGuire

The staff is awesome and friendly. The whole climbing community is awesome

Dale Halpin

Found this place on Groupon a couple years ago now. I was hooked instantly. This is a great gym. Great for beginners and pros alike. Staff is always helpful and friendly. Routes are constantly changing so there are always new problems to work on. A nice array of classes as well to get you from the gym to real rock. Can be a bit expensive but I am not sure about prices around the country for this type of gym. Not a bad thing to say about the place.

Steven Rose

Staff is supportive and good routes

Marco Castellanos Dupuy

Has everything you could expect from your local climbing gym! Lots of sports climbing, extensive bouldering area, hangboards, crack climbing, and even a Moon Board! In mid-2017 they opened a new bouldering area (to the left as you enter) that greatly expands their beginner offering (before it was a little poor), and also includes some harder boulders. Best gym in the area!

brian granader

I’ve been climbing at Planet Rock for years and love it. Now that I’m a dad I get to being my daughter and we climb together!

April Clarke

Took our girl scout troop. They gave us two coaches for three hours. Excellent.

Jason Price

Killer gym. These guys are moving soon, and the new location looks awesome. Can't wait.

Andrew Michael

The new building here is amazing. They have something for all age levels.

Michael Axtell

Great gym! The Boulder, Top Rope, and lead areas are refreshed at a good rate. PR even has an Ice Climbing area to get get into the sport. Staff is helpful when then can be. Sometimes it is a packed in the gym and they may take a few extra minutes but what service businesses doesn’t lag a little when they are busy. In short...try them a few times. First time is mainly for learning/safety, second time is for fun!

Marriam Amjad

Super fun place. Adam was the person who gave me my lesson being a first time climber. He was super friendly and patient. Made sure i knew every bit of useful information before starting to climb. Decently priced as well. First time pass includes a pass for a second visit.Will be going back soon.

Steven Kennedy

Great staff, great gear store, helpful lessons, yoga is amazing, facility is top notch. Great program for beginners and enough to keep you busy constantly for members.

Lenore May

This place is awesome. My girlfriend and I have annual memberships and it is beyond worth the money. The employees are INCREDIBLY friendly and helpful. They're always willing to go the extra mile to make sure climbers stay safe and have fun. They offer basic gym equipment and yoga classes free to members and have a good selection in the pro shop. I can't speak highly enough about this gym and the folks that make it run. Keep being fantastic, guys!

Michael Crouse

Great layout. Works well for beginners. Staff is very helpful.

Jeffrey Watts

love this place just got a membership for 6 months. does anyone know how often they change their route?

Brett Spencer

Less crowded than the Ann Arbor location. Good climbing over all.

Elizabeth Sergent

Had my daughters 9th birthday party there!!! Everything was just great! The room where we had the party was perfect and they were absolutely great with the kids!! Everyone had a great time and truly enjoyed this experience. Excellent!!!!

Ryan Pline

Everyone that works here and goes here are super nice. I recently picked up the sport and the environment is great for learning and building friendships. The facilities are quite nice and the routs keep changing so it doesn't get boring.

N J

Great

Kyungbo Shim

Really nice place for climbing, the staff are very kind. I love this place

Chris Carter

They filled the climbing gym void on this side of town. Well done.

Griffin Clevenger

Incompetent staff, incapable of conversation (possibly high), turned my group of two away at the door. Said their last class of the night began 15 minutes ago, yet walking out the door an instructor was just about to begin a class with only 5 participants. Scolded us and gave us no helpful alternatives as to how we could possibly get in to climb. Truly awful experience.

Donovan Allen

Happy to see this place coming along so well. Staff is nice, place is clean, they are constantly switching up the routes/boulders. I'm sure once it is fully finished it will be a five star place. Competitively priced too, climbing is becoming more mainstream yet they haven't upped their prices even when they opened the new gym. Keep it up.

Brett May

Planet rock is a great climbing gym and I have had a membership here for the past two years. My only complaints are that the gym sometimes closes for competitions and you can’t boulder if it’s a top roping competition or vice versa and there is no discount for members when these competitions occur, meaning you pay a price higher than a day pass to only climb a limited number of routes. Also, the routes are fun but are by no means the best. For example, Terra Firma in Grand Rapids always has stellar, interesting, challenging routes that force you to think. Sometimes planet rock can have pretty straight forward routes, and, though still challenging, they are not as much of a mental puzzle.

Flavius Popan

This is my happy place

Trevor Gross

Best indoor climbing around!

Eric Weiss

TL;DR - You're going to pay a big fee for orientation for top roping even if all you want to do is boulder. Safety is understandable but paying an insane fee for an orientation class is insane. I've been bouldering for about 3 years now and I was in town to visit some friends. I found Planet Rock via Google Maps and figured I'd sneak in for a quick boulder session. Turned out that's not really an option at this gym. Now I understand that all gyms I have ever visited require that you go through an orientation process to explain safety regulations for the safety of the climber, the gym, and for all legal reasons. But even if all you want to do is boulder, no top roping or lead climbing, you're required to still take a rope course and pay an insane fee for the class. Why is it that this gym's insurance or safety guidelines require a ropes course just to boulder when there are tons of gyms I've been to that don't require this service? I just wish this could be re-worked so you can bring more people into the sport - I find this very uninviting.

Alex Kaiser

Great climbing gym! Friendly staff and great service. Really enjoy how often they change the courses.

Brooke Mills

really great staff that was super helpful, me and my friend had a ton of fun!

Derek Fuller

great staff, very helpful.my experience was awesome and I always walk out feeling better than I did walking in.

Cassie Berends

This place is amazing!!

G'rina Roquemore

I wouldn't even give this place one star. The people who work at this location were rude. I was asking about a party that I RSVP for and the staff almost turned me down because they thought I needed a paid membership to enter the party, when it was for anyone who registered for their website. Once at the party I felt out of place and no one was willing to answer any of my questions. They permitted drinking at this party which confused me. Drink isn't safe while rock climbing, I thought??? Is it supposed to smell like feet? I thought we keep on our shoes? I really wanted just a tour of the place that is why I went to this party today. After today, I know now to never go there again.

Joshua Haga

Rude.

Steve Cheek

Friendly atmosphere and a great place for climbers of all skill levels. Planet Rock offers basic introductory safety for those who just want to explore and learn on their own, as well as a full range of classes for everyone from beginners to those looking to take their skills to advanced routes. A large bouldering area, coupled with toprope and lead climbing routes, offers something for everyone to enjoy.

bruce stephen

This was a great experience. Friendly staff make this gym a winner. I am new to the sport and am surprised by the level of exhaustion I feel after a session. There are a ton of things to do here, from bouldering to sport. They even have a couple of slacklines to work on your balance. There are plenty of auto belay routes also if you don't have a partner. I intend on making this a regular stop. This is the most fun I've ever had working out, I certainly found some muscles I haven't used in awhile. We took a short class on the toprope belay system and its use. The instructor was informative and very patient. Thanks again Planet Rock.

Sean Hunter

Great time. Instructor was thorough. Clean place with gear for purchase. Not too crowded. It's a pretty large place to begin with. All around I have no complaints at all. Get out there and climb! (Safely of course)

Janet

Awesome facility and staff, could not have asked for a better experience. This location is about a 45 minute drive away from me, but I still find it worth it to take the extra time to make the trip here.

Zach Frenette

This place is a lot of fun. Seeing as it is the only climbing gym in the area it can get busy at times. Also if it your first time going they will charge you for a safety class.

Andrew Johnson

This place requires you either pass a belay certification or pay for a $45 hour-long class to learn how, even if you just want to boulder. I've gone to other gyms that had top ropes, and the most they required was a brief demonstration if you said you only wanted to boulder.

Jamie Boase

The Pontiac gym was my second home shortly after I graduated high school. I had never been a cool kid and it was awesome to finally find a place where I belonged. I had a diverse group of fellow climbers as friends and spent hours with them learning new techniques. Now, many years later all my kids climb and love it. It still feels like home. Occassionally a familiar face will pop up too.

Ismael Solano

Nick was very accommodating, and went out of his way to get me climbing today. Very challenging bouldering, I will definitely be back.

Deanna Berry

Had such a great time! So much fun and a great workout!! Instructor that gave the one hour lesson was really patient and made sure everyone in the group understood what they were doing. Just wish they had more auto belay walls so my husband and I could climb at the same time.

David Weaver, Jr.

#hellaradhighfivebro these gyms are wild!

Michael Lippo

Great place to work up a sweat!

Littlest Lynch

The teachers here are the best!

Gina Hewitt

Great open space, parking is easy, clean and fun.

Aakash Gupta

Fave bouldering gym in the country maybe. Very tall walls. Steep. Super nice staff.

Dan Sigro

Awesome place for climbing and bouldering! Very knowledgeable and friendly staff! Reasonably priced. Fun for all ages and experience levels! You do have to pay extra and take an instructional class if it's your first time, even if you are just bouldering. They take their time, though, and teach you the right way to climb safely. You also get a free day pass for paying for the class, so its totally worth it! I like that safety is clearly a top priority.

Dan Price

I took my 10yo daughter to Planet Rock in Madison Heights and we both had an intro lesson approx 3 weeks ago. The intro lesson includes equipment rental with day pass as well as a second day pass to use within 30 days. A great deal imo. We came back today to use our second pass. Both times the experience was wonderful! The staff is fantastic! More then willing to offer help and guidance when needed and always with a smile on their face even when you walk in like a newbie. They are quick to offer tips and are careful to ensure that safety procedures are followed. There are kids and adults climbing side-by-sde but the atmosphere is one of courtesy and felt overwhelmingly positive. People seemed generally respectful of their neighbors. They are still under construction at this location so when things were busy on the weekend it felt a bit cramped but there were still plenty of open lanes when we wanted to move around. If this is your first time at a gym and you want to bring a younger child I recommend you bring another adult if you want to climb also. The autobelay is great, if a bit harrowing, but having an adult to trade off belay means more fun for all as there are far more regular rope lanes. My daughter was too nervous to use the autobelay, although many kids had no problem so your mileage may vary. All in all I could not be happier with the experience and recommend it to anyone looking for a great workout and fun time.

Randy Stark

We had our 9 year olds birthday party here and it was a blast. Great group of instructors who were extremely and patient and fun with tour group of 10 boys and girls. Can't recommend it enough!

Ruth Hamilton

Both my kids climb at both Planet Rock gyms, and we could not be happier. The staff are super friendly, and the kids programs they have in place are superb. Nothing seems too much trouble. We have climbed in gyms all over the Mid West, and these gyms are right up there with the best. The routes are updated constantly, so it is like going to a new gym all the time. Safety is paramount, and the staff are not afraid to point out concerns to experienced climbers if they feel they are not being super safe, or their technique is a little lacking. If you've never climbed give it a go, I think you and your family will love it!

Megan Wilcox

From a non-rock climber's perspective, this gym was laid out really well and had lots of courses. My boyfriend has been rock climbing here for three years and loves it. They lay out new courses pretty often, and have climbing competitions. However, when I went to register at the front desk, the woman was not nice. I know it didn't help that my boyfriend and I were confusing, but she could have at least been nicer instead of snarling at us. I would have walked out the door and never gone back if it weren't for my boyfriend being the more patient of us. It took about 10-15 minutes for me to get over the situation, and I'm normally a pretty calm well-tempered person. However, the instructor I had was great, and I enjoyed belaying.

I S

Went to this gym while away from my home gym in MN and loved the variety of cracks here. All are next to each other in an area that doesn't overlap with other climbs. The routes I climbed while there were nicely set. Some of the holds are older--polished and dirty-- but that's what you're going to find in a lot of places outdoors, so this is good practice. There's a great hangout area with a coffee shop, fireplace and a store. The locker rooms are large and new. There's also an area with regular gym equipment and a dry tool practice area, if that's your thing. The only downside was that the walls upstairs felt hollow and that was strange to feel while climbing.

Mike T.

1st time rock climbing and the instructor was awesome! She was very patient and helped our small class of 7. The safety instructions were pretty straight forward and easy to follow. The price was low and includes a free return trip within 30 days. Lots of walls to climb with varying degrees of difficulty. You can free climb, climb with a partner or climb solo. I climbed by myself with 1 of the many self repelling hookups. Definitely will be returning in the near future.

Deyu Kong

Great gym, bouldering, top rope, lead climbing, ice climbing, cracks, it's has it all. Routes are changed often, good variety, even includes a small traditional gym. Very good climbing gym! Highly recommended.

Paul Wilson

love this place

Sean Krieger

The routes are good, but the staff are excellent. (But I really do mean that the routes are good ;)

Kimberly Steudle

Our family loves this place. The staff and coaches are pretty awesome as well.

Danielle Dequin

Bouldering, top rope, and sport routes, with a variety of difficulty to satisfy beginners or more advanced climbers. The instructors for their classes are very knowledgeable, and it is a great way to learn how to transition to climbing outdoors.

Meghan Oesterle

This place is huge, change up the routes frequently and offer classes all the time. I moved to the area and was so happy to find this place since my old gym is about 2.5 hours away.

Paula Lancaster

Everyone is super encouraging and supportive. Attended a yoga class with Claire - she's a great instructor and the workout is amazing. I felt strong and relaxed after the class.

Zlatan Hrnic

Awesome place. Great price. Tons of fun in a great location

Dennis Fiore

Day One, as an adult... Keepin Up.

Kyle Gillen

Amazing staff and incredible lead routes! I've been to a ton of gyms due to a traveling job, and those lead routes are some of the most creative and entertaining routes I've ever had the pleasure to climb. They also let me in for free due to an upcoming birthday! What an awesome crew.

Janet Clark

It's a place were if you like a little bit more of a challenge

John Meadows

Pretty pricey and definitely not worth going unless you're going to be sport climbing. The bouldering is terrible.

Austin Amlotte

Fun lol and was lit

Jason Piotrowski

Excellent climbing gym, great programs for kids and adult training classes as well. I just wish it was bigger! Gets pretty busy at times.

David Park

Planet rock really only seems to care about their youth team, and results in members being treated like second class citizens. I guess that's what happens when they are the only climbing gym around. Also the infuriating fact that there's no bouldering only pass (literally the only climbing gym I've visited out of dozens around the country without one) really inhibits newcomers to try climbing; a mandatory $45 belay lesson package when they may only want to boulder is ridiculous. On top of all that, the staff is very rude and have quite the ego. I really hope someone starts a new climbing gym to bring some much needed competition around this area.

alex kauer

Awesome! The staff is super helpful and knowledgeable. Most are dedicated climbers themselves. I've been climbing here for about a year. The environment, routes and community are all top notch. Routes change on a very regular basis. The gear shop is stocked full of great quality material and the selection is decent also. They also have yoga and aerial silks classes. The only thing that could improve is the weight room.

Zehra Çağıl Valencia Lopez

Its amazing and bouldering is super nice!!!!

David Suckstorff

This is a really solid climbing gym. The walls have around 60 feet of vert with shorter, 40ish foot walls that are mostly auto belay. The only downside i have with this gym is the lack of variety with regard to the bouldering. It's all very steep, with usually only a few vertical problems and absolutely no slabs. That being said if you like steep climbing the bouldering and lead climbing here will certainly provide you with plenty of entertainment.

Gregory Pratt

Very nice staff. Very nice set up. They have many options to climb from easy to pro. Staff is always asking if help is needed. They have great instructions for beginners. They have good snacks, coffee, tea, clean bathrooms. The gear you get is nice not super cheap.

Mike D

When I first started here it was really fun and there was always a route available, now it seems that this place has become less accessible. There isn't enough parking on a weeknight and people have been told they have to move their cars or park at a neighboring lot. Plus they have recently reduced the amount of auto belay walls so good luck coming here solo. Wish they would add more auto routes or open a bigger location. Staff is usually friendly. I feel like prices are high considering the availability of routes in the evenings.

Lucia Landry

Love this gym. The people are great, the climbs are creative and the place is only getting better.

Jeffrey Yambor

Friendly staff and climbing community.

Revanth Binnu

Excellent staff. They have wide range of membership for all. And only one around which is best.

Gabriella Grace

We came with two little ones to rock climb today and I wanted to warn others that this is not a family friendly place. If you are rock climbing for sport and are serious about it then maybe it is for you. I’ve rock climbed for 8 years growing up and know perfectly how to. I know how to clip in and tie the knot as well but they require a mandatory lesson that is $45 and an hour long. Makes no sense. The manager lady was extremely rude from the get go. We didn’t even say two words yet and she was yelling at us. The other people and the guy who gave us the lesson was very nice, but if you’re looking to come and have a fun climb with kids, go somewhere else.

Rachel Maxwell

The routes are good although I feel as though they lack awareness of foot positioning for clipping and good flow. The price for a membership is also much higher then I've experienced in gyms out West. Maybe this is due to lack of competition. Overall good for the area but there's nothing else within reasonable driving distance besides their Ann Arbor location.

Pedro Fontoura

Great climbing gym, lots of routes with different challenges for all climbers.