This is my go-to climbing spot in the city. Can't say enough good things about this place! Honestly…read moreI think my only knock is that there's pretty poor street parking availability, but that's something out of their control. There's a good range of difficulties available, ranging from super beginning to challenges for the most experienced. There's a lot of places to lounge, even couches that I don't even begin to suspect as gross given the amount of people that must use it. They have a sliding scale pricing approach so that you can pay slightly less if you're more financially limited, or be generous if you love their services! I personally am on a flexible cadence as to when I climb, so I prefer the 10 punch pass, which ends up being cheaper than straight day passes without the commitment of a membership. Staff here are also great! They're more than willing to help you out with the beta on any given climb, and recommend good ones to start out with if it's been a minute since you've visited.

Interesting Bouldering Gym. It has many different types of levels. It also has a nice lounge space…read more There are a ton of different activities to do at the Bouldering Gym such as games, chess, etc. This gym has comedy shows as well which are pretty awesome.

Intro to Rock Climbing with Valley to Summit on September 18, 2022…read more This was my second trip to Chickies Rock with VTS and it was wonderful! There were only 5 of us, so plenty of time to climb. Our Guide, Bob, was so patient, engaged and informative. I learned a lot of great things that I had not known before about clothing, ropes and technique. Bob was so patient with me and was there with his " green pointer" to help me over the tough spots. You should know that I am 74 years old and tho I have climbed indoors for a few years, my stamina was not that of the youngsters who were there! Nonetheless, it was a great time! I highly recommend Valley to Summit, this being my 3 rd trip with them. They Rock!

Absolutely amazing professional guides!!…read more I hired this company to guide me through the winters treacherous water fall trails of Ricketts Glen that is normally closed off for hikers that don't have the explicitly specific required safety gear for winter hikes which this company provides. The guides were patient and helpful with the small group in getting gear on and going over all the safety equipment. They were never impatient with anyone and insanely kind. You could tell the guides truly enjoyed bringing everyone out to this amazing trail at Ricketts Glen State Park. I wasn't sure what to expect but OMG it was worth the money spent to have these guys/gals guide me through the trails. I took tons of pictures and was never rushed at all while taking in the views and photos. This company comes highly recommended amongst the hiking community even out of state.

Don't cancel membership when you ask. Was charged for months after thinking I canceled. Horribleread more

What an AWESOME experience our second graders and teachers had on our first field trip to…read morePhiladelphia Rock Gym, East Falls location. From the moment the buses pulled up, we were greeted by a friendly staff member and brought through the gym to unload our belongings. The staff was EXTREMELY patient, hands-on and caring to our elementary students. They had a whole itinerary ready to go from the minute we arrived. Team building activities were spread out across the gym, while other groups climbed the walls and ate lunch. Throughout the entire day, the crew at PRG had everything under control and running smoothly! Thank you for an amazing experience and for going above and beyond for our students and this experience!! We truly appreciate all the work you put into making our trip the best one yet! We look forward to booking more trips with our students at Philadelphia Rock Gym!

Thank you Erica for a wonderful experience! I love Philly and get to come visit once a year. When I…read moresaw there was a rock gym nearby I had to check it out. Love the small local vibes here. The sets are harder and it's got a friendly community. Really easy to make friends and ask for beta. I'll be back!

Not sure why the reviews are so bad. Yeah, the gym is tiny. But it's has everything you'd need. We…read moreactually love how low key it is. They had a new year promo. $99 for 2 months membership + rentals for the whole 2 months + 2 intro classes. A steal if you ask me! All the staffs are friendly & welcoming. Felt like home from the very first visit! I spoke & emailed with a few staffs before our visit because I had lots of questions. They were quick to respond & very helpful. They also have auto belay here which is great if I want to top rope by myself. Street parking! So far, no issue with that. The only con for me is the walls are shorter all around. Both boulder & top rope. I like hella tall walls for top roping. It's okay. I should practice my techniques on bouldering wall anyway. Can't wait to visit their other locations! Follow my new climbing journey hehe. I'm a noob IG @joannclimbs

A beautiful campus in the middle of the city! I arrived early for a work event so I walked around…read moresome of the campus. I loved looking at the architecture. It has a mix of new and old buildings. Broad Street has retail and quick serve restaurants that students would like. The campus areas I was in were clean and well kept.

Attention Citizens of Templetown (which sounds like a fake town like Whoville):…read more Did you know there is a rock climbing wall in that fancy new glass building at Broad and Montgomery? Well it is pretty sweet, you should probably check it out if you are 1. a Temple student/alum/staff and 2. want your arms to be sore for a few days, 3. think your butt/frontal area will look good in a harness. The rock climbing people (who are super nice) will provide you with a harness, climbing shoes, and an intro climb lesson. They will even belay you. (If you're thinking belay me? but I hardly know you! worry not, it just means they hold you up on that wall with a rope). After the intro class, you have to get certified. There is a wall with ropes that goes higher than I am comfortable with, and a tall towery thingy (look at all the new terms I learned during my first visit!) you can climb on with ropes. There's also a "bouldering" wall where there are no ropes and you're supposed to go across. Paths are marked by colored tape and some paths are harder than others. Mine had me doing some crazy things where my hip was cramped up and I thought I was going to fall to my death, nbd. Climbing is harder than you think, I promise. The rest of the building is pretty cool too, I just came for the rock climbing wall though.

I haven't been climbing in so long. A friend uses this gym and I had SO MUCH FUN! The pros: the day…read morepass gives you access to the auto-belay, the regular belay walls, bouldering, sauna, and all the gym areas. Basically a bang for your buck. Cons: prices are pretty steep, if you don't have a friend that can belay, you kind of are stuck with auto belay, bouldering and gym. I believe when you "book a climb" through the website you have the option to have an hour with an instructor to go on the regular walls. The cool thing is they have affinity spaces during the week and a pro-tip is that the prices are a little more forgiving. Overall fun time if you know a friend who can belay or if you want to try a fun new thing!

Friendly staff and fun, varied route setting for top rope! Lots of routes of all grades and the…read morepillar is a fun.

Not a lot of recent reviews on this place, but I kind of get that since if you weren't a student…read morethis wouldn't be the default place you'd pick as your regular gym haunt. I just happen to live nearby so this is the best resource available. They've got a good range of memberships available. I'm usually staying on the 3-month membership so there's repeated intervals of getting motivated again to make good use of the money I spend. There's three floors here. First floor is mostly the lobby, but also some locker rooms, squash courts, and the pool. Upstairs is the main gym area, including the rooms where classes take place, basketball court, rock wall, and indoor track. If you come over the course of an academic quarter, you'll notice the ebb and flow across time of day and know exactly when midterms and finals seasons are. Suddenly it's a lot easier to get a squat rack for some reason. Things are kept pretty clean for the amount of traffic that comes through, especially student traffic, and the students who frequent are pretty good at re-racking correctly and wiping down benches after use. Membership team here has always been helpful! For some reason, they have limited hours on when you can process membership payments and renewals, but usually it's not a huge issue to get it done. On the whole it's a decent gym for the price. Though I'm no expert, but it's more than enough for me!

Nice gym great physical therapy. Kept clean typically, the staff are very nice and they hold cool…read moreevents like job fairs for the students.

My daughter and I had a wonderful time. We were running about 15 minutes late and they were able to…read moreaccommodate us and have us join the following group (slow day, I assume). Everyone was friendly and efficient. After a brief orientation, they sent us on our way. Despite the courses being self guided, the harness system made us feel very safe and there was at least one staff member visible at all times in case we needed help. We also did not have any issues with our car/parking. I carried a small fanny pack with my valuables and left a large tote bag at the picnic tables with water and snacks.

I had myself an adventure last Sunday at Treetop! One of my friends who is a regular here invited…read moreme and I couldn't wait to get started. They weren't open yet when we arrived, so we waited 15 minutes for them to prep the courses. There are picnic tables and port-a-potties available for use at the entrance. One of the employees got us all checked in and provided gloves, which were free since the tickets were purchased via Groupon. You can choose from small, medium, large or extra large sizes. We stood on the deck and got our harnesses on and tightened by an employee. He went over some safety rules and we completed a trial course to ensure we understood the procedures for zip lining. Once he cleared us, we were free to navigate the park on our own! We started with course 2, then we moved on to course 4. After that we completed course 3 and finally course 1. Some of the courses were challenging but all of them were equally fun. It was a gloomy day so it wasn't busy and we felt like we could take our time completing each obstacle. The zip lining was especially thrilling and the harness is comfortable enough where you don't feel any pressure in your thighs. Treetop Quest was a blast and I hope to be back in the summer months!

Although I only went here for two sessions, as someone who thoroughly enjoys the circus arts, this…read moreestablishment was fabulous! The location is far off the beaten path, and with good reason. When you are in the flying trapeze rig, it is nestled into a tree-lined area in a relatively suburban location of Philly. This makes it adorable and charming, but, if you have allergies or sensitivities to outdoor buggies and things, just be careful. I might have had some bites that made me very uncomfortable later. During the sessions, I loved it. The staff here are kind, supportive and helpful. They are skilled and talented. It is more fun than you could imagine, so just try it out! They provide incredible feedback, so, just wait for it. Very helpful! I didn't try anything but flying trapeze, so I cannot attest to the other classes, but if I were in Phily for more than a day trip, I would absolutely try the other options for aerial and circus arts. Flying trapeze is so much fun, and in this tree-lined area, it feels very much like being in someone's back-yard as a kid flying around with an exhilarating feeling of freedom. Don't fret - the staff will keep you safe as you soar, literally, to new heights. Parking is not in a lot but on the street, so good luck finding street parking. There are lots of streets around, you just might need to walk a few blocks. Totally worth it though! Bring water and snacks if you want to stay hydrated and might run low on your energy. The building you enter to check in is an old-fashioned building made of stone, and it has a cool feel to it. Love this place!

I came here by public transportation from Old City, Philadelphia on a Tuesday evening in late June…read more2022. It took almost an hour for me to get there with all the transfers but the public transportation section of Google Maps made it super easy. If you're staying in Philly without a car, which I would highly recommend, you should get a Travel Wallet/SEPTA Key Card. The SEPTA App makes it super easy to reload money into your Key Card as you use it throughout your stay. I took their intermediate fabrics class and had a terrific time. The class was the right level more me as I had told them my prior aerial experience through email before registering for the class. I told them I can do a few straight arm inversions, a triple star, wheel-downs, and have been doing aerials silks for 3.5 years at that point. If you have trouble registering, just email them and they are fairly responsive. Rachel taught the class and we did a 5-minute warm up on the floor before some shoulder shrugs and a warm up climb of choice before jumping into the sequence - pretty appropriate for an hour long class, in my opinion. They have a communal rosin container for people to share and everyone wore their masks throughout the entire class. They even have a communal water fountain. I forgot to bring my water bottle but when I asked Rachel for a disposable cup she went to the back and found one for me - such a life saver in that humid heat. It didn't look like they had air conditioning but their windows are open and the fans did what they could. The space looked like an old church that was converted into a circus school. The ceilings were very high and the space was big enough to have two other classes going on at the same time. I learned a lot from Rachel and would highly recommend it if you're looking for a circus class to take in Philadelphia.

X-posting a review from the Wissahickon Park page. This park is so good it deserves two 5-star…read moreratings. Hard to rate an entire park this massive, but all things considered, after 5 years of traversing the trails here, this is an awesome park. Note that I live in U-City, so the fact that such a massive trail system exists in only a ~20 minute drive, depending on which part of the park I start in, is a blessing and keeps my sanity. Friends of Wissahickon does a great job maintaining trails and even expanding the system over the past few years. I don't think I've ever observed an unseemly part of the park. Definitely unseemly times of year like the snow thaw or the time between the trees dying and the snow falling, but otherwise, this park is beautiful all times of year. I've never had a hard time parking, never even had trouble with crowds even around the most popular trails (ex. Forbidden Drive). Even the bikers are friendly and patient here! Would strongly recommend not only visiting but coming back to keep exploring! I'm still finding new gems in this massive trail system.

Today I decided to switch things up and take a trip to Valley Green in Wissahickon Park, Philly…read more I've always heard about Devil's Pool but had never been, so when I saw the trailhead, I figured--why not check it out? What I've known about Devil's Pool is that it's been a popular hangout spot, especially for teens and young adults--swimming, drinking, smoking, etc. But I wasn't prepared for how disappointing the trail would be. At nearly every turn, there was trash--plastic bottles, wrappers, and even entire black garbage bags just left behind. The closer I got to Devil's Pool, the worse it got. There are clear signs asking visitors to take their trash with them, yet so many clearly don't. It's really disheartening to see such a beautiful natural space disrespected like that. Instead of feeling peaceful or connected to nature, it honestly felt a bit unsanitary and neglected. Wissahickon Park deserves better. If you visit, please respect the space and take out everything you bring in.