Mission Cliffs

Mission Cliffs is a part of 15 Touchstone Climbing gyms in California. This location is massive and has a ton of different levels for rock climbing. I haven't tried bouldering here, but this gym has an unfortunately small corner for bouldering. I would say that Dogpatch Boulders is better suited for bouldering. There is a sizable gym with varied equipment, yoga studio, and restrooms that have a ton of lockers. This place has everything you need on the spot, so it's forgivable if you forget to have caffeine, bring chalk, or what have you (they have tiny bandaids up front too).

I have gone indoor rock climbing couple times before, but now I want to get belay certified and practice climbing so that I can do it outdoors. I came in for an introduction to climbing class. You learn necessary safety practices and get a hands-on experience in belaying and climbing. I'd say that my instructor was professional and helpful. I can tell this location is inclusive and I felt supported as a beginner rock climber. There are different groups you can join if you look at the posters and bulletins around. Mission Cliffs. Overall, 10/10!

Love this place. Have been coming for years and now recently my daughter has too.

Really great staff and worry free memberships. Recently had to put my membership on hold and was able to do it online without hassle. That says something. They make it easy because they know you'll be back. That's five stars just for that.

Update post-9/30/23 Comp:

Really fun little informal competition where you can test your skills (and/or be dramatically and hiLARiously humbled by) routes set during Saturday's competition.

Not rated yet (just general ranges) so later this week (10/4-ish) you get either pleasantly surprised or brought to tears.

Still 5-stars for their quality of holds and route setters creativity, ten (10) stars for Dan and the fact that they are letting him control the morning music (please no more EDM afternoon people... this isn't Crunch), and two (2) stars for the comically poor new gym reorganization.

Loved my time at Mission Cliffs.

The bouldering here is super challenging, not difficult, but really challenging/technical. The staff was super nice and they have a lot of top rope/lead climbing. It's more of an old school climbing gym which I appreciate because the new style of gyms are starting to take over so it's nice to still see the old style around. The gym was nice and really spacious.

Thanks Mission Cliffs!

I responded to four notes on their bulletin board at Mission Cliffs looking for a top rope partner. I also wrote my own note to stick on the board and got no responses either...most of those notes are very outdated. I never got any responses back from anyone.

Someone added me to a Mission Cliffs Top Rope Whatsapp group...but the group is very quiet. Most of the time, no one responds to my messages when I'm looking for a top rope partner.

I have gone to the front and had my name announced many times looking for a top rope partner...this method almost never works.

If you are looking to expand your network/community Mission Cliffs is certainly the place NOT to go to look for community. Most of these climbers are extremely clique-ish and no willing to work with new people or new climbers. Very tech bro-ish...

Mission Cliffs staff should actively encourage the members of MC to work with and add new climbers/people. That's the only way I can figure on how to find new climbing partners.

Overall mission cliffs isn't too bad, it has a great weights room, top rope/lead area, small but fun bouldering area, and friendly staff. However it's just alright, the boulders themselves were reasonably soft grade-wise, but fun nonetheless, there's a good variety of wall angles, but they don't put enough effort into using them for setting. My biggest ick with the place was how few people wore deodorant, I don't know why it was this place that had so many non-deodorant wearers but it made the whole experience pretty miserable. It would be nice to see the gym get some training walls, even a small spray wall would make this place infinitely better, because of the limited space for bouldering and the packed sport climbing section, having an area to train off ropes would be perfect.

Happy international climbing day!

Nice staff, lots of top rope and lead routes, good boulder section, and pretty good free weight section

The gym staff is so unfriendly here.

I've been to lots of climbing gyms and love climbing. This is the least friendly gym I've been to by a long shot, which is a bummer because a climbing gym is a community and it's also the the place where beginners learn all about climbing--including the culture.

Management has got to do something here. The front desk people gave me a really hard time when I asked for a permanent belay card verses a day card for no apparent reason. No one was kind at any point. When we said goodbye to the front desk woman, she didn't even look up. Otherwise, this gym is pretty awesome.

TL;DR Great for lifting, top roping, and bouldering!

About 60% of the space is top roping, 20% gym, 20% bouldering. And 100% fun!! Haha. The bouldering area at Mission Cliffs is smaller compared to Dogpatch, so if you are a bouldering only fan, head over to Dogpatch. The bouldering wall is also shorter than Dogpatch, so I feel like the routes are more technique heavy at Mission Cliffs.

Bathroom / locker room is also so clean. There's also a sauna!

Parking is limited, but if you circle around a couple times, you're likely to find something. Mission Cliffs is about a 15 minute walk from 16th street BART.

A lot of great restaurants and cafes nearby for a coffee or meal afterwards.

Love this place! So many climbing choices, the walls are super tall, they change the routes often, and you can also get a workout in while you're there. Great for kids, too.