About Movement Gowanus
Movement Gowanus is a massive, multi-level climbing gym offering diverse activities including bouldering (across two floors), top-rope climbing, a full fitness gym, a yoga room, and a serene rooftop deck. A $40 day pass, including shoe rentals and re-entry privileges, provides exceptional value for an all-day experience, catering to both new and experienced climbers, as well as families and individuals focused on comprehensive fitness.
What parents should know
Summarized from real visitor reviews.
Best for: Families looking for an active, full-day outing with children aged 6 and up.Individuals or groups seeking a comprehensive fitness center that integrates climbing with traditional gym workouts and yoga.Beginners interested in starting bouldering or improving overall physical fitness and strength.People who appreciate flexible access to a facility, allowing them to leave for food or breaks and return.Parents seeking an engaging and generally safe activity for their children, provided safety instructions are clear.
Why families love it
- Huge, multi-level facility featuring two dedicated floors for bouldering and a top level for rope climbing.
- A $40 day pass includes shoe rentals and allows re-entry throughout the day, providing excellent value.
- Comprehensive fitness amenities include a full gym with weights and machines, a yoga room, and changing rooms equipped with saunas and foot showers.
- A serene roof deck overlooking Gowanus, complete with hammocks, offers a quiet oasis for relaxation or stretching.
- Generally friendly and welcoming staff, noted for being professional and informative regarding safety protocols for children (e.g., a 6-year-old's visit).
- Effective for adults seeking significant physical transformation, muscle development, and weight loss.
Insider tips
- **Check the event schedule:** Consider avoiding 'free climbing day' if you prefer a less crowded experience.
- **Be proactive with safety briefings:** If you are new to harness climbing and find a safety briefing unclear or unhelpful, politely request clarification, additional assistance, or a different staff member.
- **Utilize all amenities:** Don't miss out on the saunas, foot showers, or the rooftop deck for post-climb relaxation and stretching.
- **Consider a family membership:** If your initial visit is positive, a family membership could be a good investment as mentioned by one reviewer planning to sign up their whole family.
- **Plan for a full day:** With re-entry and diverse activities, it's easy to spend many hours enjoying the facility.
Good to know before you go
- **'Free climbing day':** If you wish to avoid extremely packed conditions and long waits.
- **Absolute beginners to harness climbing:** If you are uncomfortable with potentially inadequate safety briefings or hesitant to ask for explicit, hands-on assistance with clipping in, as not all staff may provide this proactively.
- Can become 'extremely packed' on 'free climbing day,' indicating significant crowding during special events.
- Inconsistent quality of safety briefings: one review cited a young staff member providing a tired, whispering, and unhelpful briefing for harness climbing, which made beginners uneasy and raised safety concerns.
- May not be immediately beginner-friendly for *harness climbing* if staff assistance is inadequate; one reviewer recommended it more for those who 'know how to boulder' if new to the venue.
- Crowds
- Can be 'extremely packed' on 'free climbing day.' No other specific crowd level details were provided, but the 'huge' facility may help distribute patrons during regular hours.
- Value
- Excellent value at $40 for a day pass, which includes shoe rentals and allows re-entry, making it possible to spend an entire day climbing, working out, and utilizing other amenities like the yoga room and sauna. This pricing is highly competitive for a multi-faceted facility of its size and offerings. Family memberships are also available.
- Food
- Patrons are permitted to 'leave to get some food and drinks, and then come back,' implying that outside food is likely not allowed inside the climbing areas but off-site dining is encouraged due to the re-entry policy. No on-site food options were mentioned.
- Accessibility
- No specific accessibility accommodations were mentioned in the reviews. The facility is described as having 3 levels, which may involve stairs.
- Safety
- Staff provides safety protocols and points out areas needing attention, noted as professional and informative for a 6-year-old. However, there was one report of a staff member giving a poor, inadequate safety briefing for harness climbing, which raised safety concerns.
What parents say
"Huge multi-level facility that includes bouldering, top rope, and even a small little fitness/gym area. For $40 you can have an entire day of climbing, leave to get some food and drinks, and then come back to continue climbing with their day pass and shoe rentals. Their staff was extremely nice and with the two floors of bouldering fun, I could easily stay there all day. Def recommend as I am pretty new to climbing and still felt very comfortable and welcomed!"
6 months ago
"I absolutely love this place. I was 192 pounds at 5’8 when I joined and I could barely to any of the climbing because my back biceps and forearms were just completely underdeveloped. With patience and consistency I started coming every other day and gradually the muscles started forming and while still very much a beginner I can now climb, pull, lift myself in ways I thought I’d never be able to do. And at 49 that feels really good. I use the yoga room after my climbing/bouldering and do my own yoga routines and stretching. I’m down to 162 pounds - the lightest I have been in decades. Sometime"
6 months ago
"Visit: July 2024 The gym is huge with 3 levels. They have rope climbing at the top level and bouldering on the other 2 levels, with a gym on the second level. The change rooms have saunas and foot showers which is really nice The setting is interesting and there was a lot of fun problems. Some of the finishes though, seemed really difficult (or I'm just bad), but I prefer harder climbs over easier ones! Went on free climbing day, so it was extremely packed in the gym Highly recommend the gym!"
7 months ago
Reviews sourced from public Google data.
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