The Pad Climbing - San Luis Obispo

888 Ricardo Ct, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Overall Rating:


Day Pass Cost:



Monthly Membership Cost:



Gym Offerings:

Top Rope, Lead Climbing, and Bouldering

Climbing Facilities Rating:


Fitness Area Rating:

Lockers/Bathroom Rating:

Parking Rating:

Ambiance Rating:






-Open 24 hours for members

-Great climbing community

-Creative routes and problems

-Decent fitness area

-Seperate kids area

-Has everything a large gym has.


-Smaller than other modern gyms

-Limited hours for nonmembers

-Parking can be tricky

Climbing Facilities

This gym gets a 5 out 5 for its climbing. It offers bouldering, top roping, and lead climbing. There is also a small kids area with a short auto belay. The walls were Walltopia, so they were very high quality. The routes are marked by a small white card indicating the starting hand holds and rocks of the same color. The padding was 18in thick padding with black carpet/ felt material in the bouldering area. The floor in the climbing area was the typical thinner foam. One thing there that I have never seen before, is they had a section of climbing wall that was clear acrylic, so you could see people climbing from outside. The reason I give this a 5 is because even though this gym is located in a small space in a small town, they have done everything they can to be high quality, clean and professional while at the same time providing interesting climbs.

Fitness Area

This gym gets a 4 out of 5 for its fitness area. The fitness area isn’t very large, it is located on a loft above the front desk and birthday rooms. It has a resistance bike and a row machine. There are also a lot of free weights and a squat rack and pull - up rack thingy. The reason it does not get a 5 is because of its size, but it does not get a 3 because it is clean and has a lot of different equipment.

Locker Rooms/ Bathrooms

The bathroom facilities at this gym get a 4 out of 5. There were two bathrooms that were each single use and in the back of the bouldering area there were two single use shower rooms. For a gym this size, this is all it needs, but it does not get a full 5 stars because it doesn’t have a towel service, locker room or other amenities you could expect at other gyms.


This gym gets a 4 out of 5 for parking. Parking here is a little interesting. There is a lot in front, but it fills up quickly. There is also plenty of street parking that isn’t far away. Additionally, this is a college town, so many people bike to the gym and as a result, there are many bike racks that help to alleviate car congestion. The Pad also offers a free shuttle service for people that have to park really far away. All-in-all, It is not difficult to find a spot, but you may need to walk a bit.

General Ambiance

This gym gets a 5 out of 5 for ambiance. It had a similar feeling to walking into a modern gym. There was music playing and people were casually climbing and working out. There were only a few staff members there from what I could tell. The guy at the front desk was a really chill guy that kinda joked around with me when I walked in. The other staff were teaching a climbing class. A few other things I noticed was a kids area with toys and a balance beam. They also had a small white line near the climbing walls to kind of show where people shouldn’t stand. The gym is open for members 24/7.

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