London, Ontario's two climbing gyms are run by the same team: Junction Climbing Centre, open since 2014 in Old East Village with roped walls and a lead cave, and J2 Bouldering, which opened in Hyde Park in 2022 when Junction's bouldering area grew too small. East Park Golf Gardens has a staff-belayed wall for families, and Pursuit Climbing is 46 km away in Stratford. The nearest crags are on the Niagara Escarpment, about 120 km east.
Photo: Junction Climbing Centre
Junction, on Elias Street, opened in July 2014 and calls itself London's largest climbing gym. It has about 100 routes, most of which can be top-roped or led, auto-belays on some walls and a cave kept for lead climbing. The bouldering moved upstairs in 2017 and has about 55 problems in eight colour circuits, and a Program Room with 11 lines followed in 2018. To lead you need your own rope of at least 40 metres and an assisted-braking belay device, and climbers and belayers must be 16 or over. A two-hour top-rope belay lesson for ages 13 and over cost $75 in October 2026, including a two-week membership. Junction runs ten-week youth programmes, a youth team, camps and an adult development programme, and weekday mornings from 09:00 to 12:00 are for members only.
J2, on Blue Heron Drive, opened in May 2022 in a former children's play centre with high ceilings, big windows, air conditioning and a large car park. It has about 4,000 sq ft of Walltopia walls with about 80 problems in eight colour circuits, starting with pink, rather than V-grades, plus a training room. It hires out crash pads for outdoor bouldering and runs a drop-in technique class on Mondays.
In October 2026 an adult day pass cost $24 plus tax at both gyms, or $21 at Junction for under-18s, full-time students and over-55s, and a monthly membership $67 by direct debit. Members of one gym can add the other for $22.50 a month, or pay $16.50 for a day there. Junction calls the Guelph Grotto its sister gym, and Grotto members get monthly passes to Junction and J2.
East Park Golf Gardens on Hamilton Road has a 40-foot climbing wall with 2,000 sq ft of climbing in its Intencity indoor park, where staff belay up to six climbers per instructor, so call ahead. In October 2026 one climb with an instructor cost $9, an hour with a harness $30 and a day pass $25, or $20 for students, plus tax. Climbers aged 12 and over can take a $20 course to belay themselves. Intencity opens from Thursday to Sunday.
Fanshawe College's Student Wellness Centre rock wall has auto-belays and top rope for members: it's free for full-time students, part-time students, staff and alumni pay, and guests aged 16 and over can climb with a member for $15 plus tax. We found no climbing wall at Western University. The City of London lists a climbing wall at the Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre, but publishes no public sessions.
Pursuit Climbing, 46 km north-east of London, calls itself Stratford's first indoor climbing gym: more than 2,000 sq ft with over 50 routes split between bouldering and auto-belays. There's no need to book, a day pass cost $23 in October 2026, and youth programmes run on Wednesdays.
There are no crags close to London. The nearest are Conservation Halton's Rattlesnake Point and Mount Nemo, about 120 km away, and Lion's Head on the Bruce Peninsula, about 225 km north, a summer crag of white limestone where climbing is tolerated rather than formally allowed. Rockwood and the Elora Gorge are closer, but closed to climbing. The Guelph Grotto runs outdoor courses at Rattlesnake Point: see outdoor climbing near Toronto for the rules.
Junction hosts the Ontario Climbing Federation's lead competition for under-17s to under-21s on 28 November 2026 and its third para-climbing competition on 9 January 2027, for which competitors need a free OCF para-climbing membership. See Ontario's 2026–27 competition season for the rest of the calendar.
The Ontario Climbing Federation's season runs from speed in Kingston in November to the youth provincials at Steel Peak, The Core, Gravity Hamilton and Hub Mississauga in spring 2027. Here are the dates and venues.
Joe Rushton
Where to climb outside within a few hours of Toronto, from Rattlesnake Point and Mount Nemo on the Niagara Escarpment to Lion's Head and Bon Echo, with the booking, permit and anchor rules to know before you go.
Joe Rushton