Climbing in St. John's, Newfoundland

Wallnuts Climbing Centre

Wallnuts, on Old Pennywell Road near the Avalon Mall, has been running since the mid-1990s. It has roped walls, four new auto-belays and a bouldering area for climbers aged 14 and over, plus a gear shop. Beginners can book a Trial Climb at any age or an Intro to Climbing course for ages 14 and over, which includes a two-week membership. A youth programme runs from September to June, and Wallnuts teaches Gym to Crag classes, guides outdoor trips and hires out outdoor gear, including crash pads. It announces weather closures on Instagram.

The Cove Bouldering & Cafe

The Cove opened in July 2023 just up from downtown, within walking distance of Memorial University, in a former dairy factory where about a quarter of the space had been a giant stainless-steel freezer. Quebec's Délire built the walls. It has about 1,700 sq ft of bouldering, 12 to 16 feet high, in two rooms, graded on its own six-symbol scale, with one section reset every Wednesday, plus a Kilter Board on a hydraulic frame, a training area and a café serving smoothies and panini. First visits start with a short orientation, and the minimum age is 6. It runs Bouldering 101, kids' and teen classes and youth and adult teams, and offers community-sponsored memberships. In 2024 The Muse reported that more than half its customers had never climbed before The Cove opened.

Prices

In October 2026 an adult day pass cost $20.50 at Wallnuts and $22 at The Cove, plus tax, and a monthly membership $75 at Wallnuts and $77 at The Cove. Wallnuts hired out crash pads for $20 a day.

Climbing outdoors

Flatrock, about 20 minutes north of the city, is the Avalon Peninsula's best summer climbing. Its rock is a high-quality conglomerate sandstone, mostly vertical with occasional roofs, and the best routes are trad climbs around 5.9 and 5.10, with plenty of easy bouldering too. Most climbs are less than ten minutes from the car, and almost all have bolted top-rope anchors or obvious anchor points. Park at St. Michael's church on Wind Gap Road or at the East Coast Trail car park past the public wharf: parking on Wade's Lane is no longer allowed. Mountain Project lists about 600 climbs on the Avalon Peninsula, including bouldering along the coast and ice climbing on Bell Island. Newfoundland Rock Climbing (2025) covers more than 600 routes at nearly 50 crags across the island, and Joel Harvie's Avalon East Coast Bouldering (2020), sold at Wallnuts, covers more than 300 problems.

Clubs and competitions

The Alpine Club of Canada's Newfoundland and Labrador Section explores, develops and maintains climbing areas, holds events where people can try climbing outside, and helps members find partners; it has also run Flatbloc, a bouldering competition at Flatrock. Climb Newfoundland and Labrador, the official provincial body, became a member of Climbing Escalade Canada on 1 January 2026.

Getting here

Marine Atlantic's ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Port aux Basques runs daily all year and takes about seven hours, and its crossing to Argentia, on the Avalon Peninsula, runs from mid-June to late September and takes about 16 and a half hours. St. John's also has an airport. Don't confuse it with Saint John, New Brunswick, whose gym is FitRocks Saint John; the nearest other city page is climbing in Halifax.