Climbing Walls in Exeter

Roped climbing at the Quay

The Quay has been run since 2011 by an independent, locally owned team, and shares its building with Clip 'n Climb Exeter. It has 81 roped lines from 7 to 15 metres, including the Arch and the Prow on its big lead wall, 9 auto belays with 37 routes between them, two boulder caves and a board room with a comp slab, a 30° LED board and a MoonBoard. The lead wall hosts regional competitions such as the South West Lead Climbing Competition.

If you can't belay yet, book the one-hour auto-belay and bouldering induction (£20) or the two-session belay induction (£49.50, including registration). Step Up to Lead costs £75.

Bouldering

Boulder Exe, on Tudor Street, has around 940 m² of climbing over two floors, from slabs to 72° overhangs, graded VB to V12. Its centrepiece is the Titan, the IFSC competition wall built by EP Climbing that was used at the 2023 World Championships in Bern and at Paris 2024. Upstairs is a board zone with a MoonBoard, an articulating Kilter Board and a Tension Board 2, and entry includes a strength gym; there's also a yoga studio, a physio, a café and a licensed bar with a pool table. Climbers must be 7 or older, and first-timers can join a free 40-minute Boulder Basics session.

The Climbing Hangar Exeter, on Marsh Green Road North in Marsh Barton, has two floors of bouldering with steep overhangs, a barrel and slabs, reset every week, and a purpose-built kids' area with a slide for children from 4. Parking and shoe hire are free, group classes are free with entry, and dogs are welcome.

Prices and passes

In October 2026 an adult day pass cost £14 at both the Quay and Boulder Exe (£12 for concessions; a first visit to Boulder Exe was £8), and £16 at the Climbing Hangar (£13 concessions). A month cost £42.50 at either of the Quay's centres, or £59.50 for a membership covering both, and £35.99 at the Hangar, with no joining fee or contract.

Kids

The Hangar's Little Hangar sessions are for ages 4 to 6 (£8), and its Rock Club classes for 7 to 13 follow the NICAS scheme. The Quay runs Rockstars for 4 to 7-year-olds, Monquays for 7 to 11 and a NICAS youth club for 11 to 17, and Clip 'n Climb next door suits younger children.

Further out

The Bunker, about 28 km south, is Torquay's bouldering gym, with a 4.3-metre wall and a training room with a MoonBoard. Dyno Climbing Centre in Buckfastleigh, about 31 km south-west, has roped climbing and bouldering on the edge of Dartmoor. In North Devon, Rock and Rapid Adventures near South Molton has roped walls and a 400 m² bouldering room. For Plymouth's walls, see climbing in Plymouth.

Climbing outdoors

Haytor, on the eastern edge of Dartmoor about 25 km south-west of the city, has some of the best and longest granite routes on the moor: the main tor suits climbers below E1, and Low Man has more at E2 and above. There's a car park below it, it's busy, and as open access land it carries a legal right to climb. Nearer town, Chudleigh Rocks has limestone routes such as Jollies Route (HVD) and Inkerman Groove (VS 4c). Rockfax's West Country Climbs covers the best routes in the area.