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Ipswich, Gympie and Campbelltown got their first bouldering gyms in 2026, Rocky Climb opened in Rockhampton and Geelong's Industry Boulders expanded. Three Melbourne gyms are on the way, and two long-running gyms close in November.
Most of Australia's new climbing gyms in 2026 opened away from the state capitals, in regional cities and outer centres that had few or none before. We researched every climbing wall in Australia in October 2026; here is what opened, what is on the way and what has closed, with the dates the gyms gave. For the national picture, see our guide to climbing in Australia.
Queensland. In June, GRIPswich Bouldering opened on Thorn Street as Ipswich's first dedicated bouldering gym, with ten walls and around 75 problems up at a time. At the end of October it hosts the state's youth bouldering titles (read our preview). In Gympie, Boulderlounge, which calls itself the town's very first bouldering gym, put its first hold on the wall on 2 April 2026 and was open by May, when its first Google reviews appeared. In Rockhampton, Rocky Climb opened for climbing on 2 June 2026 after a wall build through the early months of the year. It has more than 200 m² of bouldering, 215 m² of roped walls up to 9 metres with 17 routes and five auto-belays, and a training mezzanine with a Moon Board and a Kilter Board. More on these in our Queensland guide.
New South Wales. Top Out, which calls itself Campbelltown's first bouldering space, opened in July 2026 in an industrial unit on Airds Road, Leumeah, a short walk from Leumeah station. On Sydney's Northern Beaches, Skywood Climbing reopened in a Brookvale warehouse on 7 February 2026 after five years in Freshwater. Ascend Bouldering in Coffs Harbour was open by March 2026, and about 150 climbers signed up for the bouldering league it started in August. See our New South Wales guide for the rest of the state.
Victoria. In Bendigo, The Hold held its grand opening on 20 February 2026, although climbers had been using it since December 2025; it calls itself Bendigo's bouldering home and also has two auto-belays. In Grovedale, on the southern side of Geelong, Industry Boulders knocked down its old slab and opened an expansion with new walls on 19 September 2026, launched with its Chalked Up Pumpfest competition, which drew more than 140 climbers. More in our Victoria guide.
Several more gyms opened in the second half of 2025: Gecko Climb, which opened in Woolner on 1 August 2025 as Darwin's first climbing gym since The Rock Centre closed in 2021; The Nest in South Nowra, which marked its first birthday in October 2026 and has lead and top-rope walls as well as bouldering; 9 Degrees Chatswood, which opened in November 2025 in a former pet food store; and Rise Climbing in Albury, also open since November 2025. In Alice Springs, the new Newland Park precinct, opened on 19 December 2025, includes a free public bouldering wall (see our Northern Territory guide). Adelaide has gained three bouldering gyms since 2024, covered in our Adelaide round-up.
Melbourne has three gyms on the way. Urban Climb is building Urban Climb Thornbury on High Street, which it calls its first Melbourne bouldering club for climbers aged 5 and over; its website says "coming 2026", and the walls were going up in October. Boulder Lab lists a fourth gym, in Heidelberg, as "coming early 2027", after Ferntree Gully, Clayton and Brunswick. And Canyon Climbing, the successor to North Walls, which closed in Brunswick in March 2023 when the development of the Upfield Corridor forced it to move out, is preparing a new gym with ropes and bouldering; its posts place it in Brunswick, no address has been published, and on 5 October 2026 it said it was "getting a bit closer to opening". In Brisbane, Crank Indoor Climbing is building a new wall in its MacGregor gym, with a "big opening day coming soon".
Two long-running gyms close in November 2026. 9 Degrees Lane Cove in Sydney has its last day on Friday 13 November, after eight years, because its landlord has decided not to renew the lease; passes and memberships carry over to the chain's other gyms (the full story). The Rock Adventure Centre in Newtown, Geelong, closes on Saturday 7 November; it confirmed the date in a post on 1 September, the 25th anniversary of its opening (more on the closure).
Earlier, Hardrock's original gym in Nunawading, which opened in 1993, closed on 19 December 2025 because the site had been sold for redevelopment; Hardrock carries on at its CBD gym on Franklin Street. In Perth, Rockface in Balcatta, which had been "showing Perth the ropes since '96", announced in April 2026 that it was closing after 28 years. In Jindabyne, Stone Monkeys Bouldering has been shut since flooding in mid-April 2026 forced it to throw out its crash mats, and in late October its Instagram still said it was closed for repairs. See our Western Australia guide for Perth's other walls.
One closure was called off. The Crux in Coburg North announced that it would close on 2 August 2026, then said on 30 July that it would stay open, and on 6 September that it would carry on and "enter a new chapter".
9 Degrees is closing its Lane Cove bouldering gym on Friday 13 November 2026, after eight years, because its landlord is taking the space back. Passes and memberships carry over to its gyms in Chatswood, Parramatta, Waterloo and Alexandria.
Joe Rushton
The Rock Adventure Centre in Newtown, Geelong's indoor climbing centre since 2001, closes for good on Saturday 7 November 2026. Here's what is ending and where the city's climbers can go next, from Industry Boulders in Grovedale to the granite of the You Yangs.
Joe Rushton
Since August 2024 Adelaide has gained three bouldering gyms: Urban Climb in a former Hindley Street cinema, a new Beyond Bouldering gym in Thebarton and Laneway Boulders in Stepney, and Adelaide's Bouldering Club has moved to Urban Climb. Here's what opened when, and what each offers.
Joe Rushton