Central Rock Gym — Attraction in West Hartford

PROS: Nice facility and friendly staff but they have a ways to go to be great. It's a bright space with plenty of room to spread out. The bathrooms are large and nicely done. The setters do a good job at setting new routes frequently.

CONS: There's no yoga or workout classes at the gym yet. The props that they've purchased for the gym (yoga mats, blocks, lack of resistance bands) are low quality. The afternoon only on weekdays hours are inconvenient. The weight room is missing mirrors and all of the treadmills, bikes, stair steppers etc face blank walls. Whoever designed this was definitely just a climber and not a gym goer. This gym had such potential to make the already expensive membership fees of CRG in the Hartford area worth the money but it's not quite there. Compared to other large climbing gym memberships that I've owned around the country, CRG has been the most...

Solid bouldering gym. Spacious with a good spread of grades up to V9 and varied movement. A nice mix of holds as well. Training facilities included two adjustable boards (Kilter and Decoy), campus board, and a few fingerboards (although these were not adjustable and some of them were set at weird heights). Tidy and decently equipped fitness area, including several squat racks, benches, and a cable machine. There is also a yoga room and a bathroom with showers (no towels though, and water temperature is meh).

The space felt a bit under-utilized and barren, with a large open area in the middle of the floorplan which could easily host a sick bouldering island. Maybe something steeper than the surrounding wall angels? Fun climbing, again, but not...

I'm glad they opened this location as its helped a bit with crowds in Glastonbury and offers another convenient location to stop by. There's a salvation army and brewery/coffee shop nearby, which makes it fun to spend a Saturday in the srea. Lots of fun bouldering problems and variety, and there's always plenty of parking. I've always been able to find a spot to sit, and it never feels overly crowded, but I may be going at off hours.

The staff are all super friendly, and I found the weight room met my needs.

Only real complaint is that the holds are brand new so I shred my hands every time I go. I'm waiting for the holds to wear down (or my hands to toughen up) before I make it a regular...