The Circuit Bouldering Gym

A great gym, but second week in a row no one showed up Tuesday to open the gym at 6 AM. Those of us who use it before work are losing patience. How about getting a dependable morning crew?

When I was 17, I read about Yoga and it’s benefits. I decided right then and there that I was going to learn and practice Yoga. Nearly 30 years to the day of that decision, I finally took action and started my Yoga practice with classes at the Circuit. As a 47 year old who is truly out of shape and as flexible as a chunk of iron, I have chosen to stick with their Yoga Foundations classes on Tuesday Evenings with Erinn Hughes and Thursday evenings with Britt Petrovich until I have learned a bit more. Both Erinn and Britt have been extremely patient and helpful. With their help, Yoga has been the single most positive change I have ever made (besides my wife and kids, of course). It’s only been a few weeks and I already feel the difference in my flexibility, energy and even my sleep. I used to wake up sore and tired. I’m not sure what changed but the Yoga Britt and Erinn have taught me is somehow causing me to sleep more comfortably which is a happy and unexpected benefit.
I chose the Circuit for their location and because they have a variety of skill levels in their Yoga classes for me to grow with.
I’m staying because my experience has been even better than I had hoped.

I really thought we’d have a great experience with this place, but things fell apart when it came to their youth classes. For over a month, I received repeated misinformation about how to enroll in a class. This resulted in failed attempts at online sign-​up, unnecessary delays in getting onto waitlist, and finally being told by a manager that it may be a year before there’d be a spot for my child. So after repeated inquiry by email&phone and despite prior assurances that we’d either secure a spot or be first on the waitlist, we’re left with nothing. Given my wasted efforts and lost opportunity to enroll in other activities, I asked the manager to offer a private lesson. Apparently, he thought the value of such a lesson was worth more than my time, and labeled me a demanding parent. Really? I had already bought one of their multi-​use passes and arranged for a birthday party at one of their locations on the premise my child would get some instruction along the way. Other parents can judge for themselves, but I’m left with the impression that this place values neither their customer’s time nor business. I hope others find this helpful and have better luck, but I wouldn’t count on their youth offerings.

My daughter is on a team here and couldn’t be happier. The staff is great and the programs they put together for the kids are top notch. Instructors are knowledgeable and friendly and really inspire the kids.

Fabulous place! Had my daughter’s 13^th party here. Great place for them all to climb and hang out. Then we were able to rent their private room for $ 40 for an hour for food and drinks time. Great employees too!

Not as great as the NE location but I love how close it is! They have Yoga classes too that I wish I had more time for!

As far as climbing gym’s go, this is one of the best! There are two large top-​out boulders in the center of the gym, with more walls of various angles throughout. There is a dedicated kids area, as well as a dedicated slack line and weight lifting section. The floors are well-​padded and there is a lot of room in between all of the action. The staff is very welcoming and do a fantastic job teaching kids rules and climbing basics. The only thing to consider, is that this is a bouldering gym. While the walls are high enough to get the adrenaline flowing, they are low enough to not require ropes. If you’re looking for roped climbing, you’ll have to venture to one of the downtown area gyms.

Intermediate climber here. I’ve climbed at The Circuit’s NE facility, which is great, and am a member at Planet Granite. I’ve always enjoyed the setting at the NE location and The Circuit has done a good job of bringing that high quality setting to the Tigard location. Tigard feels about the same size, if not slightly bigger, than the NE location. Really cool front desk /​retail area — modified shipping containers. Bathrooms were clean and so was the cubby area. My one complaint was the padding. For being a bouldering-​only facility, I would love to have something softer that’s safe to fall back-​first into, similar to what’s at PG. Otherwise, fantastic climbing gym. Four stars.

Amazing facilities. I have gone a few times for me (I mostly run, so climbing is a nice change of pace). But for children it’s amazing. I can’t recommend this place highly enough. I have been to the one in North Portland (very nice) and Tigard (amazing). My 3.5 year-​old-​twins will spend 3 hours here without even noticing.

Their newest and largest location! Been going since they opened and its by far my favorite. Quality routes that change just often enough to keep it interesting but not so often that your project is going before you can nail it.

LOVE IT. The staff is super laid back, very pleasant and helpful and always make you feel at home. the music they play is pretty conducive to climbing — a lot of instrumentals with smoother, punchy beats and at times an airy ethereal vibe. mostly wordless = less distraction. the atmosphere and décor style of the location is minimalist — bare-​bones simplicity and climbing. their bathroom sinks are large unpainted concrete troughs, hand dryers are decent brushed steel models, doors are steel framed w/​opaque glass inlets, enormous window-​paned shutter doors are lifted and lowered for ventilation (contingent on weather) as opposed to constant usage of a costly HVAC system. out front there are two decoy model owls perched on the rafters to dissuede would-​be nesting sparrows — as opposed to installing or welding unsightly death spikes. Their exercise area’s jumprope is makeshifted out of a thin plastic sleeved wire cable and small plastic tubes. Simple, smart & efficient is the Circuit. They have a small exercise area w/​jumpropes, dumbells, a recumbant bike & an elliptical, squat station (can be bench press w/​extra benches laying around), row machine, medicine balls, cable-​pulley weight system w/​pull up handles (or red rock grips). problems are challenging & regularly changed with colorful holds (gigantic hands, baby heads, green slime, fruits etc). the kids area has two unpolished steel slides, a ‘cave’ leading to a top-​out overlook area, and many walls with banana bunch, ghost, hand, baby doll & other varietal hand holds. the gym also has 3 slacklines — two in the grown up’s area, one in the kid’s. I come here tri-​weekly at least and love every minute. challenging and fun, staff is super superb, + they have a good little selection of chalk bags, crimp grips, outdoor route books & more climbing goods in their small store (watch your step). They’re open till 11. check it out.

I’ve been going here for about 3 months now and I really love this place. I had never climbed before but went and tried it once and got hooked. A great workout but it is so fun it doesn’t feel like you are trying to workout. A great space and they are constantly changing the routes so you get a lot of variety. Have really enjoyed the staff there as well. Highly recommended!

The newest and largest addition to the Circuit family, this facility boasts huge variety of boulder walls, slackline, state of the art gym equipment, and yoga classes. This is a beautiful gym and I wish I lived much closer to it as it’s a trek from Portland on weekdays with the traffic. I’ve started going on weekends and can easily spend over 2 hours here and still be working on just one section of a wall. I love the different route settings available and having so many routes to work on. If you live nearby, you need to climb here!

This was the first time going to any of the Circuit gyms in Portland. They have 2 other gyms and we decided to try this because it’s their newest. Upon walking in I noticed the two slack lines they have and I was pretty impressed! I normally go to SBP and they didn’t have it. There are two top out boulders and I noticed that there is a lot more variety in their walls. There’s areas with some over hang and some that are curved in. Each wall is pretty different and there were a ton of interesting routes to try. I got tired quickly just because everything is new to me and I wanted to try everything. Nice friendly staff. I love the open area. One thing that I love at SBP that they lack here are the mats. The mats at SBP are super thick and really padded so I felt comfortable falling. I was much more cautious climbing here.

My favorite Circuit gym out of the 3, which also happens to be the furthest. Definitely worth the drive. The staff here are easy to spot and they’re so kind. Routes are somewhat often changed. The lighting here is also much better than the SW location and slightly better than the NE gym.
Can be pricey and it does add up if you go frequently without a membership. $ 14 for a day pass and an extra $ 4 for rental shoes.
For first timers, be aware that your hands may get shredded by the holds.

The Circuit gets four stars for one reason only, the price.
This place is a blast, I go on a weekly basis and will continue to as long as possible. I like the vibe, cool music, and challenging climbing gym.
Unless you riding on the gravy train that is the Groupon access you will be stuck over paying. Don’t get me wrong, they get away with it for now, because it is always busy, but there is always competition willing to swoop in and make up the price difference aka Club Sport ($ 39.00 for 5 punches), and Stoneworks ($ 32.00 for one month w/​gear).

I am giving one star for the YOGA experience. Seriously, for $ 14 a pop, you could find a much nicer yoga studio. Also consider that they charge separately and equally for yoga and climbing. I got news for you: these experiences and not separate (noise, cold) and certainly not equal.
When they built this business, they didn’t seem to care that the 1970’s disco music, hoots, hollars, and grunts from the climbing gym would be leaking into the studio. How annoying. Why didn’t they add some sound proofing to the particle board structure?
Also, women’s restroom = burrrrrrr. Can you please turn the heat on? Not everyone likes to blow dry their cold, dried out, chapped, calloused, swollen — from — climbing hands. Put some towels in there! (Hint Planet Granite has towels, lotion, and heat in their ladies room).
Bottonline: Skip the yoga here, it’s a farce. I might try the taking a yoga class at Planet Granite, maybe they will have their act together. Also bring yourself a towel to dry your tender hands, and some lotion. You will be much happier.

This place is great fun. It was my first time climbing and I had a blast. I got an amazing deal on groupon and will be returning for more climbing fun. The staff is super friendly and enthusiastic. If you have never climbed before, don’t worry people will help you out.

We visited The Circuit Bouldering Gym in Tigard today and it was a great experience! There is a large kids’ section with slides. Phil was very helpful and encouraging with my son! The staff was all very friendly and knowledgeable. The facility was extremely clean and quite impressive in size. Neither my son nor I have any experience with bouldering (so I can’t speak to how it rates from an experienced climber’s standpoint but they mentioned they change the climbing routes weekly) but we both had a lot of fun and will absolutely go again soon!

Tigger went to Tigard
Tigger likes to climb.
Tigger climbed in Tigard
He did it just one time,
Tigger wanted boulders
Bigger, badder rocks
They said shoes are optional
But your paws must have on socks.
Tigger saw so many routes
He could not pick just one
Tigger’s eyes got bigger
at the chance of fun.
Tigger picked a wall and up he went
Without a care or clue
Once at the top, he (gulp) looked down
He knew not what to do!
Tigger’s paws were wet and scared
His belly was too large
The rocky fates did Tigger dare
with his admission charge
Tigger’s friend did talk him down
From the fiberglass precipice
She did pretend his mind was sound
Once his palpitations ceased.
The Tigard gym offered Tigger
many safer routes to bounce
Good for kiddos and jocks much bigger
The competition trounced.
Slippy paws and purchase lost
Kept Tigger’s ego small
Climbing Tigard boulders with bendy boulderers
Whilst attempting not to fall
But to fall is not to fail
For if Tiggers at least try
Tiggers flop and flail
always flailing toward the sky
But never turning tail
Means that Tiggers always try