Home › Illinois › Champaign › Activities and Recreation Center
Activities and Recreation Center
4.5 ★★★★★ 243 Google reviews · Climbing gym in Champaign, Illinois
Campus rec center offering a basketball court, gym, and facilities for a variety of activities.
Plan your visit
- Gear rental nearly every climbing gym rents shoes (~$5–8 typical) and chalk; harness rental is often bundled with a ropes pass
- Waiver always required at climbing gyms — sign it online before you go to skip the front-desk line
- First timer? bouldering needs zero experience — rent shoes and walk in; staff will point you at the easiest problems
- Kids programs classes, camps, or youth teams mentioned — check the current schedule
- Yoga & fitness mentioned alongside the climbing — ask about the class schedule and what a pass includes
- Memberships available — worth asking about if you'd climb more than a few times a month
- Today see hours ·
- Phone (217) 333-3806
- Website campusrec.illinois.edu
Hours
| Monday | 7 AM–9 PM |
| Tuesday | 7 AM–9 PM |
| Wednesday | 7 AM–9 PM |
| Thursday | 7 AM–9 PM |
| Friday | 7 AM–9 PM |
| Saturday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Sunday | 11 AM–9 PM |
What's inside
“The weight room we would also occasionally use when we didn’t use the one that we had for athletes.”
What climbers say again and again
“Tons of courts, lots of equipment, cool zen room, clean lockers and showers.”
“The weight room we would also occasionally use when we didn’t use the one that we had for athletes.”
From the reviews
Hard to find parking if you drive. We used to pay for membership until Covid hit. The membership doubled/tripled in recent years in addition to their limited opening hours during break time. The only sauna is gender neutral and it was packed in peak hours. They have two pools and the outdoor pool is open seasonally.
Tons of courts, lots of equipment, cool zen room, clean lockers and showers. Very nice facility. I'm not sure how it is at peak times. Off peak, it was great.
It was fantastic. There are so many activities going on at ARC. It's just amazing.
An awesome place to workout at the University of Illinois. My mother literally said a gym at a University looks like the United Union because of these flags on the wall, hahaha.
Kids classes & camps at Activities and Recreation Center
Reviews and the gym's own info mention kids programs at Activities and Recreation Center — climbing classes, school-break camps, or a youth team where kids learn technique from coaches instead of just scrambling around. Program schedules and age groups change each season, so check the current lineup before you plan around one.
Climbing gyms near Activities and Recreation Center
University of Illinois Campus Recreation
4.7 ★★★★★ 422 reviews
Extensive college gym with climbing walls, indoor and outdoor pools and classes.
Horizon Climbing
4.8 ★★★★★ 37 reviews