Most Scenic Rock Climbing Places in the World

If you’re looking for pure adrenaline rush and adventure with potential danger, then rock climbing is the activity for you. Rock climbing is a pretty risky sport that appeals to the daring and the bold, but it’s also one of the ways to immerse oneself in the most pristine, breathtaking places on earth. There’s just a satisfying thrill of making it to the top while enjoying the spectacular views in every direction.

Here are some of the most scenic rock climbing destinations in the world:

1. Yosemite National Park, California

mountain

Yosemite National Park is one of America’s most popular national parks boasting of the stunning views, hiking trails, and rock climbing opportunities. Located in central California, USA, this park draws four million visitors every year. It’s the home of the Yosemite Falls, which is the largest waterfall in North America with wonderful views; and of course, El Capitan, the world’s tallest granite monolith and a top rock climbing destination in the world. Yosemite National Park offers a lot of rock formations for climbing, favorably for experienced climbers, but El Capitan is the most popular and most dangerous of them all. It’s the holy grail for serious climbers.

2. Kalymnos, Greece

Set in the heart of the Aegean Sea, the beautiful island of Kalymnos makes a well-known island in Greece. It’s one of the greatest sport climbing destinations in the world with its scuba-diving, snorkeling, and rock climbing opportunities. Cliffs and limestone crags here offer a ton of variety, including moderate angles, pockets, and vertical grips, making it challenging both for newbies and veterans. It’s also a home to beautiful architecture, castles, and museums, so climbing the cliffs here would give you awesome views of the island. Climbing is also an opportunity to see a fabulous sunset.

3. Railay Beach, Thailand

Railey Beach in Krabi Region, Thailand, is a popular destination for tourists because of its stunning scenery, relaxing beach, laid-back lifestyle, great food, and friendly locals. Its monumental limestone cliffs over the sparkling blue sea are great for rope climbing, bouldering, and rappelling. The cliff is great for beginners, but there are also rougher multi-pitch if you are already proficient. These make the beach a popular holiday destination from people all around the world. Its great tropical weather makes it all the more appealing.

4. The Peak District, UK

The most popular climbing destination in the UK, the Peak District is a place to be if you’re a climber who wants to explore plenty of crags, cliffs, ledges and boulders. The place is famous for its gritstone rocks, including Froggatt and Stanage, but you can also find disused quarries, superb bouldering, and single and multi-pitch climbs here. It has different climbing routes for beginners and world-class climbers alike, so you can play with lots of variations. More than 10,000 climbs have been recorded here and still counting up to this day.

5. Costa Blanca, Spain

In Spain, Costa Blanca in the Alicante province is one of the most gorgeous limestone cliffs that can give you a great view of the Mediterranean. The geological architecture is breath-taking, and you’ll be happy to find the sheer variety of climbing terrain available, such as sea cliffs, canyon walks, sunny crags, multi-pitch climbs, and mountain ridges. This area is popular with British climbers and tourists, and its excellent weather makes it a great climbing hub, especially if it’s snowy and wet elsewhere.

6. Yangshuo, China

Yangshuo is a resort town in the Guangxi region that serves as the most popular climbing area in China. The town is set between pinnacles like Bilian Feng, which has hiking trail to reach the top. Known for its dramatic karst mountain landscape, rock-climbing enthusiasts frequent this region to experience its lofty peaks and unique rock formations. There are hundreds of climbing routes here, all offering a great atmosphere and scenery.

7. Moab, Utah

Moab, Utah

Moab is popular for many attractions: the Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Slickrock mountain biking trail, the Moab Jeep Safari, and its great food and music scene. Most of all, it’s known as the Red Rock Wonderland with its majestic, reddish-brown sandstone and siltstone buttes, cliffs and canyons. It’s the home to tons of gorgeous big walls, towers and unique red rock formation that rock climbers are flocking into. Famous routes include Fisher Towers, Indian Creek, and Wall Street, which are all exceptional climbing spots.

8. Squamish, British Columbia

Squamish, British Columbia

Found halfway between Vancouver and Whistler, Squamish is a district municipality in British Columbia in Canada located on the Sea-to-Sky highway. Its main attraction is the Chief, which is the big crag that seems to grow out of the road through town.