North Boulder Recreation Center
3170 Broadway
Pool, basketball, volleyball, pickleball, weight room and cardio, group fitness, and an ice rink. The ice is what makes this one different.
Last checked: August 7, 2026
Boulder has an unusual fitness market: three well-equipped municipal recreation centers, three separately owned CrossFit boxes, three climbing gyms, and a university gym that sells memberships to the public. For most residents the city's own centers are the best value by a wide margin, and they're where this page starts.
The three city recreation centers
One membership covers all three, plus a shared pass system. These are the cheapest full-facility option in Boulder and the only ones with pools, courts and an ice rink between them.
East Boulder Community Center
5660 Sioux Drive
Pool, basketball, volleyball, pickleball, a climbing wall, childcare, and the East Age Well Center for older adults in the same building.
South Boulder Recreation Center
1360 Gillaspie Drive
Pool, basketball, volleyball, pickleball, and the city's largest outdoor pickleball complex at eight courts.
Rec center membership, resident rates
| Who | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Standard, 18 to 59 | $756 | $72 |
| Older adult, 60+ | $567 | $54 |
| Youth, 2 to 17 | $453 | $43 |
| Household, up to 5 | $1,209 | $115 |
| Older adult couple, both 60+ | $999 | Not offered |
| Youth plus guardian | $999 | Not offered |
Extra household members are $100 a year or $10 a month each. An annual membership can be paused for one to three months for a $25 fee. Non-resident rates are higher across the board.
Rec Plus, which adds the outdoor pools and the Reservoir
| Who | Resident annual | Resident monthly | Non-resident annual | Non-resident monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard, 18 to 59 | $1,119 | $103 | $1,399 | $129 |
| Older adult, 60+ | $871 | $79 | $1,089 | $99 |
| Youth, 2 to 17 | $671 | $62 | $839 | $77 |
| Household, up to 5 | $1,791 | $164 | $2,239 | $205 |
If you don't want a membership
Daily entry is $15. The Boulder Explorer ten-pack is $129 for residents and $139 otherwise for adults, $89 and $99 for over-60s, $69 and $79 for youth. It works at the rec centers, the pools and the Reservoir, expires two years after purchase, and caps at 40 entries per account. Full season outdoor pool passes are $232 for a resident adult, $184 at 60 and over.
The Boulder Reservoir sells its own membership from $352 a year for a resident adult, or you can pay at the gate: $12 a person, $20 for a car with two people, $30 for a carload of three to five, and $5 if you arrive on foot or by bike.
The city also runs a financial aid program that reduces these costs based on need. We couldn't confirm the exact sliding scale, so ask at any center rather than trusting a figure from us. If your insurance includes SilverSneakers, Renew Active, One Pass or Silver and Fit, all four are accepted at no charge, which is covered in more detail on our page for 55 and over.
CU Boulder's rec center, with one caveat
CU's published community rates are $55 a month, $28 for anyone 65 and over, $36 for a spouse or partner and $18 for a senior spouse. A daily pass is $10 and includes a fitness class, a ten-punch pass is $75, and a seven day guest pass is $45, though that one needs a CU sponsor present when you buy it.
Confirm before you go. CU's own site contradicts itself here. The rates above appear on its membership rates page under a community tier, but another page describes access as limited to students, staff, faculty, alumni and their dependents, and a third mentions community access being suspended, apparently written years ago and never removed. We can't tell from outside which is current, so call rather than turning up with a card.
For the money it's arguably the best-equipped building in town: four pools, the only other ice rink in Boulder, and courts for badminton, basketball, volleyball, racquetball, squash and tennis. The outdoor Fitness Court is free and open to anyone with no membership at all.
Chain and full-service gyms
- 24 Hour Fitness, North Boulder Iris
- 2900 Iris Avenue. Indoor lap pool, whirlpool, steam room, sauna and a basketball court. Platinum $39.99 a month, Gold $26.99, Silver $14.99, plus a $69.99 annual fee on most plans billed 15 days after you join. Their page says this club has no free pass at present.
- Life Time Boulder
- 1821 30th Street. Adult membership starts at $329 a month, month to month with no annual contract. Pool, pickleball courts, cold plunge, sauna and a Pilates studio. Note this is a different building from Life Time Flatirons in Broomfield, which starts at $239.
We couldn't find a Planet Fitness in Boulder. That's an absence of evidence rather than a confirmed absence, so treat it as unverified.
Independent gyms
- Boulder Athletics
- 3240 Pearl Street. Strength and conditioning with 24/7 open gym for members. First class free. Punch cards run from $35 for a single session down to $23 a class if you buy 30. Five and ten packs expire in three months, larger packs in six. We couldn't read their unlimited monthly rate.
- Revo Physiotherapy and Sports Performance
- Gym membership with programming and open gym access is $167 a month. New members do a paid orientation month with one-to-one coaching before joining group classes.
- Iron Works Fitness
- 4660 Broadway. Locally owned since 2005, open 24 hours, staffed only at limited times. No price published.
CrossFit, of which Boulder has three
Three separately owned boxes is a genuinely unusual concentration for a city this size. Only one of them publishes a price. CrossFit Roots at 5311 Western Avenue is $219 a month unlimited, with unquantified discounts for students, military, police, firefighters and couples. Boulder CrossFit and CrossFit Sanitas both gate their rates behind a form.
Climbing gyms
Movement Boulder
2845 Valmont Road
- Price
- Membership from $106 a month. Day pass $29. Seven-visit pass $182. Rentals: shoes $6, harness $5, chalk bag $2, or $11 for the package.
Ropes and bouldering across 22,000 square feet, plus a yoga studio and fitness area. Membership includes access to Movement gyms nationwide. A 15 day trial is available.
The Spot Bouldering Gym
3240 Prairie Avenue
- Price
- Day pass $23. Monthly $88 plus a $50 initiation fee. A single month with no commitment is $110. Punch pass $98. Annual is quoted as $1,075 on one of their pages and $975 on another, with no initiation fee either way.
Bouldering only, no ropes. Opened in 2002 as the first dedicated bouldering gym in the country. Discounts exist for students, teachers, first responders, healthcare workers, seniors, military and veterans, though the amounts aren't itemized.
Boulder Rock Club
Boulder. Address not captured in our check.
- Price
- NOT PUBLISHED. Plan types are listed but every price sits inside a third-party purchase widget with no figure in the page text.
Top roping, lead climbing and bouldering. Student, military and youth tiers exist but aren't itemized either.
Swimming beyond the rec centers
Boulder Aquatic Masters is the adult (18 and over) coached swim program, using Scott Carpenter, the East and North rec centers and the Reservoir across the seasons. For ages 30 to 64 it's $137.50 a month, $577.50 for six months or $1,099 for a year, with a Summer Flex option at $357.50 and drop-ins at $16.50. There's a 20% discount if you're 29 or under, 65 or over, or hold a Medicare or Medicaid card. If your Medicare plan includes Renew Active, it's free.
Boutique studios
CorePower Yoga has multiple Boulder studios including North Boulder at 3280 28th Street, advertising all-access from around $109 and a free week with no card required, though that figure appears identically on their pages for other states so it may be a national rate rather than a Boulder one. Kondition Fitness advertises a $129 new client offer across strength, cycle, barre, mat Pilates, yoga and dance, but not a standing rate. Club Pilates and Pure Barre publish nothing.
Eleven Boulder gyms won't tell you their price
This is a real pattern and worth knowing before you spend an evening comparing. Each of these gates its rates behind a lead capture form, a signup flow or a booking widget:
- Genesis Health Clubs Boulder Flatirons. 505 Thunderbird Drive. Full-service club with indoor and outdoor pools, tennis, pickleball, squash. Offers a free three day pass instead of a price.
- Boulder CrossFit. 2480 49th Street. Their own pricing page is a lead capture form.
- CrossFit Sanitas. 28th and Arapahoe. Says only that most memberships start around $7 a day and asks you to text for pricing.
- Iron Works Fitness. 4660 Broadway. Locally owned and open 24 hours since 2005. No figures anywhere on the site.
- F45 Training Central Boulder. 1750 29th Street. Publishes a seven days for $7 trial and nothing else.
- Club Pilates Boulder. 2850 Baseline Road, Unit A-2. Free intro class only.
- Pure Barre Boulder. Free first class only.
- Front Range Boxing Academy. 3801 Pearl Street.
- Easton Training Center Boulder. Jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai, in Boulder since 1998. Free 30 minute orientation and a free beginner class, no membership figures.
- Boulder Rock Club. Prices live inside a booking widget rather than on the page.
- Orangetheory Boulder. Two studios, at 1850 29th Street and at Table Mesa. Their pricing widget didn't resolve to a reliable set of tiers, so we aren't quoting any figure.
Third-party comparison sites carry confident monthly figures for several of these. None of those numbers trace back to the operator, so we aren't repeating them. If you want a price, the trial offers are the fastest route: Genesis gives three days, F45 gives seven days for $7, and Club Pilates, Pure Barre and Easton all give a free first session.
Two things to check before you rely on them
RallySport may no longer exist. The 29th Street club was reported in 2020 as having to vacate for a redevelopment, its listing shows as closed, and the domain linked from its own social profile no longer serves a gym site. We couldn't find a live site or a new address. Call 303-449-4800 before going.
The South Boulder pool may be closed. A swim club's facility list says it's closed until further notice. We couldn't confirm that against the city's own page either way, so if the pool is the reason you're going, check first.