Rock-Tober: Must-Attend Climbing Festivals This Fall (and how much they cost)

It’s finally fall! Forget pumpkin spice lattes for a moment and revel in the fact that it’s ROCKTOBER! All your favorite climbing festivals are back as the temps begin to decline and the dirtbags flock–once again to the crispy climbing destinations. Fall is my favorite climbing season, but it’s also a great time to connect with your communities all over the US. I wanted to round up every festival this fall, hopefully the dirtbags can make it to them all! 

Here are the “must do” climbing festivals in October of 2026!

Tips for Enjoying a Climbing Festival

Whether you’ve been going to climbing festivals your whole climbing career, or this is your first one, here are some tips for making the most out of your experience. 

Engage with the athletes

I promise they are not as scary as you think. Take the selfie, ask them about their climbing, tell them how much they’ve meant to you. These people love climbing and (for the most part) want to share that joy with others. 

Camp (if you can)

A lot of the climbing festival experience happens after the booths are shut down for the night and everyone just goes back to being a climber. Camp and share some beers around a campfire with the brand reps, or go out dancing and meet the head of a climbing non-profit. This is the time to make connections that will last you a lifetime, don’t miss out on it. 

CLIMB!

You’re there to climb, so do it! Touch some new rock, get out of your comfort zone, chat up the people next to you. Don’t get so lost in the moment that you neglect the whole reason you came to this place. Climb. Some. Rocks. 

Festival	Location	Dates	Why Attend?	Cost?
Joe’s Valley Fest	Joe’s Valley, UT	Oct 1–4	Pack the climbing shoes and cowboy hats! The 12th annual Joe’s Valley Fest is on for October 1st-4th, 2026. Join them in Emery County for 4 fun-filled days of climbing and local artisan clinics, steer ridin’ and hide racin’ at the rodeo games, local food and music, a drawing for prizes like no other, gettin’ down at the Joedown, volunteer projects, and so much more!	$80 adult, $20 youth, pay what you can options
Smith Rock Climbing Festival	Smith Rock, OR	Oct 2–4	A weekend of climbing, stewardship, guided clinics, athlete presentations, film screenings, great food, and meaningful connection at one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier climbing destinations!	$85 festival pass + camping (options for upgrades)
Flash Foxy Mini Fest	The Gunks, NY	Oct 2–4	This event is smaller and more intimate than their flagship event, with a limit of 75 tickets for sale. This scale allows for more opportunities for intimate connection and community building, more opportunities for learning and sharing with and from one another, and finding ways to be able to bring our full selves to climbing and the outdoors.	$250 full weekend pass
True Penitence Climbing Festival	Penitente Canyon, CO	Oct 2–5	A good natured climbing festival complete with a climbing/costume contest, film screenings, and even morning yoga classes. This festival is lighthearted and open to anyone looking for a fun weekend of climbing!	$25-$75
Rocktoberfest	Red River Gorge, KY	Oct 9–11	The original Rocktober event, Rocktoberfest itself! This is a must do event for any lover of the Red River Gorge. With masterful clinics, a 5k run/costume contest, happy hours, small and large climbing competitions, and of course live music for the evenings.	Tickets not yet released!
Quartzite Classic	Devil’s Lake State Park, WI	Oct 9–11	The Quartzite Classic is a grassroots climbing festival dedicated to celebrating the past, present, and future of climbing at Devil’s Lake State Park. Their homegrown event brings climbers together for education, connection, community, and stewardship!	$50–$125 sliding scale
GunksFest (5th Annual)	New Paltz, NY	Oct 10–11	GunksFest is the annual festival of the Gunks Climbers Coalition — an education-first gathering in the Shawangunks built around climbing clinics and workshops led by experienced local guides.	$25-$250 (depending on access purchased)
Adaptive Climbers Fest	Red River Gorge, KY	Oct 15–18	The Adaptive Climbers Festival (ACF) is an annual, three-day event that provides space for climbers with disabilities to come together, learn, and celebrate with one another.	$35

Festival Must-Dos 

If you’re going to be attending your first climbing festival, I highly recommend taking advantage of everything they have to offer. Climbing festivals are fantastic for learning new skills, meeting your climbing heroes, and (best of all) trying out new gear. 

My top three recommendations for climbing festivals are:

Take a clinic. 

Climbing is still a mentorship sport, we are primarily learning new skills from our friends and climbing partners. How often do you get to learn new climbing skills from people who have made climbing their career? Take the big wall clinic, or the crack climbing clinic. It may just change your climbing forever. 

Enter a Competition 

From hang times to dyno lengths to rope coiling, there are heaps of competitions to enter at all sorts of climbing festivals. Push yourself! Even if you don’t win they’re a lot of fun, and frequently come with very valuable prizes.

Tour the Brand Booths

The folks working behind the booths are usually climbers themselves who have committed enough to the sport that they’ve sought a career in the climbing industry. They’re passionate and interesting people who love rock climbing! Chat with them! And if that’s not reason enough, it’s cool to look at the new gear and sometimes you’ll get free swag. Don’t underestimate the free swag!

Enjoy Rocktober

No matter where you live in the US, there is a climbing festival NEAR YOU! Join your community, support the athletes that are pushing the limits of this sport we all love, and maybe take a clinic or two to hone your skills. 

I look forward to seeing you all out there on the rock this rocktober!

---

Cover Photo Credit: Kaya Lindsay