Dogpatch Gym With Sauna Open Till 11pm: Dogpatch Boulders

Dogpatch Boulders, at 2573 3rd Street, is a bouldering gym with a dry sauna, free towels and lockers, and it stays open until 11pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Walk-in climbers pay $30 for a weekday visit before 3pm or $35 after that, and no rope skills are needed because every wall is a short boulder problem over thick pads. It is the late-night option among San Francisco gyms with a sauna.

Touchstone's About page says Dogpatch Boulders opened in 2013 as the country's largest bouldering gym, and that it remains Touchstone's largest bouldering-only facility. The amenity page goes further and calls it the largest bouldering gym in California. The building is a former industrial space on the 3rd Street corridor, where shipyards and warehouses have slowly turned into studios, breweries and apartments.

Bouldering changes how a gym feels. There are no ropes to manage and no partner needed, so people turn up alone, work the same problem as a stranger and end up swapping ideas on the pads. The gym's own description talks about a vibrant community of climbers and finding your people and your project, and the busy weeknight floor fits that line.

The amenity list keeps it simple: Sauna and Showers, with a free towel service and lockers. A reviewer quoted on the homepage says the dry sauna is roomy and hot, which matches what most regulars say about it. There is no steam room or pool, so the routine is climb, sweat, shower and go.

Because bouldering tears up the skin on your fingertips, go easy on the heat after a hard session. Ten minutes is enough, and a cool shower afterward helps the calluses. Bring flip-flops and a lock, and leave chalk bags outside the sauna door rather than carrying chalky gear onto the benches, where it turns to paste in the heat.

The training gear is the reason serious boulderers come here. Dogpatch has a 12-by-12 adjustable Kilter Board in the original layout and a spray wall, plus a campus board and Transgression and Beastmaker hangboards. The Kilter Board draws a crowd in the evening, so take one attempt at a time and step off the mat while someone else tries the next climb.

Away from the walls, the weight area has squat racks, free weights and kettlebells. Classes on the calendar include Vinyasa, Strength and Conditioning and Pilates. There is also a dedicated kids' climbing area, and the gym states that all children under 14 must be closely supervised, so parents should plan to stay on the floor with young climbers.

The day pass costs $35 after 3pm and $30 before 3pm on weekdays, excluding holidays. Kids 12 and under pay $30. Visitors with a current California EBT or Medi-Cal card and photo ID can buy Access to Climbing for $15. The sauna, showers and towels are part of every pass.

For regulars, an individual membership is $120 a month with a $100 initiation fee, and a one-month membership is $130. The 10-visit pass costs $300, expires after a year and works at every Touchstone gym. That shared pass is useful if you also want to try Mission Cliffs in the Mission, which has ropes and a sauna of its own.

Hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7am to 10pm, Tuesday and Thursday 7am to 11pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 7pm. On weekends the first hour, from 9am to 10am, is reserved for members only. Day-pass holders should plan a weekend visit for the late morning or after 4pm.

Weekday mornings from 7am to 10am are the quietest time to try the Kilter Board without a queue. The late Tuesday and Thursday sessions are popular with people who work long shifts, and the crowd thins out after 9:30pm. Avoid weekday evenings from 6pm to 8pm if you are new. The pads fill up, and it is harder to find an empty problem to learn on.

Sign the online waiver before you arrive, ask about gear rental at the desk if you do not own climbing shoes, and start on the easiest graded problems near the floor. Boulder problems are short, so the risk is overdoing it rather than running out of time. Rest between attempts, drink water and stop when your fingers feel raw.

Touchstone publishes a safety page that covers falling onto the pads and moving around a shared floor, and it is worth five minutes before your first session even if you have climbed outdoors. The simplest rule is never to stand or walk under someone who is on the wall, because boulderers drop without warning.

The T Third Street light rail runs right past the gym, and the 22nd Street Caltrain station is a few blocks west, which makes this one of the few sauna gyms in the city you can reach directly from the Peninsula. Street parking is easier than in the Mission, especially on weekday mornings.

After a session, walk east to Crane Cove Park on the bay, where old shipyard cranes stand over a small beach and a lawn. The Minnesota Street Project galleries are a short walk west for a quieter stop, and the neighborhood's cafes and breweries along 3rd and 22nd streets make it easy to stay for dinner.

Address: 2573 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94107. Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7am to 10pm. Tuesday and Thursday 7am to 11pm. Saturday and Sunday 10am to 7pm, with 9am to 10am for members only. Day pass $30 before 3pm on weekdays, $35 after 3pm. 10-visit pass $300. Dry sauna, showers, towels and lockers included.

The Karpo APP can plan a Dogpatch evening around a late Tuesday climb, a walk to Crane Cove Park and dinner nearby, so the sauna becomes the last stop of a good night out.