Hot Lava Obstacle Course

Just saw that this place closed down.
There’s no point in providing a review but I want to let everyone know that BAM ACADEMY just down the street has everything and more so I’ve been going there a lot lately.
If you haven’t been there, it’s kinda hard to find. Give them a call if you’re lost, but definitely check it out, it’s a huge place compared to hot lava.
Keep on training!

This place is TINY and super ghetto. Holes in the walls. The «obstacles» are just a bunch of wood taped together with duct tape. Not safe at all. About 300 Sq ft total. The website is a complete lie. Ridiculous waste of time and money.

I cut my foot on a piece of sharp metal within about one minute of walking in the door. I wished I could have gotten a refund and left. Instead I got a band aid and limped around trying to stay off of my foot. Not happy with the customer service. Also, there’s just not a whole lot to this place. There are 7 obstacle areas. I just expected more. It doesn’t really fit into any niche. Doesn’t seem ideal for working out. Not ideal for gymnastics. And there are better options for kids. On the upside, they are the only type of business like this in Austin. I guess I just expected more. Maybe I’m the jerk here. Who knows?

maybe we would have had fun here. idk, we walked in and cheerfully asked if we could «play» and the «veeeery uninterested in any type of generally polite customer service» employee scoffed at us and stated that our 6 year old child was not allowed after 2pm… I mean we completely understand rules and liabilities, but after the way the rude employee treated us we will not be attempting to return.

My son is 12, and interested in parkour, so I thought this might be a good place for him to go. He had the best time! This place is small, but it was plenty of room to do each activity. There was also 2 guys who took time out of their workout to help teach him the proper technique for the course. The staff was friendly and helpful with question from customers. My son had a blast and wants to go back again. I had a tough time getting him to leave. So happy I found this place!

WAIVER WARNING
Really disappointed in their customer service.
They have a STRICT «no parent signature — no entry» rule — for each and every visit. It’s too bad that Hot Lava hasn’t figured out how to work with parents, children, liabilities and activities without compromising the customer experience — and yet similar places like Jumpoline and BAM Academy have.
Here’s the story:
We came here Saturday for the first time, after living near it for over a year. I have two very active pre-​teen/​teen boys, and and we were excited to check it out.
Unfortunately, we were greeted with a guy at the front who seemed bored and uninterested in customer service, more interested in surfing his iPad.
There were a number of kids due to a birthday party, and they were kinda glomming onto the foam pit (i.e. hogging) so we didn’t stay too long. There was also a parkour class or something on the spring board, so we didn’t get to use that either.
A few days later, I recommended my babysitter to bring the boys. It was during the weekday, so surely they would get to better access to all the facilities.
That’s when the trouble started. I got a call from my babysitter that I would have to print, sign, scan and email back the waiver before they would let them in. And that I would have to do this *every single time* she takes them there. She followed it with a text to let her know when I emailed it b/​c the guy at the front wasn’t really interested in helping them, but more interested in surfing the net. (I’m not joking. Purely coincidence that we both had that experience?)
OK, well that’s a huge drag. But I printed, signed, scanned and emailed the waiver back with a note on how inconvenient it was. I also emailed a note to their CEO. Unfortunately, the email I received back from their CEO outlined their position — more interested in the legalities of the waiver than in the customer experience, and they are willing to lose customers over it if need be.
Then she went on to present me the option to keep our waivers on file — but only as long as I bought a long term pass, and it was active. Then my sitter could bring them up anytime without me needing to create a fresh waiver each time. Seriously?
I don’t think they get it. Parenting is hard. We need all the help we can get, and will gladly support those who make it easier for us. Throwing in obstacles like a strict «no parent signature –no entry» only complicates letting our children go on play dates, with babysitters and grandparents.
Additionally, they are turning away cash at the door every. single. day because of their strict policy. It’s sad to see a missed opportunity like this. But that’s their choice.

Came here with my 8 y/​o he really seemed to enjoy it. It did the job of tiring him out. We will come again for sure.
The guy at the front seems bored to be here, but would offer help as needed.

The place is alot smaller than appears in the pictures. A number of obstacles were not seen or under maintenance. There was no pugil sticks, slack lines or cargo nets. The Rings had maintenance being performed on it at the time and part of the spring floor was off limits due to maintenance. We were out of there in about 15 minutes.
The one positive note was the staff was friendly and demonstrated how to do one of the obstacles

I had a Groupon for this place that I had forgot about and it was about to expire, so I figured I’d check it out before it did.
This place is located in a little strip mall off of N. Burnet and you might easily pass it if you aren’t looking specifically for it. There is ample parking from what I could see, but it is a shared lot with the other businesses.
At first glance, when walking in, it looks kind of like it is in the middle of renovation and not quite complete, but it is in fact. You are greeted at the front desk, told to remove your shoes (there are little cubbie slots to put your shoes & personal belongings) and sign a waiver. After that, it is a basic free-​for-​all.
I was a little unsure as to what to do as there did not seem like many options. But, after talking with Robert (aka Posey) who is the human Orangutan and having him demonstrate how to use each of the apparatuses, it became much more enjoyable than me initial wandering around with a look of confusion.
I will say you, if you apply yourself to each of the different stations, you will get a workout and you will know you got a FULL one from the sore aches of your entire body the next day!
I really enjoyed being pushed by Posey to overcome my inhibitions and fears, which allowed me to conquer some of the obstacles I would have never dreamed I could!
My only complaint is that I did not see a bottle of available hand sanitizer (being a germaphobe and touching all that equipment, especially after troves of kids who are known petri dishes of CDC-​grade germies) to disinfect before and after use of the group share equipment.
Also, I would have loved to have seen a trampoline in there! They have a sort of gymnastic-​grade bounce floor, but a trampoline it was not.
In any case, it was a fun and sweaty experience!

Really loved this place! Went on a rainy day with friends and just played around. We all wish it was a little bigger and had more options. Overall– we had a wonderful time!

Had alot of fun when we came a few Fridays ago with a bunch of friends.
Very friendly staff that can show you some really cool stuff. The owner spent a few hours teaching us tricks (like how to do a shoulder-​back roll & jump over stuff).
All the guys & girls had fun. Spent about 2 hours there.
GREAT place to train if you’re thinking about doing Spartan or Tough Mudder or other relays like that.
Obstacles to play on:
— ninja wedge jump– haha that’s what i call it– where you jump side to side on triangular wedges
— non-​scary-​slackline– because it’s literally like 1 foot off the ground
— over/​under/​wood slats
— single bar monkey bar– hang & wriggle your way over from one side to the other while you hold onto the one bar
— FOAMPIT– so fun jumping in– hardest part, getting out. it’s really, quite a workout.
— wall of rope ladder
— rope climb
— gymnastic rings
— springy floor & lots of foamy objects to jump onto/​over.
–hula hoops & other toys
Tips:
— go with silly friends who don’t care about looking cool– you’ll have more fun… the more people, the better. (b/​c they’ll come up with some crazy ideas)
— wear athletic clothing (yoga pants are a plus for the women so you can do cartwheels/​jumps/​etc)
–take off your socks! or you might eat it trying to jump on the ninja wedges!
–try not to bring valuables ex. watches, jewelry (they have a cubby where you can store stuff while you play, but it’s not locked, so probably best to leave expensive stuff at home)
Kids? Probably can’t really participate in 50% of the obstacles… but they would probably have fun climbing the rope wall or jumping in the foam pit or jumping over things on the springy floor half of the room.
Best part: staff are really cool & would probably accommodate your needs if you want to throw a party there (and bring food/​drinks/​cake, etc).

I recently went here with a group of friends and noticed:
Pros:
–Really friendly and engaged staff.
–I like the new parkour classes. It added a lot of value to the admission cost.
–Felt the obstacles were challenging, but fun enough to keep us trying.
Cons:
— Though I understand the facility can only house so many obstacles, I really would like 1 or 2 more obstacles. To top it off I would of preferred there were more space in between some of the obstacles.
— I was under the impression that their was a no kid rule, yet at 9:00 PM there were two kids running around (age 11?) with no regard to people around them. I understand they may need to add extra income, but it’s hard to take it as a serious workout, when you have kids monopolizing the limited obstacles.
Over all, I think this is a great supplement to change up your work out routine and would be back again.

This is a really, really fun place to spend a day. Went to an adult’s birthday party here and felt like a kid all over again. I didn’t realize how much help my grip strength needed until I went to the gym to do deadlifts *three days* after playing here and my hands were still shot, so thanks for pointing out something I needed to work on! I especially love the lava pit, and especially hate that I can’t figure out how to get into that hammock without pulling a limb out of its socket.
Really my only not-​actually-​a-​complaint is that I wish they had more things for me to play on, but I know they’re limited by the size of the space. Seem to be doing a great job with the space they have, though!

The place was great, awesome! The fun is in the jumping, trying news moves, Hot Lava is a great name! The desk girl, Monica was disinterested in helping me. I met my friends there and was a bit later than they were… She was of no help to me. It was my first time there. All she did was art work. I hope next time I go, someone else is at the desk. Other wise, what a great place.

Eeek this place was super fun! I’ve been wanting to go here forever, and my boyfriend and I finally went last Friday night. We spent about an hour climbing, hula hooping, diving into the foam pit, and racing around. By the time we were done I was out of breath, my arms were sore, and I’m pretty sure I undid everything my chiropractor had done earlier that day.
We were the only customers there. The fact that there were no (actual) children there? Excellent. No one but the lady working the desk to judge us for acting like children? Ideal. I like kids, but the last thing I needed was to accidentally cannonball on top of a five year old in the foam pit.
The nitty gritty:
–Don’t wear jewelery or bring your cell phone into the foam — sorry *LAVA* — pit, or it will be sucked under and gone forever. Or until they empty the pit or get a metal detector or something.
–A day pass is $ 10, and I believe a monthly membership is $ 40.
–Kids are allowed during the day, but not at night.
–Parking was really easy.

Want to practice your parkour moves? Want to climb a rope and jump into a foam pit? Want to battle it out with a foam bat? If you answered yes to any of these questions then this is the place for you.
So two days later and it still feels like my arms are going to fall off. Apparently my cargo net climbing muscles don’t get much of a workout on a regular basis. I went to Hot Lava with a group of Unilocalers and had a blast. It’s a small place, but there are a lot of things to play with. The owner couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful. I’d highly suggest coming here with a group or if you have kids that want an indoor playground.

Went yesterday with a bunch of friends and had so much fun. In fact, I think the adults enjoyed it as much or more than the kids. My husband and I stay fit and have a regular fitness routine (running, crossfit, etc) and we were totally wiped out that afternoon, and woke up with sore muscles the next day — it was like recess mixed with a great core, cardio, and strength workout.
Even though the space is relatively small, the various activities were enough to keep us occupied for a full three hours. My favorite was the hanging ring forest and slackline. My 5 year old loved the rope swing into the lava pit. We also wound up spending a ton of time doing flips and stuff on the springy floor and mats.
The owners were super nice. Ben was basically like a big kid, running around showing people new tricks, and trying to copy the tricks the customers were doing. You can tell it’s a labor of love for them and I really hope the business takes off. But if they get much busier, they’ll need a bigger space pretty fast.
The current policy is that kids are allowed from 10 — 2, and it’s adults only from 2 — 10.
Before we went, we felt like the $ 10 entrance fee was a little high, but after we spent three hours there having a blast, we totally felt like we got our money’s worth.

I love it!
While I’m not centered on any specific style of training like running or yoga, sometimes I feel like I settle into a rut of floor exercises and hiking. Coming in here where I could balance, jump and climb like a monkey, I worked and stretched muscles I’d apparently forgotten and neglected!
This place offers welcome and affordable variety to anyone looking for new indoor workout options.

Went to Hot Lava this past weekend on opening day and had so much fun! Ran the course once and then just practiced on the individual obstacles (slack line and quad step). Time flew by and we were there for about an hour and a half. Woke up the next morning and boy could I feel the full body work out! Such a great alternative to the treadmill and weights at my other gym. My guy especially liked the Ninja Warrior obstacles: pipe slide and quad step. So much harder than it looks on TV!

A lot of people want to get active and/​or work out, but hate the idea of going to a gym.
A lot of people want to go outside and play but hate the idea of million degree heat all summer long. A lot of people love obstacle racing but don’t know where to go to train on obstacles.
I am all of those people, and I am thrilled out of my crazypants to have discovered the solution to all those problems in one surprisingly awesome brand new place: Hot Lava!
It is basically an indoor playground for adults. There are ropes to climb, walls to go over and under, all kinds of stuff I have no idea how to describe, and a big part of the room is an über-​bouncy spring floor like gymnasts use– just in case you need to practice backflips, breakdancing, or extreme martial arts– because YES, YOU DO.
It is kid friendly, but definitely geared to adult kids– the obstacles really are challenging, and you will have a blast trying to conquer them again and again.
And they’re open every day from 10 to 10 so you can go there on your lunch break— like having RECESS during your work day!
When word gets out (and it will get out fast) this place is going to be packed all the time, so definitely check it out soon!
Awesome idea, awesome place, owned and operated locally by sweet awesome people. Win Win WIN!
Recess is BACK, Austin!
GO PLAY! WOOT WOOT!