Climbing sticks are obstacles found in Pikmin 1 that require Pikmin to build and shimmy up them. They are somewhat similar to bridges, but they are not climbable by Captain Olimar, nor by Pikmin carrying something. Sheargrubs and Shearwigs will fortunately not dismantle these useful ladders, although they are automatically leveled every day after sundown. They are found in every level in Pikmin 1 except The Final Trial. Climbing sticks are also absent in Pikmin 2.

A couple of Pikmin will start climbing the climbing stick while other Pikmin are working on it. This is commonly seen on The Impact Site, when the player wants to bring 100 Pikmin up the trunk. Swarming the climbing stick will cause some Pikmin to start climbing before the work is done.

Climbing sticks are first named in a Pikmin 3 gameplay video at 0:28, and are referred to as such.