A Fall Hike at Castle Rock State Park

Castle Rock State Park is so popular that on weekends you need to get there by 9:30 am at the latest to find a parking place. A ranger informed me that they will put a new 100 car parking lot at the new entrance, which will be at the Christmas tree farm just north of the current entrance. Hopefully it will still be possible to park along the road in order to avoid paying the parking fee.

I lead my De Anza College class on a delightful and adventurous 4.5 mile hike today. The sun was shining and the temperature was ideal. From the main entrance we hiked downhill through a forest on the Saratoga Gap Trail and then headed uphill on the Ridge Trail to Goat Rock. Using a thick rope, I helped most of the class up the backside of the rock to enjoy spectacular views of the San Lorenzo River Valley, Monterey Bay, and all the way south to the Santa Lucia Mountains.  From there we took a short side trip to a hollowed out sandstone rock that is a perfect example of the process of cavernous weathering.

Continuing north and west on the Ridge Trail, we climbed into a cave at Hole-in-the-Wall Rock and then proceeded a short distance to our lunch stop at a magnificent canyon live oak. After lunch we took the Interconnector Trail to the Saratoga Gap Trail and then headed east to complete our loop. We enjoyed the sight of wild fuchsia in bloom. After briefly pausing at the little trickle of water that passes for Castle Rock Falls we hiked uphill to the intersection with the Castle Rock Trail. While waiting for everyone to catch up some of us watched a baby rattlesnake cross the trail.

Some of the students opted to take the short cut back to the parking lot. The rest of us charged uphill on the Castle Rock Trail to the namesake rock of the park. If you were going to make a fun rock to climb around on you couldn't design one better than Castle Rock. It has shallow caves, overhangs, cracks, ledges, and lots of stone appendages to make it interesting. Some of us climbed into a cave. From there we completed the route back to the parking lot.

TO GET THERE... Take Skyline Boulevard about 2.5 miles south from where it intersects Highway 9 (Saratoga Gap).