castle rock state park

We took little kids and did the .3 mile hike to Castle Rock. It was an easy hike and we even had a stroller. The kids and adults loved climbing around the rocks and watching the rock climbers.

Whenever I have guests coming through the area, I always bring them here because I think it really shows off the beauty of California's nature.We always stop by the rocks under Goat Rock to admire the park. Make sure to leave time for photo taking because the trail has really interesting formations!

We like to go to Castle Rock State Park and do hiking there. There is over 32 miles of hiking and horse back riding trails. The park is pretty with redwoods, Douglas-fir, and madrone. There are steep canyons with unusual rock formations. These rock formations are very popular with rock climbers. We enjoy watching them do their climbs.

Tired of visiting city parks in the San Jose area, my wife and I had an excursion to Castle Rock State Park located in Los Gatos, about 30 miles from where we stayed in Sunnyvale of the Silicon Valley. Driving in the zigzag way full of woods and by cliffs in the mist of the Los Gatos Mountain is already fun and challenging. Parking is available in the paid parking lot and along the roadside right outside the park entrance.Once in the park, we saw road signs pointing to the left and the right. We followed the left sign and got to the castle-like rocks spots on the top of the hill 25 minutes later. The massive rocks did not stand alone; they clustered on the top of the hill and hundreds yards down the slope. These nature-placed giant rocks were like Transformers attracting not only kids and adults for an excursion but mountains climbers and cliff climbers as well. We saw at least four groups of amateur cliff climbers practicing.Waking down the hill for another 20 minutes to get to where we started for the opposite direction, a shorter route rather than the one taking 2-3 hours. We were looking for the waterfall marked on the map and on the road signs. With the excitement in our hearts and a goal in our minds, we were eager to see the park Mecca in the drought-plagued Northern California. However, the light for our hope dimmed with every minute passing; nowhere we could find it except a disappearing stream crawling at the bottom of the hill. A hundred yards away from the stream, we arrived a scenic spot to over look the valley. A little disappointment not seeing the fall. Anyway, Castle Rocks, a stream, a scenic-viewing spot, and mountain trials were exciting enough for our one-day getaway. Hope we see our dreaming waterfall or cascade when we come back again when the rainy season comes.

This park has great hikes and rock climbing. Camping here is not the best as the grounds are exposed. Find a campground elsewhere and just drive to the park.

I lived here in these mountains for most of my life. It is truly a beautiful place. It's nice to come out for a walk any time of year. Plenty of green, trees, and boulders. It is a nice getaway close to town.

Great loop hike from the parking lot to the campground and back. In warm weather, take the Saratoga Gap trail out and the Ridge trail back. The lower Saratoga trail is more exposed and has more difficult bits, and then you can return on the much shadier Ridge trail. The entire trip is 5.5 miles, but you shorten it at the Interconnect trail if you run out of steam. Just walking out the Ridge trail to Goat Rock is worth the trip! There are rugged parts requiring a bit of a scramble, so wear sturdy shoes (we wore hiking boots) and take water. Don't count on fog to keep you cool in summer. I recommend a day pack or the like so you can have your hands free. Don't be intimidated by all the cars parked at the trailhead. Even on a busy day the trail isn't overly crowded after the first half mile.

This is a must for anybody visiting the Santa Cruz mountains. First parking is bad on weekends. The lot fills up quick, $8 to park i think. I always park on the side of the road,no fee. Even for a short hike you must see the rock formations. Hard to believe that where made by the ocean. If you want to hike longer you can go to the 90 foot falls, not a lot of water most of the time but still pretty cool. A trip to Goat Rock will give you some great views of the Santa Cruz mountains and the ocean. A hike to the campground and back will give you the total experience with more spectacular views, I think about 6 miles round trip. This place is also a rock climbers paradise, from small formations to large ones. Enjoy!!

Just a light hike up and you are in the midst of wonderful rock formations. Fantastic hike for kids and adults.

I hiked Castle Rock State Park for the second time with my cousin, his wife and her dad and we had a great time exploring the area, enjoying the trees, nature and great views.I highly recommend going here and enjoying a few hours in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Easy to get to from Cupertino. Nice for day hiking with very interesting rock formations. Beautiful views from Goat Rock and a scenic hike getting there. Clearly marked trails.

This is a great area to hike. We took the longer trail (5.8 miles round trip) to the campground. You can see Santa Cruz Mountains along the way and the views are spectacular. There are some sections of the trail that have tricky footing, so be careful.There are free parking outside the entrance of the park. If you arrive slightly late and all the free parking lots are taken up, you can park at the entrance of the park for $8.

This is a really cool area if you're looking to do some low-key hiking and high-ball bouldering in central California. Decent variety on the boulders here, from V0 up to V-impossible. It's sandstone so it doesn't have the best surface or durability but it's a fun bouldering area and it's really cool to check out even if you aren't a boulderer. Just the fact that there's a 50-foot sandstone boulder with tons of caves and plenty of smaller boulders at the top of a hill is reason enough to visit this lesser-known gem.Park in the 'lot' on the side of the road just outside the state park to avoid having to pay the entrance fee if you're feeling cheap. Just don't park outside the allowable area as they're rumored to ticket here.

Castle Rock State Park is isolated enough to make you feel blissfully alone, yet not isolated enough to make getting there a hassle. There are many varying hikes you can take there, from a short one to Castle Rock or Castle Rock Falls or a longer one to the campground (5.8 miles round trip). The views are spectacular, as you

I took the 40 minute drive from San Jose up to Castle Rock along the Skyline Drive. Beautiful. I recommend a morning trip as the cloud / mist is still low in the valley so you see the trees peaking through the cloud. This burns off by mid morning revealing stunning forest landscape. Great for hiking and walking. Blissfully quiet.