Castlewood Canyon - Climb & Hike
On Sunday, I met Tracy & Margaret down at Castlewood Canyon State Park. It was a half day centered around exploring this local crag. We three were new to the area, but were curious to see what it has to offer. We took pictures with Tracy’s camera, and as soon as I get them, I’ll include them in the post.
It turns out the crag is pretty extensive, and most of the routes are done as TR’s since the cliffline is short. One could easily get by with a 50 meter rope, or even better yet, a few crash pads (the bouldering looks rad)!
We first headed over to an area called the Banana Wall. We set up one TR, and all three took turns on the route. It is probably a 5.10 of sorts, and really sharp, with a couple fun moves. After doing this route, it was starting to get chilly in the shade, so we decided to explore the “sport” routes on the west facing side of the canyon.
Little did we know what an adventure that would turn into! We ended up hiking for about 5 miles total. We saw bolts at the top of the cliff, and noticed where a few routes were, but it was hard to see from walking on top of the cliffline. What I did observe was that the rock looked really sharp, and hardly climbed on…we didn’t see much chalk, and a lot of the climber’s paths were overgrown.
If you’re looking to sport climb, coming up from the East side might be more apparent where the climber’s trails are located. Coming from the West parking lot is great for the “Trad” area, but not for the “Sport” Area.
All in all, the hike was pretty. We got to see the sun set, and we saw many wild animals. Including some wild teenagers (who were rock hopping sections of Cherry Creek). It was a beauty of a day, and super fun to spend it with Margaret and Tracy. Girls day out!
April 29th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
It’s a funny little crag, but I bet it would be a good getaway once you get the lay of the land. Our first exploration was similar to yours…
April 30th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Wow-the ice & rock in your picture is beautiful. I bet it’s neat in winter time! I have heard there is ice climbing there too. I would like to go back there, to do the rest of the climbs at the Grocery Wall, if nothing else…some of them looked like fun. Also, I will not go back without a crash pad-the bouldering looks way cool.