Castlewood Canyon State Park Hike Guide

Castlewood Canyon State Park is a hidden gem located under an hour from both Denver and Colorado Springs near Castle Rock, Colorado. This spot can be accessed year round, is family friendly, allows dogs on almost all trails and has over 13 miles of trails for hikers to explore. This State Park is a fantastic option for those visiting or living in Denver that want to hike without battling hours of traffic or dealing with feet of snow that coats other parts of Colorado during the winter months. 

Castlewood Canyon Quick Facts

Castlewood Canyon Rating: ★★★ (3/5 Stars)

Distance: Various – Over 13 Miles of Trails to Choose From

Elevation Start: 6,200ft (base of canyon)

High Point: 6,500ft (rim of canyon)

Total Elevation Gain: Various – most hikes will have about 500ft

Estimated Time to Complete: 30 Minutes to About 3 Hours if you hike the larger park loops. 

Difficulty: Walk in the Park to Easy What does this mean?

Class: Class 1 – What does this mean?

Season: Year Round – Expect some mud January – April

Check the Weather Forecast

Directions to Castlewood Canyon State Park

Trailhead: Western Entrance

Getting Here: Take I25 to Castle Rock (exit 182) then take 5th Street which turns into Highway 86 for about 7.5 miles. When you reach Castlewood Canyon Rd, take a right and continue into the park. There are a number of different spots to park here based on your hiking for the day. I would recommend parking at the second main lot that appears on your left (linked below). 

Parking: Castlewood Canyon State Park has a number of parking areas and parking, usually, is not an issue even on weekends. However, it could be best to avoid peak hours and arrive earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon. Most parking areas have restrooms in the nearby vicinity. 

Fee: A Colorado State Park pass or $10 daily fee, paid at fee stations when entering the park, is required.  

Summary

Dogs: This entire park is dog friendly outside of one area: the very eastern part of the canyon. This is well signed but also somewhat hard to get to unless your purpose was hiking there. 

Camping: Camping is not allowed at Castlewood Canyon State Park. 

Make it a Loop: There are a number of loops to make here, but the two most popular are: Creek Bottom to Rimrock loop or the larger figure 8 loop which combines Creek Bottom, Rimrock, Lake Gulch and Inner Canyon trails. View a complete park map here. 

Trail X Factors: Mud

Due to the nature of this entire canyon, most of the ground is covered with dirt from the canyon itself or the lakebed which used to exist up Cherry Creek. When you combine rain or snow with this dirt, muddy trails can be a big problem. Luckily, this only happens for a short period of the year but if you are unlucky enough to visit on a day where the trails are muddy, you will likely need a big cleanup after your hike. This applies more to dogs than people but worth mentioning for both. If the trails are muddy, be sure to walk through the mud and not around it to prevent future trail erosion/expansion. 

Hike Tip: When hiking in Castlewood Canyon State Park, its very helpful to have a map and pre planned route. There are so many side  trails, social trails and excursions to be had off the main paths that are easy to miss if you do not know where you are going. When visiting this park during the summer months, bring lots of water as it can get very hot and there is not a ton of shade on most hikes. 

Best Views: When hiking around this park, it’s really hard to believe that you are just 10 minutes from a major town and less than an hour from Denver. Although we didn’t get them because of the weather, the views East towards 14er Pikes Peak are quite infamous. Outside of that, my favorite part of the hike was on the Rimrock Trail looking down into the canyon.

Castlewood Canyon State Park Hike Route

Aria and I hiked the second loop I described above: Creek Bottom to Lake Gulch to Inner Canyon to Rimrock.

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Gear Needed

• Men’s Trail Runners
• Women’s Trail Runners
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Women’s)
• Backpack (Summer)
• Food & Water
• Optional: Garmin inReach
• Optional: Hiking Poles – 120CM
• Optional: Headlamp
• Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
• Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod, GoPro 360
• Optional: Drone
• *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.

Castlewood Canyon State Park Trip Report

Jackie was out of town for the weekend so Aria and I had plenty of time to hike and explore some new parts of the state. My legs were tired and I didn’t want to deal with more snow hiking with Aria so I landed on Castlewood Canyon. I will be honest, I don’t make it down to the Denver area very often and even less so to Castle Rock. After living in Colorado for almost 7 years, this was my first trip to Castlewood Canyon State Park. 

We arrived at the park around 1 in the afternoon and there were a lot of people there, but I wouldn’t consider it crowded. For our entire 3 hour/8 hour we encountered only a few other hikers and it felt very secluded. We started on the Creek Bottom trail and enjoyed some unique views, a small waterfall and read about the historic dam that used to exist in this area. Always love to learn a little about the area when I am hiking. The hiking continued, crossing Cherry Creek and onto the Lake Gulch trail. The views here were very cool and on a clear day, I understand that we could have seen Pikes Peak. 

After wrapping up this trail, we made it to the East Entry of the park where we explored a few side trails before hopping on to the Inner Canyon trail. It was nice to walk along the creek with the spring snowmelt filling the shallow canyon with rushing water. Eventually, we rejoined the Rimrock trail and made our way back to the Western entrance of the park, where we parked. Before finishing up, we had to hike through several sections of very muddy trail which was far from ideal when you own a dog who HATES baths. 

We finished our day in Castlewood Canyon with 8 miles of hiking about 1,000ft of elevation gain and one very muddy dog. Bath time was up next! Overall, I thought that Castlewood Canyon State Park is a great option for those looking to get out and hike or trail run without driving over an hour from Denver or Colorado Springs.