Backpacking in Castle Rock State Park

Castle rock is one of my favorite parks. It offers great day hikes in a fantastic and ever changing landscape. It's never really crowded and just a short drive from San Jose. I've never backpacked into castle rock, so I was really looking forward to this weekend. We had everyone come over on Friday night for a great french dinner (thanks Cecile!) and some games. I don't recall when we finally got to bed, but I think it was later than planned.

We got a pretty early start, arriving at the park around 10:00. The campsites are assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis (no reservations), but the park ranger informed us that the campsite had only sold out twice since 1968.

The backpacking crew (Anthony is taking the picture)
The hike to the campsite was just a short 2.8 miles. After finding the best spot and putting the tents up, we decided to venture further into the park for a nice 8 mile hike. Did I mention that I really like this park? The only annoyance is that it is right next to a shooting range, so you'll hear distant fire crackers all through the day :(


The castle rock campsite also functions as the starting point for the Skyline to the Sea trail, which is usually done in three days and ends at the ocean. This sounds like a good project for spring next year.


I usually don't sleep well in tents, and I certainly wasn't all that comfortable, but in the end, we all slept nearly 11 hours! After an excellent breakfast with blueberry and banana pancakes, we packed up camp and hiked out. What a great weekend!