Pogwatigue Perambulations: Castlewood Canyon

Yesterday, I celebrated the last official day of winter with an eight-mile hike in Castlewood Canyon State Park. Located southeast of metro Denver in high plains country, the park seems an odd place for a canyon. Indeed it is not a very large one but what it lacks in size in makes up for with scenic beauty. Cherry Creek carved the canyon out the conglomerate caprock of the Palmer Divide, a large plateau extending from the Rockies into the plains that separates the Platte and Arkansas River watersheds.

At the visitor center, I watched a short video on the park and picked up a letterbox cluesheet. Letterboxing is similar to geocaching, like I did at Upper Sioux Agency State Park in Minnesota, but it relies on written clues versus simple GPS coordintates. I started the hike on the paved Canyon View Nature Trail; filling out the letterbox clues as I went, but soon abandoned both in favor of Inner Canyon Trail, which as the name suggests dips in to the bottom of the canyon, to it's terminus near the site of the Castlewood Dam ruins. This dam, built in 1890, caused the second-worst flood in Denver's history when it failed in 1933.

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There, I joined the Rim Rock trail, which continued northward after climbing to the eastern rim of the canyon. Without the canyon walls to shelter me, I was subject to gusty winds for most of the trail's two miles. It ended at the northern extent of the canyon. On my way downslope, I looked at my watch and realized I was running short on time. It took me 2.5 hours to reach the northern end of the park, but I had only 1.5 hours before the park closed. The sign at the trailhead warned emphatically the gates would be locked at 7:00 PM.

I wasn't so concerned as to skip a three-quarter a mile side trip to the Lucas Homestead site, but after that stop really quickened my pace for the remainder of the hike. Along the way, I saw reminders of the 1933 flood, a small waterfall and a the dam ruins up close. I made pretty good time, but didn't feel confident until I reached the park drive. Though still a half-mile from the car with fifteen minutes to spare, I doubted they would lock anybody in before conducting a sweep of the parking areas. I even tried to finish the letterbox, but couldn't find a bird nesting box referenced on the sheet. I suspected it was MIA and didn't spend a lot of time looking for it. I hurried back to the car and exited the park at 7:05 PM without spotting a park employee.

Trip Statistics
Length: 88.7 miles
Hike Time: 3 hours 48 minutes
Avg. Speed: 2 MPH
Min. Elevation: 6,194 feet
Max. Elevation: 6,640 feet
Net Difference: 446 feet

Elevation Profile