Mountain Project: Climbing SF Bay Area

Submitted By: Aron Quiter on Jun 19, 2002
Administrator: Aron Quiter
Latitude: 37.2366 Longitude: -122.1050
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Description

Castle Rock State Park is one of the larger climbing regions in the area, hosting a variety of sport, trad, boulding and top rope problems.

The rock is mostly sandstone, making it fairly easy on the hands and dynos quite slap happy.

Access into the main park will cost you a couple of dollars, but that shouldn't deter you. If money is a concern, you can also park outside the main area and walk into the park.

The bouldering at Castle Rock is some of the best in the state, if not the whole western U.S.

Getting There

From the North: Drive to the town of Saratoga, which is located a little southwest of San Jose. Find Saratoga by heading south on the 101 a little past the Dumbarton Bridge. Take the 85 south exit, which is also the Cupertino / Santa Cruz exit. Take 85 south for about 10 miles, and exit on Saratoga Ave. Go right onto Saratoga, and follow this road through town. Saratoga Ave becomes Hwy 9, or Big Basin Way. Go up the mountain, and hang a left on Skyline Boulevard (35), which will be the 1st major intersection out of town. The main park is about 2.5 miles up on the right side, and is prominently marked.

The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Castle Rock State Park:

The Spoon V1 Boulder, 10 feet The Spoon

The Beak Traverse V2 Boulder, 10 feet Beak, The

Waimea Arete V5 Boulder Castle Rock Proper

Bates Eliminate V7-8 Boulder, 10 feet Magoos, The

Dog Dish Traverse V? Boulder, 10 feet Magoos, The

University of Santa Clara Practice Climb 1 5.8 Sport, 1 pitch, 70 feet Summit Rock - Castle Rock

The Falls 5.10a R Sport, 1 pitch, 100 feet Castle Rock Waterfall Cliff...

Puckered Starfish 5.10a Sport, TR, 1 pitch, 30 feet Indian Rock - Castle Rock

Degeneration 5.10a Trad, Sport, TR, 1 pitch, 70 feet Castle Rock Waterfall Cliff...

The Great Roof 5.10b TR, 1 pitch, 80 feet Goat Rock

Bolt Filcher 5.10d Sport, TR, 1 pitch, 50 feet Summit Rock - Castle Rock

Rectalphobiac 5.11b R Sport, 1 pitch, 80 feet Summit Rock - Castle Rock

Krokus 5.11d R Sport, TR, 1 pitch, 50 feet Indian Rock - Castle Rock

Skill Saw Gourmet 5.11d Trad, Sport, TR, 1 pitch, 60 feet Summit Rock - Castle Rock

Clamydia 5.11d Sport, 1 pitch, 50 feet Castle Rock Waterfall Cliff...

Donkey Dong 5.12a Sport, TR, 1 pitch, 30 feet Indian Rock - Castle Rock

Comments on Castle Rock State Park

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By Blitzo
Sep 12, 2006

The rock here, although short, is pretty cool. The forest is beautiful! The bugs get annoying and the yellowjackets are vicious!

By Tevis Blom
From: Boulder
Dec 24, 2007

After learning to climb around here, I moved to Colorado... I would definitely recommend leaving the Bay Area if you want to be a climber.

By Aron Quiter
Administrator
From: Berkeley, CA
Jan 5, 2008

Yosemite?

By K Ice
From: Saint Paul, MN
Apr 17, 2008

This area has really cool rock formations. The park service has put together a very nice pamphlet on how it's formed that you can buy for just $2. Check it out!

By Colin Simon
From: Boulder, CO
May 5, 2009

Hah, I learned to climb at Castle and also moved to Boulder. And yeah, it's way, way better here.

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