Castle Rock Falls

Los Gatos / San Jose / Castle Rock State Park, California, USA

About Castle Rock Falls

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Castle Rock Falls really seemed to us like a sideshow compared to some of the other attractions that were at the Castle Rock State Park.

Typically, the park was known for the interesting rock formations that probably gave the park its name, but it also featured views towards the Pacific Ocean.

Castle_Rock_035_05192016 - Castle Rock Falls
Castle Rock Falls

As you can see from the photo above, the 70ft waterfall itself wasn’t particularly that interesting.

This was especially since none of the sanctioned trails allowed us to have a good view of it as we were only able to get a partial look over its brink from the lookout platform.

Other than that, our experience with this waterfall was perhaps overshadowed by the imposing Castle Rock formation, which was full of little arches, alcoves, and even strange formations.

I swore that some of these formations seemed like it was out of a Science Fiction movie or video game.

Castle_Rock_112_05192016 - Mom checking out some of the strange alien-like formations at the Castle Rock
Mom checking out some of the strange alien-like formations at the Castle Rock

In fact, this park was well-known amongst Bay Area residents, and it was said to be amongst the most popular as well, especially on the weekends.

Maybe next time we’re here, we’ll do the Goat Rock Trail to climb even higher for the commanding views towards the Pacific Ocean and San Lorenzo Valley.

Hiking to Castle Rock Falls

Since this page is about the Castle Rock Falls, we’ll just describe the hike to get there and back from the main parking lot (see directions down below).

We started from the well-signed trail onto the Saratoga Gap, which promptly descended as it approached the waterfall.

Castle_Rock_004_05192016 - Some of the interesting rock formations seen on the way to the Castle Rock Falls in Castle Rock State Park
Some of the interesting rock formations seen on the way to the Castle Rock Falls in Castle Rock State Park

The trailhead signs said that the waterfall was about 0.8 miles away (or 1.6 miles round trip).

All this elevation loss meant we’d have to climb uphill on the way back.

The trail was well-shaded with several tall trees (some of them were coastal redwoods I believe) seen along the way.

There were also a couple of trail junctions (one for Castle Rock and another for Goat Rock), but they deviated from the waterfall so we kept going.

Castle_Rock_015_05192016 - Mom on the nice forested trail leading down to the Castle Rock Falls
Mom on the nice forested trail leading down to the Castle Rock Falls

After crossing over a bridge above the Kings Creek, we then made it to the viewing platform above Castle Rock Falls roughly 20 minutes after we started.

The lookout deck had some partial views of the ridges and mountains in the immediate area while affording us the partial top down view of the waterfall itself.

I’ve seen in the literature that some people have managed to scramble their way around to the bottom for a more satisfying frontal look at it.

I even noticed some use trails deviating from the main Saratoga Gap Trail probably for scrambling for a better view.

Castle_Rock_021_05192016 - Context of Mom on the narrowing trail as it approached the overlook for the Castle Rock Falls
Context of Mom on the narrowing trail as it approached the overlook for the Castle Rock Falls

However, we didn’t bother trying to explore the off-trail scrambling, especially given the steep nature of the terrain, which would make it very dangerous.

Exploring the Castle Rock

When we had our fill of the Castle Rock Falls, we went back uphill the way we came.

However, instead of going straight back to the trailhead, we then made a quick detour on the Castle Rock Trail.

It took us about 35 minutes to finally get to the imposing rock formation from the Castle Rock Falls.

Castle_Rock_050_05192016 - Looking up at some of the beautiful redwood formations as we hiked from the Castle Rock Falls to the Castle Rock formation
Looking up at some of the beautiful redwood formations as we hiked from the Castle Rock Falls to the Castle Rock formation

There were actually more rock formations like that of Castle Rock, and I’m sure rock climbers could have their pick at which one of these rocks they’d like to tackle.

Anyways, Castle Rock itself was perhaps the largest of these sandstone rocks, which Mom theorized might have come from the ocean several millions of years ago.

That might explain the alien-like formations seen in some of the alcoves as well as some of the small natural arches.

When we were done visiting this rock, the parking lot wasn’t much further.

Castle_Rock_089_05192016 - Looking back at the tiny natural arches and alcoves within the eccentric Castle Rock formation
Looking back at the tiny natural arches and alcoves within the eccentric Castle Rock formation

So in total, we spent about 90 minutes away from the car to take it all in (including Castle Rock as well as the Castle Rock Falls).

Authorities

Castle Rock Falls resides in the Castle Rock State Park near Los Gatos in Santa Clara County, California. It is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: los gatos, san jose, castle rock, state park, santa clara, california, bay area, northern california, waterfall, san lorenzo valley



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Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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