Discover the Adventure
Castle Rock

Discover Castle Rock State Park

Straddling the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains, this majestic state park is comprised of lush and mossy forests of wild Coast Redwood, Douglas Fir, and Madrone. The steep canyons contain unusual and organic rock formations popular with rock climbers.

Rock climbing at the park is some of the best, with beginner and intermediate routes, as well as some very challenging peaks. Intertwined through the forests and canyons are 32 miles of hiking and horseback riding trails, plus primitive campsites for backpackers.

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If you're into the art of saving money - but not to the extent of backpacking - check with HotelsCombined.com for the best in lodging prices:

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Rock Climbing at Castle Rock with Activity Card
by Louisa of San Diego

These guys do all kinds of rock climbing, backpacking, mountain climbing - we found them on Activity Card, and one of our other friends had suggested them as well.

Castle Rock is in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a beautiful majestic place to go rock climbing and just take in the views, the mountains, the scenery, the whole thing.

We had such a long drive from San Diego that we decided to get up early and do the rock climbing the next day (Saturday morning).

It was brisk out, but after warming up with some breakfast (oatmeal on the picnic benches), we were off for our clinic.

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Our Rock Climbing Experience

There were a few other nice couples there, and we learned about belaying, all the ropes, hooks, etc.

I mostly stuck to the lower level, and intermediate, but my husband was more of a big mountaineer guy, and got up on to some of the difficult peaks.

We had this running joke about "glad you brought snacks" because my husband over-stuffed our bags with snacks, but we ended up really needing them.

There is nothing better than an energy bar and a Gatorade when you find yourself struggling to do the next climb.

The team at Adventure Out is great, supportive, and even though its challenging to get up to some of those rock faces, they sure do make it fun.

I think we will definitely return for more rock climbing up north, but for now, we were off to hangout, have lunch, and find some live music!

We ended up at Los Gatos Meats and Smokehouse, which my husband and I would both recommend. After a long day of hiking and climbing, and sweating, and getting a bit roughed up by the wilderness, there is nothing better than a tasty sandwich to quench your hunger.

Just a quick restaurant tip on our road of adventure!

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For more of Discover Northern California's favorite activities, visit Activity Village, where people share some of their insider secrets about awesome activity experiences they've enjoyed throughout California.

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