Castle Rock

Castle Rock State Park is a mere 30 minute drive from Cupertino, California, but is able to still provide the away-from-the-city feeling in just a few miles of hiking. It’s famous for its limestones that offers a lot of interesting climbing terrain, but also is part of the Skyline-To-the-Sea trail that runs 30 miles from Saratoga to the Pacific ocean. Castle Rock is one of the few parks near San Francisco that has a walk-in campsite, but does not allow dogs.

Call the morning of to confirm that there are spots available for camping, and drive or Caltrain down. Navigate to Castle Rock Entrance Station Parking Lot located off route 35. Pay in CASH $8 for parking or $15 for camping (includes overnight parking for one spot). The ranger at the station may not be friendly.

This was my first time backpacking and my friend and I decided to uber ourselves up instead of renting a car. This was when a great uber promotion was happening, so it seemed like a fantastic idea.. Until we had to get back to the city, because there is no service even at the parking lot! We had to hitchhike our way down — so plan accordingly.

As it was our first backpacking trip, we kept it light. The hike was just from the parking lot to the Castle Rock Trail Camp (2.5 miles) and planned to do some day hikes. We got lost, naturally, and ended up walking a bit more — which was fantastic because we definitely overpacked. The camp has picnic tables, fire rings, trash receptacles, and bathrooms. Tent camping seems most suitable, but there are definitely some sturdy enough trees to use for hammock.

The trail starts out covered and flat with a lot of day hikers walking alongside you. The second half of the trail is uncovered, and we went in the late summer heat of August. But this is also when you can see for miles out from the skyline and see nothing but trees! There are parts of the trail that are narrow, but none that felt unsafe. There weren’t many great options for day hikes, so we ended up walking further down the Skyline trail and walked back after we found ourselves somehow in some random people’s front yards.

This was a great beginning backpacking trip — easy to get there, and easy to get to the camp. The Skyline-to-the-Sea — a 3 day trail normally — would be the best for a longer trip.