When I look at a trail map of the Skyline-to-the-Sea route from Saratoga Gap to the Pacific Ocean, it's hard for me to grasp the magnitude of that hike: it's 32 miles (one way) and the elevation drops about 2,600 feet, with lots of ups and downs along the way. From the Saratoga Gap Trail at Castle Rock State Park, the backdrop to this awesome adventure is laid out at your feet. Although the trail is not visible, you can see the miles of rolling, forested hills that lie between Skyline Boulevard and the Pacific Ocean. Castle Rock is unique; in addition to the park's stunning rock formations and beautiful views, it's a staging area for long journeys to the sea, or just for great day hikes lasting a few hours.
     From the Saratoga Gap trailhead, you can take a short out-and-back hike along CA 9 on Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail, or make a loop out of Saratoga Toll Road, Travertine Springs Trail, and the Saratoga Gap Trail, a more than 10 mile trek. For a backpacking excursion, you can hike from the park's main entrance into Castle Rock Camp, stay overnight, then continue west into Big Basin State Park. On the opposite extreme, the shortest loop at Castle Rock is less than a mile, and combines Castle Rock and Saratoga Gap Trails.
     This park is popular with rock climbers, and can get busy in warm weather. Voices carry far here, and the park also gets an unwelcome dose of noise pollution from the gun club about 1 mile north of the park entrance on Skyline Boulevard. I prefer visiting in winter, when the views to the west are clear, and the weather cool. The gun club is also quieter in the winter, especially if weather is cold and rainy. Keep in mind that it can get bone-chillingly cold in this part of the Santa Cruz Mountains, particularly in the heavily forested area near the main park entrance. Temps in the 20s are not uncommon in the winter months, and neither is snow. Dress accordingly, and be careful on the roads, which can get icy. 
      Castle Rock is not a park I would recommend to beginning hikers, or those with mobility problems. The trails are narrow, the drop-offs sharp, and the some of the trails can be slippery. Although most of the trails are straight-forward, some segments are somewhat technical. It's a tough place for knees and hips, as you must scramble up and down some boulders and navigate steep sandstone shoots. This doesn't mean you shouldn't go if you're in good shape, because the views from Saratoga Gap and Ridge Trails are worth a few sore joints. A trekking pole (or two) is definitely recommended.
     This featured hike travels through a lovely oak savannah and chaparral-studded hillsides, under California bay, madrone, tanoak, and Douglas fir, and past the fascinating sandstone rock formations known as tafoni. Start from the Robert C. Kirkwood Entrance. Follow signs to the Waterfall Connector Trail, passing through the picnic area. Waterfall Connector Trail winds gently downhill through oaks and madrones, crosses a bridge and ends at a signed junction at 0.3 mile. Turn right onto Saratoga Gap Trail.
     Saratoga Gap Trail follows along Kings Creek, and then at a signed junction meets Ridge Trail at 0.45 mile. Look for wild ginger and giant chain fern along the creek. Take Ridge Trail, right, uphill.
         The narrow path ascends, passing a large, white rock outcrop and moss-covered live oaks. After only a few moments, the trail leaves the woods and enters chaparral. Look for chamise, pitcher sage, varieties of ceanothus, California coffeeberry, manzanitas, and toyon. In winter, a single flowering currant puts forth pink blossoms on the right side of the trail at a shady spot. The views west are breathtaking. Ridge Trail commands your attention, as tree roots amble across the path like sleeping swollen snakes, and the trail, smooth and sandy one minute, a pile of boulders the next, is one surprise after another. On the right side of the trail, a large outcrop, know as Goat Rock, is visible uphill. Steps are cut into some soft rock in one section. At another area, there is a pile of boulders under the cover of a coast live oak, and the trail is a bit confounding. "The trail is where?" you may ask, particularly in the winter when leaves cover the path and foot traffic is limited, making it difficult to see where others have gone before you. Like a few other confusing trail sections, if you take it one step at a time the routing is obvious; it's just impossible to see ahead more than a few feet. The toughest call is an unmarked junction of sorts, where a legitimate-looking trail seems to continue on a level course straight ahead, and an unlikely-looking rock pile heads uphill on the right. Pick your way up the rocky slope, and the trail becomes evident again. Follow the trail sign, staying to the right at another confusing non-junction, and continue uphill. Wooden fencing and steps constructed in 2000 improve the final ascent to Goat Rock, which previously was a steep, undefined hillside scramble. At the top of the hill, at 0.8 mile, you'll reach the top of Goat Rock and two signed junctions (one to the right and one to the left). Bear left and after a few feet, at another junction, bear right on Ridge Trail, "to Campground." (Option: at the top of the steps near Goat Rock, turn right and take the trail marked "to Interpretive Center." The path edges near rocks very popular with climbers, and then cuts through a grassy oak-studded slope to the Interpretive Center. Exhibits in the open-air pavilion include a treatise on sandstone formations, identification drawings of the 7 types of oaks found at Castle Rock, and a rudimentary trail map. Exit to the north and look for Ridge Trail, signed "to campground.")
     Black oaks and California bays mingle with madrones as the trail winds levelly through grassland. Looks like feral pigs have invaded the park in a big way, for the ground beneath the oaks was completely "pig rototiled" on one visit. At 1.0 mile, Ridge Trail meets the path from the Interpretive Center at a signed junction. Bear left to stay on Ridge Trail.
     This narrow trail cuts through grassland, gently descending under some live and black oaks, and madrones. Stay to the right as a faint trail breaks off and heads west, to a bird-watching viewpoint. I love walking through here in the winter, when it is quiet and many fallen leaves from the deciduous oaks litter the trail. As a transplanted easterner, I delight in the crunch of leaves underfoot, and that smell that defines autumn for me. At 1.3 miles, you'll reach a signed junction with a connector to Saratoga Gap Trail. Continue straight on Ridge Trail, "to campground." (Option: to shorten this hike, take the trail to the left, signed "to Saratoga Gap Trail."  The connector trail between Ridge Trail and Saratoga Gap Trail winds downhill; turn left onto Saratoga Gap Trail at a signed junction and follow the remaining instructions below.)
     The trail continues to lose elevation at a gradual pace as it descends just downslope from the ridgeline. The trail skirts a rock formation, where manzanitas seem to be dying out, their sunlight blocked by encroaching trees. Tanoaks, live oaks, and madrones dominate, but the trail also passes beneath a small grove of very tall pines. Somewhat abruptly, Ridge Trail steps out from the trees to a viewpoint at the edge of the ridgeline. The sheer rocky drop is softened by thick stands of buckbrush, manzanita, and chamise. Ridge Trail pops back under tree cover, but then draws near the cliff again, where a wooden fence guards against what would be a nasty fall. This is my favorite viewpoint, and a nice spot for lunch on a sunny day. The trail sweeps back into the woods, and continues a descent toward the campground. At 2.15 miles, Ridge Trail meets Saratoga Gap Trail at a signed junction. Turn left onto Saratoga Gap Trail.
    Tanoaks and madrones line the hiking-only trail, which soon takes a sharp turn left and leaves the forest. Saratoga Gap Trail narrows as it creeps beneath a rocky outcrop still somewhat shaded by live oaks and California bays. A metal guidewire helps you navigate a short steep drop over a small boulder. Then the path edges along an exposed hillside, with wonderful views to distract you from the demanding trail. Manzanitas, ceanothuses, and chamise dominate, but look for silktassel, lupines, coyote brush, yerba santa, and monkeyflower as well. There's another tricky section of trail where you must scramble up and then down a small outcrop. Saratoga Gap Trail makes a transition into oak grassland, where poison oak is common in the understory. This area is lovely in autumn, when black oak trees put on a foliage show. At 3.1 miles, Saratoga Gap Trail meets the connector path to Ridge Trail at a signed junction. Continue straight on Saratoga Gap Trail.
     A patch of sagebrush flourishes on the left, and a few buckeyes huddle together in a little gulch on the right. The trail leaves oak grassland and returns to chaparral. There are nice views to the rock formations on the hillside near Goat Rock. Saratoga Gap Trail crosses through a California bay wood near a stream, where a bench sits just before a narrow bridge. There's no view from here, but it's nice and shady. Look for a small young redwood grove on the right. After crossing the stream the trail climbs slightly, passing a handful of madrones, which in winter drop curled strips of bark that look like cinnamon sticks. As the trail crests, it veers left and edges along the side of the mountain, through chamise, manzanita, ceanothuses, and aromatic pitcher sage. Saratoga Gap Trail follows the contour of the slope and features views to the north and southwest. You may glimpse bobcat and coyote tracks on the trail, some brief sections of which are steep and awkward to negotiate. Even before spring reaches Castle Rock, some plants enliven the chaparral with their blossoms. Manzanitas put forth urn-shaped flowers around late February, and you might also see blue-witch nightshade and Indian paintbrush at that time. Buckbrush and wartleaf ceanothus generally bloom in March. There are a few flat rocks on the west side of the trail, perfect perches on which to sit and stare out into space. I have one flat boulder I call my sitting rock. It's a meditative spot, peaceful and serene. On a December hike I watched two hawks fly so far up in the sky I could barely follow their movements. I wished I could join them; something about this view makes me want to fly. On the east side of the trail, across from my special rock, there's a well-preserved tafoni formation. If you stop and sit on this rock, or any other, be careful not to fall off the side of the hill! Saratoga Gap Trail tapers off to a mostly level grade. Along the trail occasionally a few California bays provide a little shade. The path squeezes between two boulders, and then begins a return to a California bay, live oak, Douglas fir, and tanoak forest. On the left side of the trail two huge old live oaks seem to be growing out of a patch of moss-covered boulders. You must climb through a pile of large rocks, a rather illogical stretch of trail which seems to me could have been routed down the slope a bit. In late winter, look for the delicate flowers of wild strawberry, nestled close to the ground. Sounds of rushing water drift down the trail, indicating that you're nearing the falls. For the best view of Castle Rock Falls, hop down onto the viewing platform on the right side of the path at 3.9 miles. From there you'll have a view of the water as it sluices through a rock channel and then drops 75 feet or so. Even before the storms rage in the winter, this waterfall is active.
        Continue up Saratoga Gap Trail to the previously encountered junction with the Ridge Trail, at 4.0 miles. Turn right and retrace your steps uphill on Saratoga Gap Trail and Waterfall Connector Trail. (Option: pass the junction with Waterfall Connector Trail and continue uphill on Saratoga Gap Trail to the signed junction with Castle Rock Trail and turn right. This gently graded path meanders uphill underneath oak, California bay, madrone, and Douglas fir to the tafoni formation known as Castle Rock. The rock is large and impressive, although unfortunately the area surrounding it is sometimes defiled with broken bottles, so step carefully. Castle Rock juts out from a flat spot, like a fairy tale mansion, and the formation may set your imagination in motion. Weird stone pockets look like secret caves, and rock cascades off the side like a cresting wave. When you're done daydreaming, continue on Castle Rock Trail, pass another group of large boulders off to the right side of the trail, and then as a fire road continues straight, turn left toward the old parking lot at a signed junction. Follow the trail back to a fork, and then take either branch to return to the old parking lot. From here, look for a connector trail near the pit toilet, leading back to the new parking lot.)

Total distance:  4.5 miles (5.3 miles if you decide to visit Castle Rock)
Last hiked: September 24, 2013
Previous visits: March 5, 2002, February 2, 2001, and December 13, 1999