Length of stay: 1 day
Visited: May 2024
Castlewood Canyon is located just south of Denver. It was once the site of a dam that was used to store water for irrigation. Due to heavy rains in 1933 the dam broke, leading to one of the worst floods in Denver. The remains of the dam can still be seen in Castlewood Canyon State Park today.
Our road trip through Colorado and New Mexico was coming to a close. But before heading back to Denver, we had time to squeeze in one last hike. We settled on Castlewood Canyon since it wasn’t too far from where we were staying. There are two entrances to the park with no road connecting them. The eastern entrance is located right off the highway and is the more developed section of the park while the western entrance has fewer facilities and amenities.
We arrived at the main entrance in the eastern section of the park first thing in the morning and headed straight to the visitor centre. There were a few informative panels inside that provided more information about the history of the area. We also picked up a map of the trails.
There are several trails in the park that range in length from about half a kilometre to 6.4km with many of them intersecting. We settled on Lake Gulch (1.3km one-way, rated moderate) and the Inner Canyon Trail (1.9km one-way, rated easy) to form a longer loop.
The trailhead is located by the sheltered picnic area in the large parking lot at the end of the road through the park. The first part of the path is wide and relatively flat before it winds its way down towards the valley, providing a nice view of the surrounding farmlands.
The trail ends at Cherry Creek. There’s a bridge to cross to the other side that provides access to two other trails. The Dam Trail is to the left and Inner Canyon Trail to the right. We first hiked the Dam Trail (0.6km one-way, rated moderate) to see the ruins of Castlewood Dam.
Castlewood Dam was built in 1890 to store water for irrigation. Rock was blasted from the canyon walls that was then used to help build the dam. After torrential rains on August 3, 1933 the reservoir filled to capacity and the dam broke. Two people lost their lives and it was considered the second worst flood in Denver’s history at the time.
The path continues onward to the Rimrock Trail which leads through the western section of the park, but we turned around and headed back to the junction to hike the Inner Canyon Trail. The trail follows the creek through the canyon, passing over and around several large boulders. This portion of the path was quite rocky, but easy to navigate. There is one final push up a series of stairs before returning to the parking lot.
We ate a quick bite to eat in the parking lot before checking out the Bridge Canyon Overlook. There’s a paved path from the parking lot that leads to a sheltered seating area and two viewing platforms overlooking the canyon, creek and “Bridge to Nowhere”. The bridge was constructed in the 1940s to make it easier to travel across the canyon and between Denver and Colorado Springs. But there was a change of plans around the location of the road and while the bridge was completed, the south-bound Highway 83 was unpaved beyond the bridge. It wasn’t until twenty years later that the rest of the road became paved.
At this point we said our goodbyes to K’s parents who were flying out later in the afternoon. Our flight wasn’t until the next morning so we drove into the city to meet up with D & P. We met at the Denver Botanic Gardens. But as it turns out there was a spring plant sale happening and tickets were all sold out. Instead we went for a walk in a nearby park and enjoyed the warm weather.
We made our way to the hotel later in the afternoon and went through the fun exercise of cramming everything back into our suitcases. For someone so small, the baby sure had a lot of stuff. But it was so worth it to bring her along for the adventure.
L
Lovely that you were able to meet a fellow blogger, Linda! Great photos of this park. It seems that it’s had something of a tumultuous history. I’ve spent time in the Denver area but didn’t know about Castlewood Canyon.
Thanks! It’s not a very popular park and the trails aren’t too long or strenuous, which is exactly what we were looking for. It’s always nice to put a face to the name and I’m glad the timing worked out.
What an interesting place! I haven’t been there but maybe someday! I so enjoy stories like this that inspire me to go explore.
I hope you make it to the botanical gardens someday. It’s well done and there’s a Chihuly glass installation that’s worth the price of admission.
The Denver Botanic Garden was actually the thing we were most looking forward to when visiting Denver. We didn’t go the first day of our trip because of all the rain and planned to visit on our last day instead. That didn’t work out either. We went to the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum while visiting Seattle last year and absolutely loved it. So now we have to return to Denver to see the Chihuly glass installation! Maybe the third time will be the charm.
The gardens in both Columbus, Ohio and Pittsburgh have a fair amount of Chihuly on permanent display. They’re both worth a visit if you’re ever in the area.
Noted! We’ve been meaning to return to Pittsburgh at some point and we’ve never been to Columbus before so that would be a good enough reason to visit. And both cities aren’t terribly far from where we live.
Franklin Park Conservatory is the very best thing in Columbus. Everything right now is all done up for fall so I need to get back up there! It might make a great overnight stop on your way to Pittsburgh. So many places to see, so little time!
I’m such a sucker for botanical gardens and conservatories. We’ve been to the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, so good to know about the one in Columbus. And you’re right, we might be able to hit up both cities in the same trip. Or break them up into two separate ones over a long weekend sometime. You’re totally right about how there’s so many places to see and so little time (and not enough vacation days)!
Have you seen the Phipps at Christmas? They do a nice job and so does Franklin Park. I highly recommend both of their after dark lights events.
We have! We went during the day though. All the more reason to return to see it at night when everything is illuminated.
Yes ma’am. You need to go back!
If only we had more time and vacation days!! The list of places to visit (and return to) just seems to keep growing! But hey, I guess there are worse problems to have in life!
lol. There are worse problems. At least you’re not one of those people who is excited about nothing. What a sad life that would be!
Oh I know! Or one of those people who doesn’t even take vacation days!
WHY would anyone not use their vacation time? Also, can I have it? Lol.
No kidding!! I would never want to work anywhere where it was discouraged or there wasn’t a good culture to use your vacation days.
I have worked in those places and it’s terrible.
I thankfully have not. But I was reluctant to take vacation at the first job I ever had. Now I feel no guilt and strategically plan to make the most of my vacation days and take advantage of all the statutory holidays as well.
We are all so enthusiastic about work when we start. Ha! I just had vacation and am already looking forward to the next one!
That’s always the case isn’t it? It always helps to have a trip to look forward to, even if you’re just coming back from vacation!
Yes!! I don’t get much time off for the first half of the year. This year I had a long weekend and a couple of sick days before things loosened up and I was able to take more time. I have gotten into the habit of decent chunks of PTO monthly from August through December and it’s amazing.
Nice! I’ve always enjoyed being able to take a long weekend here and there, but there’s something to be said about taking a long vacation as well and being able to completely unwind from work.
A weekend isn’t enough time to let it all go. I find that a few days allows me to relax some but I need longer to completely embrace the freedom!
Absolutely! It’s a wonderful feeling to not worry or think about work. I don’t even realize I’m stressed sometimes until I’m away on vacation and am able to let it all go.
Sometimes I don’t realize I’m holding my breath until I have been gone for several days.
I’m amazed how you always fit in one last hike before you leave – it’s great to get the most out of a holiday, right? I love the bridge and it must have been nice to see D & P … I think you can be glad she didn’t drag you up a high mountain! I had a good laugh at your comment about the baby’s baggage – it’s funny that such a small person can have so much stuff.
You bet! Even though we had a lot of packing to do, there’s always time to squeeze in one last hike, even if it’s a short one. It was also really nice to meet another fellow blogger in person. I can easily see why they moved out to Colorado. It was tough to leave the mountains behind. We used to pride ourselves in travelling light. Those days are long gone. It becomes a game of Tetris to fit everything in our suitcases and then to lug all our bags, the car seat, travel stroller, travel crib around the airport. We’re getting into a pretty good rhythm now that we’ve flown a few times and figured out what works and what doesn’t. We’re actually heading to the airport on Saturday.
It’s true, one learns with time how to get everything packed … each in it’s dedicated little spot … that’s how we pack our “bakkie” when we go camping. Enjoy your weekend – and have a nice flight.
You’re absolutely right about that. It’s a lot of trial and error, but the more times you travel and pack, the better you get at it and everything seems to have its place. We’ll be heading out in a couple of hours! Thankfully it’s a short flight.
It has been fun following your journey across Colorado and New Mexico, and what a great way of traveling with Baby M! I learned a lot about places I wasn’t aware of until I read your posts, and I will definitely visit some of them if I ever find myself exploring this part of the US. It’s also really nice that you got to meet other bloggers at the end of the trip. After the pandemic, I will never take things like this for granted anymore.
Thanks for your lovely comment. We weren’t sure what to expect from travelling with our baby, but it worked out much better than we thought. New Mexico and Colorado are such beautiful areas and are worth checking out if you enjoy spending time in nature and want to learn more about the ancestral Pueblo people. There’s so many great parks in the Southwest and the landscape is a bit different in each one. It was so nice to meet another blogger and to put a face to the name. I know what you mean about not taking things for granted. Life is too short for that!
What a great end of your trip! How fun to meet up with D too 🙂 It seems stuff is inversely related to the size of a person haha.
It certainly was. It was nice to squeeze in one last hike and meet up with D before getting ready for our early flight the next morning. And oh gosh, it’s insane how much more stuff we had to bring for baby M. She has more stuff than both of us combined and then some, which I’m sure this is something you’re starting to deal with now!
Somehow I’ve never been to this park nor did I know anything about its tragic history. That’s scary! We’ve had more than a few old earthen dams break here over the years, so I guess it’s not entirely surprising that it happened here too. Sad, though.
So glad we got to meet up with you guys, even though we didn’t get to see the gardens. We’ll just have to do that next time 😊
It’s not the most impressive state park, but the canyon and ruins of the dam were neat to see. But let’s be real, the highlight of our last day was meeting up with guys, even if we couldn’t get into the Denver Botanic Garden. We were actually thinking about flying into Denver to visit the Dakotas at some point. We’ll have to go for a hike next time and see some moose!
Wow thank you for the tour through this beautiful countryside, Linda! The dam itself looks rather small and incapable. The bridge over the little crick is very attractive as are the wonderful rock formations. Tiny people need lots of travel items too! ❤️😊
Agreed, the ruins of the dam look very small and unassuming. It’s hard to believe how much much damage was caused when it broke considering it’s size. I’m hoping the more we travel the easier it gets in terms of all the stuff. But hey, some of it is free to check, like her car seat and stroller, so why wouldn’t we take advantage of that!?
So awesome post dear friend and this is another variety of stunning rocks , amazing 😍 so beautiful nature and the
roads , small water ponds surrounding the greenery are so admirable!! Thank you for sharing your trips 🌷🙏💞🌷
Thanks for your kind words and for leaving a comment. Nothing starts the day off better than by getting some fresh air and going for a hike. It was nice to explore a new state park and learn more about its history.
So true that 👌😊🙏 we are also enjoying to view these rare historical places
and thankfully welcome dear lovely friend 🌷🙏💞stay Blessed 👍🏻👏
Glad to hear. Have a wonderful weekend.
🌷🙏❤️😍🌷
Love the rocks and reawakening of a flooded canyon.
We saw a lot of rocks and interesting rock formations during our road trip through Colorado and New Mexico. I love how the landscape looks a bit different in each national or state park. And it never fails to amaze us.
Yes, the rocks and the long views.
You bet! What more could you want!?
water? (ha, ha) can’t have everything
That’s very true. There’s always something so relaxing and peaceful about being by the water.
Gorgeous terrain! 🤗
Oh absolutely. It was a lot of fun to walk through the canyon and among all the boulders. The overlook of the Bridge to Nowhere was also very beautiful.
Wow! Stunning pics, my fellow Canadians! Thank you so much for sharing them! Cher xoxoxo
Thanks for your lovely comment. Castlewood Canyon isn’t the most impressive park that we visited on our road trip, but it was nice to stretch our legs for one last hike before heading home. Cheers, Linda.
Thank you for taking us along on your trip through Colorado and New Mexico and sharing all your fantastic photos. The story of the dam and bridge are interesting. It’s funny isn’t it, when packing up to leave a place, even if you have less stuff than when you came, it still doesn’t fit into the luggage bags. It’s like a serious game of Tetris to get it all in there (especially if you travel by carry-on only). LOL.
Thanks so much for your kind words. We weren’t sure what it would be like to travel with our little one, but it went so much better than expected. We used to pride ourselves in travelling light. But the days of just travelling with carry-on are over. I imagine the older she get, the easier it’ll become and the less stuff we’ll need to take. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself!
A great last day on your US trip. So fun that you met with D too! Maggie
I’m glad we managed to squeeze in one last hike before heading home. It was also really nice to meet up with D & P. It was my first time meeting another fellow blogger in person, which was really cool.
Such beautiful photos, Linda! I love all the wonderful rock formations, imposing granite rock views and the marvellous views of the surrounding landscape. And what can be better than meeting up with a fellow blogger! I hope you had a fun time togeteher. Thanks for sharing, and have a wonderful day 🙂 Aiva xx
Thanks Aiva! It’s not the most impressive park we visited on this road trip, but it was close to where we were staying and the trails were relatively quiet for the weekend, so we weren’t complaining. This was our first time meeting up with another blogger. It was really cool and I’m glad our paths managed to cross. Have a wonderful weekend. Linda
That sounds like an interesting park to visit.
I once had my granddaughter visit us. Her stuff occupied the whole bed of the truck! (Toys and everything). I know how it can be with these babies.
The landscape at this state park was so different compared to all the other places that we visited. It’s pretty impressive just how varied the terrain is in Colorado. We used to be able to fit everything, even some of our camping gear, into our carry-ons. Now our carry-ons are full of baby stuff. Plus we have a checked suitcase, the car seat, stroller and travel crib. It’s a lot of stuff!
Beautiful pictures of the park. How fun that you got to meet up with a blogging friend too! 🙂
Thanks for your kind words. It was so lovely to put a face to the name. It was our first time meeting another fellow blogger in person.
Putting that name to a face is such a great experience. One of these days I’ll make my way up to your neck of the woods so we can meet in person too 🙂
I love it! And we’ll have to return to Tennessee. We were only there for a couple of days when we took a road trip to Savannah back in 2021, which clearly wasn’t nearly enough time to do much!
It’s a deal! 😀
It’s awesome that you got to meet up with a blogger! 😊
I enjoyed the tour of this State Park and seeing the lovely photos. Interesting to read up about the dam. It’s scary to think about the impact of broken dams!
I’m glad the timing worked out! It was our first time meeting another fellow blogger in person, which was pretty cool.
Castlewood Canyon isn’t the most impressive park, especially in comparison to some of the other places we visited, but it was close to where we were staying. We were pleasantly surprised at how quiet the trails were. It’s crazy how much damage flash flooding can cause, whether from a dam breaking or because of the weather. All the more reason to live on high ground (and to avoid going into Toronto when there’s a rainfall warning)!
I can’t say I am surprised that the dam burst as it doesn’t appear they used any structural aspect to it other than the rocks. Which is likely in keeping with the period that the bridge was created. You are giving that little one a great start to being an international traveller! And yes babies aren’t compact creatures at all. How cool you meet another blogger IRL!! A goal of mine. Bernie
Even though we travel with way more stuff, baby M has been such a trooper. She loves being outside. I’m actually going through the process of packing at the moment as we’ll be flying to Manitoba tomorrow. It was very lovely to meet another fellow blogger in person. I hope our paths cross someday. We’re thinking of visiting Saskatchewan next year as it’ll be the only province we haven’t been to.
And we would be happy to host you! For real. It’s a good base spot to go north from and south from.
Aww thanks!! It would probably be towards the end of summer or sometime in the fall to avoid the bugs and possibly to spot the northern lights. I have to do a bit more research and we need to map out our tentative vacation plans. I’ll be returning to work in the New Year with two years of vacation days accumulated!
Beautiful Post and Pictures. Thank you for sharing and for taking us along on this beautiful journey.
Thanks for your kind words and for leaving a comment. It’s always nice to start the day in nature. Have a wonderful weekend.
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your trip through Colorado and New Mexico, and have added some locations to the bucket list as a result. Very cool you were able to meet up with a fellow blogger. Thanks for sharing!
Aww thanks! It was such a great road trip and we easily could have stayed for longer. There’s so many neat parks in both Colorado and New Mexico. And the scenery is beautiful. This was our first time meeting up with another blogger in person. It was really nice to put a face to the name.
Looks like a very relaxing visit, love the bridge.
Great photos! Thank’s for share Linda. Have a wonderful week!
Keep well. Elvira
Thanks for reading, Elvira. It was nice to squeeze in one last hike and appreciate the scenery before heading home. Have a wonderful weekend. Cheers. Linda
So, if the dam architects and dam engineers had done their dam jobs, you’d be walking along the dam reservoir and not on the dam ruins. That’s the dam lesson I’m taking from your dam post!
Thanks for sharing, always enjoying your posts!
You’re dam right! Thanks for reading and for your comment. It gave me a good chuckle.
😀
This looks like an interesting area Linda, but one where you need to be very sure of your footing, given all the rocks. Not a place for taking photos while you walk. So nice that K’s parents were there too and I hear you on packing for a little one. We did that with our little one on our 1988 trip to New Zealand and Hawaii. Happy Thursday. Allan
You’re absolutely right about the rocky terrain and needing to pay attention to your footing. My mother-in-law actually took a small tumble while we were hiking through the canyon. Thankfully she wasn’t hurt. This was our first time travelling with K’s parents and we were actually more nervous about travelling with them than baby M. I think it went much better than any of us were anticipating considering we were spending two weeks together. Have a wonderful weekend. Linda
You sure picked a peaceful place for a last hike. Love the bridge! Thank you for sharing your photos and details. On to the next adventure! Admirable and inspiring. ✨ 👍🏻
Castlewood Canyon was located near our accommodations so it seemed like the perfect spot to squeeze in one last hike before heading home. We’re actually embarking on a new adventure later this morning. We’ll be heading to Manitoba in a few hours.
Incredible! 👏🏻
It’s so pretty, and I love all these blogger meet ups I’m reading about recently as well – I have 2 planned now in the next few months, love this community 🙂 (And you know where I am if you’re ever in England)!
How fun that you’ll be meeting up with some fellow bloggers over the next few months. This was our first meet up, which was really nice. I couldn’t agree more about how lovely our little WP community is. And you better believe I’ll reach out when we make our way over to England. You know where all the cute and charming spots are! The same goes to you if you’re ever in Ontario 🙂
What a great trip from the start to the finish. Babies do travel with a lot of baggage but it’s only while they are little.
Our first major trip with baby M went so much better than expected. You’re right, the older she gets, the less stuff we’ll need. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping! We could definitely travel lighter, but I prefer to bring our carseat, stroller and travel crib with us as there’s familiarity there. We’re actually heading to the airport in a couple of hours. We’ll be heading to Manitoba for a week to hopefully enjoy some fall foliage.
It’s a strange story when a dam breaks and nature resumes its course as if nothing had ever happened. It’s humbling.
Very true. It also goes to show that we can’t control nature even though we sometimes try.
Another great addition to your bulging national park collection. Some beautiful rock arrangements here and really enjoyed the history surrounding the dam. Though it seemed they were doomed from the start with the way they set everything up. The Bridge to Nowhere made me smile and how fun that you met up with D!
A nice final walk to close this holiday. Thank you for sharing it with us.
You bet! It was nice to fit in one last hike before packing up and heading home. This park was close to where we were staying and wasn’t very busy. Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment.
This looks a lovely, relaxing place for the final hike of your holiday. I’ve enjoyed reading about your adventures in Colorado and New Mexico, and admiring all the jaw-dropping scenery. It’s a stunning part of the world.
Thanks for your kind words. It was our first time travelling with our little one and we were pleasantly surprised at how much we were able to do. There are a lot of national parks in Colorado and New Mexico, which made for a fantastic road trip. And yes, the scenery was pretty spectacular.
You’ve shown me some of the places I have fond memories of and a few I never got to get to see when visiting the great state. Thank you so much 💚
Thanks for your kind words and for leaving a comment. We were staying near Castlewood Canyon so naturally we had to check it out. It was a lovely way to spend the morning.
Great photos!
Thanks so much! We visited a lot of parks on our road trip through Colorado and New Mexico. It’s neat how the landscape is a bit different at each one.
Had no idea Denver had a flood! Doesn’t seem like there’s enough water out there in general to be able to produce one! The bridge is interesting too. Babies DO make lots of extra luggage!! Glad you had a fun road trip! Loved following along!
I couldn’t help but laugh at the story of the Bridge to Nowhere. Classic poor planning. We have a pretty good system of carrying all our baggage, including the car seat, stroller and travel crib, but it’s a lot! It’s nice that most of it is free to travel with though. It was a wonderful first road trip with our little one. It went much better than expected.
Oh wow, Denver had a flood?! Who knew! Guess that bridge to nowhere really lived up to its name after all. 😂 And I totally get you on the baby luggage situation. I swear, it’s like traveling with a mini circus—crib, stroller, car seat… where’s the clown car to pack it all in?! But hey, what’s a road trip without a little extra chaos, right? Looking forward to seeing where your next adventure takes you…maybe with slightly lighter bags! 😜
Thanks for your lovely comment. Safety standards around dams have definitely come a long way since this one broke! Oh gosh, it’s crazy how much more stuff we travel with. We could easily shed some weight and baggage by renting some of the stuff there, like a carseat, but it’s free to travel with and we know how it works and where it came from. It becomes a bit of a juggling act to walk around the airport with it all, but we have a pretty good system going now. And I’m just hoping it’ll get easier (and lighter) the older the baby gets!
Beautiful post 🌺🌺
Thanks so much for your kind words and for leaving a comment. It’s always fun to explore a new state park and learn more about its history.
This looks like an interesting area to hike, and what an interesting history there as well!
It’s always neat to learn more about the history of a park and how it was created. And going for a hike is a great way to enjoy the scenery and explore the landscape!
After our flood conditions last week in Florida, I will appreciate this drier envisions when we visit this part of Colorado on our upcoming road trip.
I bet! The fall colours are supposed to be outstanding in Colorado! Glad to hear your area wasn’t hit too bad by the hurricane though. I’ve seen pictures of the aftermath on the news. It’s heartbreaking.
The farmlands are so unexpected and massive. They must’ve been awesome to see there !
For sure. I wasn’t expecting the landscape to look like that considering how close we were to Denver. And yes, I’d rather look at farm fields than subdivisions while hiking!
Exactly !!!! The nice views always make the trip better
For sure. That and the weather!