Hiking Project Logo

A beautiful trail that gives you amazing views of the Santa Cruz Mountains.


Your Rating: Rating Rating Rating Rating Rating      Clear Rating
Your Difficulty:
Your Favorites: Add To-Do · Your List
Zoom in to see details
Map Key

4.1

Miles

6.6

KM

Point to Point

3,005' 916 m

High

2,101' 640 m

Low

363' 111 m

Up

1,046' 319 m

Down

6%

Avg Grade (4°)

21%

Max Grade (12°)

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Family Friendly Not too steep of a trail with great views for everyone.

Description

This is a very easy trail to follow. Start at the main parking lot and head straight in on the Saratoga Gap Trail. There are not too many turnoffs and all are well labeled. The beginning of the trail is covered by trees, but shortly after you hit the falls area, the trail opens up to give you amazing views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. You can cut back to the parking lot for a shorter hike on some of the turnoff trails or make this a longer out and back by following the trail to the end.

Contacts

Shared By:

Anina Middleton

Trail Ratings

  4.7 from 3 votes

#7453

Overall
  4.7 from 3 votes
5 Star
67%
4 Star
33%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
Trail Rankings

#597

in California

#7,453

Overall
9 Views Last Month
4,783 Since Dec 30, 2015
Intermediate Intermediate

0%
0%
83%
0%
17%
0%

Photos

The blue mountains of Santa Cruz!
Jan 22, 2016 near Monte S…, CA
One of many views from the Castle Rock Loop.
Dec 21, 2015 near Monte S…, CA
Castle Rock Loop walk.
Feb 10, 2023 near Monte S…, CA
Saratoga Gap Trail.
Dec 31, 2015 near Monte S…, CA
View from Castle Rock State Park.
Dec 31, 2015 near Monte S…, CA
Mossy rocks in Castle Rock State Park.
Dec 31, 2015 near Monte S…, CA
loading

Weather


Current Trail Conditions

Unknown
Add Your Check-In

Check-Ins

Dec 4, 2023
Jim Price
Oct 15, 2022
Mei-Jun Yeh
Thomas; Pien; Maickel; Lars
Mar 20, 2021
Nicolas Lidzborski
12.7mi — 14h 25m
Dec 30, 2020
Bailey Le
Jun 28, 2020
Bruce Miao
With Boris family
Aug 25, 2019
Joe Gremillion
Brilliant sun with intermittent coverage … and worth the view, if you come at the right time of day. 5mi — 3h 00m
Aug 10, 2019
Analicia Hawkins
Backpacked to Castle Rock Trail Camp — 12h 30m
Aug 10, 2019
Aryn Maitland
Beautiful but definitely a challenge for a first-time backpacker. Really great practice run to help me plan for longer trips. 3mi — 2h 30m
Welcome

Join the Community! It's FREE

Already have an account? Login to close this notice.