The Castle is a stupendous crag on the Northern limits of the South Platte, and while it may more properly belong to the Lost Creek Wilderness area, it is usually cobbled together with other Buffalo Creek crags. This is a magnificent piece of granite that has seen ascents for close to half a century and remains today a flagship crag from the glory days of the early 70s. The Castle looms over Wellington Lake like some feature out of a Transylvanian nightmare - except to a climber it looks a lot more like paradise than hell. Most of the climbing is on the North and South facing plates and cracks and is best tackled in warm weather. The rock itself is immaculate South Platte granite with a bit of Devil's Head features thrown in. It is well featured with moderate crack systems running up to six pitches up the crag. Most of the described routes, fewer than ten, take the obvious crack systems, although some of the described lines do have complex route finding problems. As near as we could tell, none of the well featured face routes have ever been done, and one suspects that The Castle overall could hold at least ten times as many routes as have been described. Many of the established crack routes dish out sections that get pretty wide and for that reason see little traffic, but some are also excellent hand and finger sized. For example, we found a superb, un-named line that went mostly at 5.9/5.8 with a pitch of 10a that never got unpleasantly wide and sucked up pro like a tornado. All of the descents from the top are walk offs North or South with the South being a bit more convenient for most of the routes in the main, central feature. Nonetheless, it is possible to rap some of the cleanest cracks after only one or two pitches and still get your rope back. In fact, the first pitch of "The Throne Room" may be one of the best, long 5.9 cracks in the South Platte, can be rapped from a ledge at 150 ft, and stays in the range of the standard rack (biggest piece is a #4 Friend). Early in the year the lake is swamped by fishermen, boats, and noisy children, however, if you hold off until after labor day the mid to late fall season will deliver an experience that is as good as it gets on planet Earth.
Getting There
First, find Wellington Lake on the map. It is South and East of Bailey. Coming in from Bailey is far and away the easiest way in to the crag. Coming either East or West on Colo 285, in the center of Bailey and just at the bottom of Crow hill, locate the dirt road leading to Wellington Lake and the Castle Mountain recreation area. The way is well marked with signs, but folows first FR 543 and then FR 550. The lake and some of the surrounding land is private, but not (sic) the crag which is bisected by public land and the Lost Creek Wilderness. The best way to handle climbing seems to be to grab a picnic spot for the day. The Castle Mountain Recreation Company owns the camping/picnic spots and they charge a modest fee ($4.00) for a single day and a bit more to stay overnight. The crag is the obvious huge "Castle" South of the lake, and to minimize the approach try getting a spot as close to the crag as possible, since under the best of circumstances the hike up will take close to an hour. We found a trail for the return trip, but did not locate it on the approach until nearly at the crag. Bush whacking is straight forward, however.
I've driven past Wellington Lake quite a few times and wondered if there had been any climbing development on The Castle. It's such an obvious and awesome feature that it was hard to imagine that it had escaped the attention of the hoards of world-class climbers around here. It's great to hear that it hasn't. From the road, the SE face especially looks like primo wall rat terrain. Looking forward to seeing routes added to this area on c-b. Are any of the routes documented in any of the guidebooks?
By Ben Faber From: Benfield, Kolorado Jan 31, 2003
Richard, if I didn't think that you were a nice guy, I would hunt you down and kill you. The fee is $5 now. Occasionally, the landowner will close her property when various groups reserve the entire campground (kind of like hotel conventions). Be very polite to her - she's actually pretty nice. The approach is heinous and none of there aren't too many moderates (climbs less than 10). It ain't Eldo, so be prepared to crack climb. Many descents and rappels are tricky (have spare webbing handy). Also, in certain guidebooks, the topos are inaccurate. Because many routes are not listed, climbers can achieve VFAs (virtual first ascents). The best times to climb there are Fall and Spring, though Spring can bring sketchy weather. PS, if you find a new 2 rigid stem Friend there, its mine and I forgot to clip it back onto my gear sling. I thought it would be safe there until I saw this damned write-up.
Ben, what is wrong with Richard write-up? I thought it was pretty good. People have been climbing at the "Castle" for a number of years ( I first climbed there in 1980) and know that a number of "Springs Climbers" have been going there for years. Even with Richard write-up I don't think you will see a lot of traffic. Bob
By Andrew Gram Administrator From: Denver, CO Feb 2, 2003
Hands down the most awful approach to a crag I have ever seen - makes Cynical Pinnacle look roadside. Pretty place though.
Bob, nothing is wrong with RW's write-up other than the outdated campground fee. I did give him a hard time for putting the Castle on the website, but it was in a joking manner (see my Bishop Crack comments if you think that there's animosity brewing). I own both the Hubbel and Trout guides, so I'm well aware that the Castle is not really a secret.
Sorry Ben - it must feel a bit like someone else taking your drop dead gorgeous new girlfriend to the prom. But have heart, the approach will stall out all but the most determined. In addition, there are numerous interesting other crags in the Lost Creek Wilderness, some just on the boundary, they all have great personalities, and almost no one has climbed them!
A little approach beta. From the picnic area by the lake hike towards the south end of the Castle on an abandoned road. The tendency is to break off to the right and head directly toward the crag, don't. Continue to the road's end and follow a faint trail up through a bushy boulderfield. This puts you at the castle's south end. This info. is a couple years old, so take it for what it's worth. Poison Ivy is abundant at the base, and even on some ledges.
Park your car at DIA, then hike to Lumpy. It'll be faster than getting to the climbs at the Castle. But if you must, the cracks are epic. The approach may not be worth it, but after having been there, I'm glad I went. Some climbs go 4-6 pitches on cracks that go forever. Bring medium to large cams and plenty of stoppers. We did the chimney route and it was a blast. Just don't get your rope stuck in one of the hundreds of cracks on the rappel. $5 per person entry fee. Great camping, parking, facilities, etc. Email me for more beta.Scott
I work just off of wellington lake during the summer at a youth camp. A couple of weeks ago me and a friend climbed the castle. We went up the front where there are plenty of trees and it was an easy route but there are a lot of challenging routes and the view is awesome. If you ever get the chance to climb the castle, go for it!
Some more beta. Approach from south end (as mentioned above) and follow the ridge all the way up. do not get sucked into the drainage below Baron's Estate. This holds bad juju.
The descents are similar to those in Lumpy.
Treat climbing here as if you were on first ascent. the current info in the guides are very confusing and inaccurate. There was a quality three pitch roue we climbed but dont know what the hell it was but was somewhere near the Dungeon, Nose Route, who knows.
Couldn't find the Throneroom. Hell, Maybe we were on it? Ha ha.
Have fun. Thanks for the booty cam, Ben. If you don't call me to go climbing, I will blow my Fairy Dust on you.
Oh yeah, they charge $5 per day per PERSON. That's right, if you and your partner stay from Friday night to Sunday, that's $30.
I was up climbing at The Castle last week, and I told the lady at the front desk we came to climb and she didn't charge us. She just didn't mention anything about a fee, and I didn't bring it up.
Because we are on the subject of the Castle, I seem to remember someone telling me that it was first climbed by Larry Dalke and partner the week after they climbed the first ascent of the Prayer Book on Cynical Pinnacle. They spotted it from the summit. How I know this I couldn't say but it's true. At least I think so.
Also of note is the big rock down and left of it. It has a number of routes on it as a result of hungover climbers giving up on the Castle as their stated goal from the night before at one of the infamous "Baked Wellington" parties in the nineties. I was there so I know this is true.
I just thought of another funny Castle story. When the guidebook author (whose name is scratched into the Bucksnort men's room towel dispenser) was writing the first edition of his Platte guide he and his friends went on a route bender that would put Charles Bukowski to shame, reporting all of them no matter how silly to said scribe. We all knew this. Everyone was trying to get in that guide. But me and Scotty McClowery had a different route to offer.
One night after climbing up at the spires, we got Tom to pull the big yellow book down from that dusty television perch at the Bucksnort. We had been up to the Castle the week before and at that point had our heads around the place. We also knew for that said penman had never been there let alone even asked people about the area while writing his soon to be published screed. Plus he pissed us off. We made a topo up out of nowhere and simply renamed the Parapet "Dildo Rock" and he actually published it in his book without asking a soul.
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