The Castle 

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?

Hands down the most awful approach to a crag I have ever seen - makes Cynical Pinnacle look roadside. Pretty place though.

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.

I was 22 years old. Please forgive me.

Classic.

Does anyone have information pertaining to the chimney route?

I added a description of Baron's Estate (the rock formation below and to the left of the Castle), along with the route The Baron, back in July, 08. It can be found under the Buffalo Creek section. Certainly not a destination in and of itself, but we enjoyed it as a bonus approach pitch, especially considering the heinous slog up to The Castle. Just wanted to let people know.

We also climbed a moderate hand and fist crack on the far right side of The Castle, just left of the gully and left of Rapunzel. Again, this wasn't fantastic, but if you want something a little more moderate, it was probably 5.9-. It seems like we rapped off a tree, after one long pitch.

The company managing the lake is now charging $9 PER PERSON to park and go climb. Either be prepared to pay out the a$$ to climb here or be creative.

Thanks to the young men of the Colorado Springs North Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is now an established trail to the Castle from Wellington Lake.

It starts at the end of the lake's camping areas (next to the gated entrance to a Boy Scout Camp) and goes all the way up to the southern base of The Castle. You'll need to traverse north to get to the base of routes like Castle Corner, etc... (or you could just break from the trail when you feel like it)

I wouldn't say it's an "unawful" approach, but at least it's well-marked and cleared, which is much better than hacking your way up the hill.

This should hopefully make enjoying that amazing view more accessible to everyone.

Thanks for your powerful service!

New trail to The Castle. Submitted By: Nathanael Hansen on Jun 30, 2012