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Whats the low down with castlewood canyon state park bouldering?

Original Post
Brett D. · · boulder county · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 0

Looking to maybe go to castlewood canyon state park for for some holiday bouldering. What are the approaches and landings like? I have a 2 yr old boy who needs some space to run around while we climb. What are the most concentrated Bouldering areas where we could set up shop for a bit? Looking to work anything up to v8 if you have any must do problems out there. Would love some info if anyone has any, thanks

Doug Lintz · · Kearney, NE · Joined Apr 2004 · Points: 1,196
Little Devil is a must-do, just be careful. It's claimed many a life.
Mike Lane · · AnCapistan · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 880
Doug Lintz wrote: Little Devil is a must-do, just be careful. It's claimed many a life.
Thats really cold, sending him off to that on his first visit.

Hopefully Andy Librande will pitch in.

My .02 would be to go straight to punani since you boulder hard. There's problems all over the canyon. Might want to avoid 9 Lives Arete area with the boy b/c there's a steep embankment right there.
Brett D. · · boulder county · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 0

Thanks guys, might have to see if my boy has what it takes to send little devil...the name is a bit too fitting for his first v11!

Andy Librande · · Denver, CO · Joined Nov 2005 · Points: 1,880

The Fountaine-Bleau area has the highest concentration of problems from warm-ups to solid v2-4 to Cave Direct being a pretty classic v6. Look for the problems labeled Lip Traverse, Rocketship, Only downside in the winter is that it is in the woods and gets minimal sun. It is fine if it is a nice day out but can be cold in there.

Punani is a sweet area with Gerbil in the Chute right there, both really good, however not much else is right there.

If it is a cold day one of the better areas is the Buddha and Berthoud Caves, lots of climbing in a concentrated area with prime southern sun exposure, slightly harder approach then the other areas but at Buddha you are in a nice area where the kid can run around. Berthoud cave has a lot of really tough stuff but might not be kid friendly as it is in a cave on a 15ft cliff.

Here is a map to help: mountainproject.com/v/10681…

Greg Twombly · · Conifer, CO · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 275

Castlewood has rattlesnakes, beehives and poison ivy. This time of year those things are mostly dormant, but much of the year arent friendly to 2 year olds. That said, my 3 kids spent many happy hours splashing around in the stream and crawling over, under and through the rock piles.

Kegan Minock · · colorado springs · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 140

Cave Direct is super classic and has a great landing. There are tons of other climbs that are much easier in the area as well. Very kid friendly. and the approach is a super easy trail for about 2 minutes.

Punani is the gem of the park. although there is not much around it and kind of a pain to get to if you arent sure where to go. Those two climbs are the highest quality relatively hard climbs in the park and are well worth doing.

Mike Lane · · AnCapistan · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 880

Brett- you might consider bringing a rope and harness along, the sport routes there resemble long bouldering problems anyway. The canyon's best routes are mostly along the East Rim, which due to the snakes has a limited Winter season; and there is not much in the way of hazards for a tyke, assuming with this unreal weather the buzzworms don't emerge.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
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