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The Castle Rock Climbing
Routes in The Castle
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5.9 crack climb T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
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Betterman T 5.10c/d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b |
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Camel Walk, The T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Castle Corner aka Unnamed 5.10 T 5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Dalke - Jennings T 5.10a/b 6a+ 19 VI+ 19 E2 5b |
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Dewitt Route T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b |
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Dungeon, The T 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b |
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Great Chimney Route T 5.9- 5c 17 VI 16 HVS 4c |
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Guillotine T 5.10c/d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b |
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Hardgumbi's Lament T 5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Nose, The T 5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Rapunzel T 5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c |
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Schmauser - Bohannon Route T 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c |
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Southeast Gully T 5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c |
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Throne Room T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b |
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Uncle Wiggly T 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b |
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Wiggins Route T 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b PG13 |
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Winterlude T 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b |
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You Can't Chop This T 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b |
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| Elevation: | 9,632 ft |
| GPS: | 39.311, -105.381 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
| Page Views: | 21,020 total · 110/month |
| Shared By: | Richard M. Wright on Jan 27, 2003 |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac |
Description
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 walkoffs 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 feet, 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.
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 walkoffs 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 feet, 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 US 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 fee has increased to $9/person/day!
Per Tyson Ferryman: as of 2014, the day use is $5 per person and $5 for your car.
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. Bushwhacking is straightforward, however.
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 fee has increased to $9/person/day!
Per Tyson Ferryman: as of 2014, the day use is $5 per person and $5 for your car.
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. Bushwhacking is straightforward, however.
Classic Climbing Routes at The Castle
Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
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Photos
19 Comments
More About The Castle
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Guidebooks (12)
Salt Lake City, UT
Lakewood, CO
Golden, CO
Flagstaff, AZ
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. May 16, 2005
Boulder, CO
FIve Points, Colorado and Pine
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. Jun 18, 2008
Glenwood ,Co
Colorado Springs, CO
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. Apr 22, 2009
El Manzano
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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!
Eldorado Springs, CO
What is this route? Jun 24, 2013
Denver, CO
Once you get into the woods, if you're on something that you think might be a wash but kind of looks like a trail, and does not have regular sticks marking the way, you're doing it wrong. The trail generally follows the top of the ridge above the river valley, going well south of Barons Estate. Have fun. Aug 3, 2013
Las Vegas, NV