Our Mission The mission of California State Parks is Castle Crags to provide for the health, inspiration and education of the people of California by helping he lofty spires and to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological T State Park diversity, protecting its most valued natural and granite dome of Castle Crags cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high-quality outdoor recreation. rise to more than 6,500 feet. The grandeur of the crags has been revered as California State Parks supports equal access. an extraordinary place Prior to arrival, visitors with disabilities who need assistance should contact the park for millennia. at (530) 235-2684. This publication can be made available in alternate formats. Contact [email protected] or call (916) 654-2249. CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS P.O. Box 942896 Sacramento, CA 94296-0001 For information call: (800) 777-0369 (916) 653-6995, outside the U.S. 711, TTY relay service www.parks.ca.gov Discover the many states of California.™ Castle Crags State Park 20022 Castle Creek Road Castella, CA 96017 (530) 235-2684 © 2014 California State Parks M ajestic Castle Crags have inspired The Okwanuchu Shasta territory covered A malaria epidemic brought by European fur enduring myths and legends since about 700 square miles of forested mountains trappers wiped out much of the Okwanuchu prehistoric times. More than 170 million from the headwaters of the Sacramento River Shasta populace by 1833. years old, these granite formations in to the McCloud River and from Mount Shasta With the 1848 gold discoveries at the the Castle Crags Wilderness border the to Pollard Flat. The abundant local riverine Trinity River and Sutter’s Mill, sojourners northwestern edge of Castle Crags and terrestrial resources ensured their from around the world flocked to California, State Park. success as hunters and gatherers. invading the original homelands and Located at the north end of Sacramento Plentiful salmon and other fish in what is disturbing the life-sustaining resources of Valley off Interstate 5, the park has average now the Sacramento River and its tributaries the native people. This invasion also led to high temperatures above 90° in the summer, could be eaten fresh or dried and stored for displacement of indigenous people. More dipping to the low 20s in winter. winter months. Harvested nuts from oaks than two-thirds of the native California Indian PARK HISTORY and pines provided year-round sustenance, people died as a result of the conquest with Native People and bulbs, roots, greens, berries and grasses its violence and contagious diseases — among were gathered seasonally. Strong trading ties them, many Okwanuchu Shasta, Wintu and The forested area of Castle Crags State Park with their neighbors yielded obsidian from Modoc people from this area. By the 1920s, was used by several native groups. Ancestral the Achumawi to the east and abalone and surviving Okwanuchu Shasta were taken to home to the Okwanuchu Shasta people, dentalia shells from their western coastal other areas as slaves or put on reservations. the conspicuous crags were also revered neighbors, the Karok, Yurok and Hupa. Some were removed as far north as the by the indigenous Californians surrounding Beginning in the late 1820s, the territories Umatilla Reservation in northeastern Oregon. them — including the Wintu, Achumawi and and lifeways of all native groups were Today, the Okwanuchu Shasta and Wintu Modoc people. The Okwanuchu Shasta changed by the arrival of European descendants work toward restored believed that spirits took human and American explorers and federal recognition and preservation forms to live in rocks, cliffs fur trappers. of their customs and culture. and mountaintops such as the crags. The Battle of Castle Crags funds and donations were used to purchase riparian areas, and montane chaparral, this A false rumor of a “Lost Cabin Mine” brought 925 acres in 1933. That same year, 220 men park provides habitat for a variety of species. hordes of gold seekers here in 1853. Poet from the federal Civilian Conservation Corps Two endemic plant species, the Castle Crags Joaquin Miller, who had married a Wintu and (CCC) camp in Castella began building harebell and Castle Crags ivesia, are Phantom the park’s roads, trails, infrastructure and known to grow in the park, as lived among the native people, wrote, “The orchid gold-diggers had so muddied and soiled buildings in the “park rustic” style of native well as stands of Port Orford the waters the season before that the annual wood and stone. cedar. Calypso, spotted run of salmon had failed, the Indians had for In 1959, most of the CCC-era structures were coral root and phantom the first time in centuries no stores of dried demolished to allow the Interstate 5 freeway orchids are among 13 salmon, and they were starving to death to run through the original park. Some local species of wild orchids found by hundreds.” rock “Diablo stoves” in campsites remain, as in the park. The miners’ debris choked the waterways — A remarkable diversity of primary source of sustenance for the animals live here. Black bears indigenous people. Whites subsequently seek berries, and mountain attacked hungry Modocs for stealing flour, lions, bobcats and coyotes hunt in triggering the Battle of Castle Crags in higher elevations. Rarely, visitors may 1855. The site, between Castle Lake and see a spotted skunk, a fisher or a ringtail. a formation now known as Battle Rock (in Pileated woodpeckers are often heard the northwestern crags formation), became hammering in the trees. The American California Historical Landmark No. 116 dipper, the only aquatic songbird, can often in 1984. A plaque near the park entrance be heard and seen foraging along the banks, commemorates the conflict between Modocs, while osprey routinely patrol the skies above Wintu, Okwanuchu Shasta, and white settlers. CCC crewmen excavating the site of a spring, July 1935 looking for a trout. Discouraged by the untrue mine rumor, Corvids (jays and ravens) constantly search gold searchers eventually left. Other mineral, well as the CCC-built rock surround for the for food. Western bluebirds and meadowlarks timber and lumber industries moved into this park’s mineral spring. nest in the park’s riparian vegetation. Red- heavily forested area. During the late 1800s, Covering nearly 4,000 acres today, Castle tailed and Cooper’s hawks catch updrafts Bailey’s Castle Rock Springs Hotel attracted Crags State Park is considered outstanding above the rare weeping spruce forest nestled visitors, and the Castle Rock Springs mineral for its natural features and representative among the crags. water bottling plant operated here until 1929. for the six regional ecological habitats that converge here. Faces of the Crags Becoming a State Park The Pleistocene glaciation, ending 10 to Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. surveyed the state NATURAL HISTORY 12,000 years ago, and the granite’s enduring for public park sites in 1928. This unique area Dominated by montane hardwood-coniferous resistance to erosion have left these spires was suggested for state acquisition. Bond forest habitat interspersed with meadows, and domes. Depending on the time of day and the campsites and is open seasonally on a first- PLEASE REMEMBER sun’s shadows, look for hidden “faces” carved come, first-served basis. Interpretive campfire • All natural and cultural features are by snow and ice into the granite surfaces. programs are held in the summer. protected by law and may not be Precipitation freezes in the cracks and Day Use — A tunnel below the highway and disturbed or removed. Stay on trails. crevasses, constantly changing the crag faces. a pedestrian suspension bridge across the • Except for trained service animals, river lead to the picnic area. Restrooms and dogs are not allowed on trails. They drinking water are nearby. Vista Point also has are allowed in campsites. Dogs must picnic tables with a nearby vault toilet, but no be under adult control on a six- piped water. foot maximum leash and must be ACCESSIBLE FEATURES confined to a tent or vehicle at night. One campsite is accessible. Paved Vista Point • Quiet hours are 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. Trail leads .25 miles to views of Castle Crags, Noise should never travel beyond Mt. Shasta and Gray Rocks. Parking and a your camp. restroom are accessible. • Use bear-resistant lockers For accessibility updates, visit the website for storage. at http://access.parks.ca.gov. • Do not feed birds or other wildlife. NEARBY STATE PARKS Climbers scale “Ogre Face,” Mt. Hubris • McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial SP • Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park RECREATION 24898 Highway 89, Burney 96013 N 41.1000° W 121.4120° (Reachable only by small Hiking — Ask at the park kiosk for (530) 335-2777 watercraft) c/o McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial SP a handout describing more than 30 miles of hiking trails that wind HOW THE CRAGS WERE FORMED through the park and into the Earth’s surface is covered by slowly edge of the continent and carried rock rose, collected beneath Earth’s adjoining Castle Crags Wilderness, moving plates of dense rock. The rocks water deep into the Earth. This water surface and solidified to form the Castle managed by the U.S. Forest Service. surrounding Castle Crags are part of an causes hot rocks in the planet’s mantle Crags granite. Since then, uplift of the Fishing — Licensed anglers oceanic plate that collided with North to melt; these melts rise towards the Klamath Mountains, combined with may catch and release trout in America several hundred million years surface, where some erupt to form weathering and erosion by streams and Castle Creek and the Sacramento ago. Since then, younger oceanic plates volcanoes like Mount Shasta. About 170 glaciers, have exposed and sculpted River.