Castle Rock Regional Recreation Area

great park!

This trail is so out of this world. Yet in the middle of city If you ever feel down just go for a hike and you will forget about all your worries. Absolutely love it.

Besides Diablo Foothills, Castle Rock Park is bordered by Mt. Diablo State Park and Walnut Creek Open Space, providing access to more than 18,000 acres of public lands.
Diablo Foothills offers abundant open land for hiking and nature study. The 1,060 acres of Diablo Foothills (DF) are bounded by two dramatic East Bay landforms: the Castle Rocks of Mt. Diablo and the undulating «camelback» ridges that form Shell Ridge. These ridges link the park to the City of Walnut Creek’s Shell Ridge Open Space and Mt. Diablo State Park, which together, at about 23,000 acres, represent one of the largest open space areas of the East Bay.
I’ve been passing through Castle Rock (CR) on my bike for over ten years on the way to Pine Canyon Stage Road Trail, the Diablo Foothills & Mount Diablo State Park.
If you are into hiking or cycling, you will discover a plethora of trails and fire roads leading from CR into DFs.
To start into DF from Castle Rock Park, you will park on the outside of the Park and walk in. Make sure to visit one the grandest and oldest, most beautiful oaks I’ve seen in California that’s located to your left, right past the restrooms. I will often stop there and lay on the picnic table underneath it. It doesn’t get much better than this if you are a Nature Lover. Week days are especially sweet to lay under this grand oak as there are fewer to no people/​families around playing, picnicing out on the expansive lawn.
Starting from Castle Rock, there are approximately 31 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails. Bikes are permitted only on paved and unpaved roads over eight feet in width. You will occasionally see bikers poaching the single track trails. Sorry, but on the weekdays/​early mornings, I’ve been known to do this as well. My philosophy though is to ALWAYS stop when I see hikers or equestrians and give them the right away. If I’m hiking, I always step aside and give cyclists the right of way. It’s just not worth provoking them into an argument. Rangers do sometimes patrol the single track trails and do cite the poachers. But that’s a very rare occurrence.
Close by and within Shell Ridge Walnut Creek Open Space Park, you will find Borges Ranch, a site on the National Register of Historic Places. A working cattle ranch complete with farm animals which provides a glimpse at life a century ago. Great place to bring the kids.
Within a half mile or so from CR, you’ll come upon Pine Canyon Stage Road Trail. There are at least seven or more creek crossings (dry in the Summer, Wet and Muddy in a wet Winter). This is a very shady and beautiful hike/​bike road in the Summer. You will come to a gate which is the Diablo State Park boundary. Right before the gate, during a bike ride, I also sometimes lay out on these picnic tables under the oaks to rest and take a breather. In my younger years (hehe), I’d be one of the many cyclists that I now see racing past this lovely area. The round trip from car to the State Park entrance gate and back is almost 3 miles.
Further up the road, once you’ve past most of the creek crossings, you’ll come to Pine Pond that in non-​drought years has perennial water that ensures the survival of green sunfish and mosquitofish.
Some of the wild animals and reptiles you may see outside CR Park in the surrounding foothills include:
Coastal black-​tailed deer, gray foxes, coyotes, Bobcats, Grey Fox, Raccoons, rabbits and California mountain lions (rare). California newts and many species of snakes including rattlers. See my Shell Ridge Unilocal review on information about what to do when you see one.
Turkey vultures, Wild Turkeys, Wild Boar, acorn woodpeckers, and scrub jays.
Golden eagles, various Hawks and peregrine falcons soar overhead.
OF SPECIAL INTEREST are the Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon and Red-​tail Hawk nests found in the striking sandstone formations of the Castle Rocks. These Domengine sandstone formations occur through the central-​northern part of the Park to the East of Pine Canyon Stage Road Trail about a mile or so from the park entrance.
The vegetation of DF varies from grassland and oak savannah on the hills to riparian and oak woodland in the valley. Pine Creek flows through Pine Canyon and is within the Eastern portion of the Walnut Creek watershed which drains 150 square miles of central Contra Costa County into San Francisco Bay. Many folks don’t realize just how important our watersheds are to the flora and fauna of our of our area. If that last sentence sparks an interest in Watersheds, please read «A Place in Space: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Watersheds» by Gary Synder.
I highly recommend to the Nature Lover reading this review to obtain the «Mount Diablo State Park Trail Map — 6^th Edition» as well as the «Mount Diablo Guide.»
Can you tell I’m a devout Nature Lover? Hope I’ve inspired you to explore this very accessible treasure-​trove of Nature’s Beauty. Happy Trails!

Love this place!!! Full of exciting & fun views! Goal is to hike to entire trail to the TOP

Some great trails for an awesome workout with amazing views from the top of the peak.
I did a Half Marathon here a few months back where the course was described as ”Very Challenging”. I’m all about a new challenge and although it wasn’t as tough as I was hoping it was still a great workout. The 13.1 mile course was both on and off the trails taking us to the peak (just short of 3,000 feet) and back down the other side.
Where a lot of the paths here are well worn there is also a lot that is very rocky and even lot’s of sand so this is definitely NOT the place to come in sandals. Yes, I did indeed see a couple of people hiking in flip flops and sandals while I was running past them!
If you are unsure of the area stick to the trails. Although during my visit we went way off into the wilderness away from the main paths it was marked out by the event organizers so we knew exactly where we were going but if you do not have this then you will almost certainly get lost and it will take some time to find your way back. Also take a camera because you will need it. The views are gorgeous and make for some great pictures.
Parking is available but it is some way from where any of the trails start so keep this in mind when visiting. I think the closest lot is about half a mile to the first trail.

What a beautiful hike! The park itself is ridiculously clean, sans the animal waste that lines much of the trail. This was the first park restroom I’ve ever utilized that was clean, had toilet paper AND toilet seat covers, and adequate amounts of liquid soap. On top of that, a LOTION dispenser! #spoiled!
The trails are awesome. Depending on which direction you decide to go, it could be a little choppy. You’d definitely want to bring some hard soled shoes for the ascent into the caves.
The sandstone has been heavily vandalized, which makes me sad but at least it means people are getting off of their lazy asses and doing something outdoorsy. The graffiti pays homage to deceased cohorts, celebrates love in the form of heart-​enclosed initial carvings, and protests to free incarcerated individuals. Unfortunately, it makes the sandstone look ugly. The graffiti isn’t even good/​creative. Sigh.
If you can get past that, then you’re in luck. The climb is steep but at least some pollutant-​weilding vandal was courteous enough to mark some hand holds and foot holds for a couple of the sketchy traverses.
Then the view. GORGEOUS view. I wish I had more time to explore today, but it gives me a reason to come back.
Climbing down is far easier than going up, but make sure you have enough water and sunlight to get back to your car because of all the loose rocks. Enjoy!

This place is absolutely beautiful. In the cuts of walnut creek, this is one of my favorite places to come.
They have a great trail to go trail running on. Also you can climb up to the top if the mountain on top and next to the huge rocks. If you love hiking and nature, you’ll love this place.
There’s also a recreation area in the front that has a community pool, basketball court, volleyball court, and baseball field (which I love to play frisbee on).
So ya, pretty sweet place. Been back here time after time an will keep coming. Highly recommended.

Not a place to go if you don’t want to hike! We went to a family function there and there parking is RIDICULOUS ! Also shuttle service was not available to us. My husband had to make 5 trips to our car and back to bring stuff up for the party and almost killed himself. It is about ¼ mile from the closest parking lot, and up hill. On a hot day… it was awful. I use to go here when I was a kid and you could park right by the pool and picnic area. What happened to that??? Luciky when the senior people arrived they were able to catch the shuttle. To sum it up, it is a beautiful place, just hard to get to.

Beautiful park. Great place for hiking. Small flowing creeks to skip across while hiking. Awesome!

Beautiful area off of old Mt. Diablo. First became acquainted with this park after getting lost on a run and somehow ended over on the other side of Mt. Diablo. I have the worst sense of direction ever.
We went back here recently with the kiddies and there are several smaller loops you can hike, making it a good choice for us. It can be very steep, especially the downhill parts so be aware of that. Other gotcha is the plentiful horse manure.
There is an extensive and beautiful picnic and recreation area. +1 star!

My new favorite place to hike. It is just breezy enough where you don’t have to layer up on a sunny day. Perfect place for dogs and kids alike – it is hilly and steep on some parts, but there are also some sandstone rocks you can free climb. I love that the trails are spotless with the occasional manure piles, but that doesn’t seem to bother anyone. You’ll see people on bikes, on horses, and with dogs and/​or kids. We let our dog off leash where he was able to meet other dogs with ease and play and run freely without the hassle of offending people. They can even play in the nearby creeks and water ways fit for any ‘hot dog’ on those warm days. *
Beware of the occasional sand waves passing through as a good hat or sunglasses will take care of that.
As you make your way through the park before the trail starts, there is a recreational area that is my future playground! Huge picnic areas that are well kept, water stations to hose down dogs (or other animals), shaded areas, horseshoe, CLEAN bathroom facilities, a pool, and creek areas with a bridge. As I was passing it by, me and my husband were thinking of coming back and inviting a bunch of people to hang out on a sunny day here.
The views are amazing and worthwhile the hike. We didn’t finish the trail all the way up, but from what we saw and experienced, we love it and can’t wait to come back for more.

This place it totally Walnut Creek hidden treasure! It so clean, park rangers constantly riding around in their carts making sure everything is running smoothly. Makes a great place for people doing professional pictures its just so beautiful over there. I like that if you walk up a little they have a swimming pool, lots of picnic areas, and even a huge park to let your kids play around. Even more important they have lots of bathrooms so no more worrying about that! Check this place out!

Castle Rock Pool does indeed rock! There’s tons of shade around the pool /​picnic areas, the staff /​lifeguards are nice and it’s byob, that’s right, bring your own beach ball. My family and I went on a hot a** day and immediately cooled off. Parking can get a bit hairy but they offer shuttles if you get stuck at the not-​so-​close lot.

Great place to take a walk/​hike! and it’s free! :D The scenery is beautiful and walking on the trails here is really relaxing. I came here after it rained so the trails were muddy but it was still fun! Lots of trees and rocks and a creek too! Definitely will come back when the weather is better and explore more: D

I came here to do the last two miles of my Trails Challenge on the Castle Rock trail. Although it is incredibly muddy from the recent rains and I am fighting a cold, I had a great time looking at the interesting rock formations and watching the raptors fly from tree to tree. It is a beautiful trail winding through giant oaks. Even though the guidebook I had warned there was no water or restrooms available, there are drinking fountains and nice clean restrooms in the Castle Rock park.

Castle Rock is about 18,000 acres. The trails are tough, but accessible with lots of vertical difference and amazing scenery. There’s a lot of wildlife out here, too — cows, raccoons, birds galore, and so forth.
Castle Rock also has a substantial (about 18,000 acres) are that is leash-​free for dogs. However, keep a leash handy as these trails are shared by horses, cows, and mountain bikers. Also, there are a lot of other people on these trails, but most are dog-​friendly. If you have dogs that like chasing ground squirrels, they will love Castle Rock.
Some of the trails here are fairly difficult. Nothing technical, but if you are out of shape some of the peaks will be off-​limits to you. Also, I imagine that in a rain storm this area has some places that could get hairy fairly fast.
Of note, if you are allergic to bees, bring an epi pen. The sound of bees in the flowers in spring and summer is almost constant, like the sounds of machinery in a factory, everywhere you go. It’s not overpowering, just there. The bees tend to leave people alone, but it’s better to be safe.
Lastly, when you come here, you should bring a few things:
1– Good, but broken-​in hiking shoes
2– Lots of water — there is none after the office
3– A good camera

Came here yesterday for a graduation party at a picnic spot.
Great spot with lush greens facing the spot and a basketball court.
Weather was beautiful… my son had great fun…
The park rangers were very friendly and helpful… offering us rides when I first arrived and was lost.
Restrooms could be a bit better though.

The Swimming pool complex features a 30 feet by 70 feet swimming pool and deck areas. In addition, the complex is fully accessible to individuals with disabilities, including the bathhouse and an accessible lift into the pool. (Beach access fee to enter swim area.) Swimming is allowed only when lifeguards are on duty.
There are also volleyball courts, softball fields, and picnic sites are now open to the public daily. There are 4 sites with a capacity of 100 and 3 with a capacity of 50 that are reservable and they can only be reserved by calling the 888 number. Other picnic sites are available on a first-​come, first-​serve basis.