Castle Crags California State Park

August 07, 2019

From the Vista Point parking area,

a quarter mile accessible trail leads visitors to Vista Point where there are dramatic views of Castle Crags, Mount Shasta, and nearby Grays Rocks.

Castle Crags

Castle Crags through telescope

Mount Shasta

Mount Shasta through telescope

Grays Rocks

Grays Rocks through telescope

Vista point also has a picnic area where Paula, Oliver and I enjoyed a picnic lunch.

The Castle Crags were formed in much the same manner as nearby Mt. Shasta and the other peaks of the Cascade Range by volcanic activity some 170 million years ago, these 6000-feet tall granite spires in the Castle Crags. For the last million years, the Crags have been subjected to the forces of wind, rain, ice and even some small glaciers, which have shaped the granite into its distinctive shapes. Rising beside the spikey peaks is a round one, Castle Dome, which many mountaineers liken to Yosemite?s Half Dome.

The monolith and its surroundings are a microcosm of the Klamath Mountains where many such monoliths intrude and stitch together a crazy quilt of much older rocks. The surrounding rocks include the Trinity ultramafic sheet, the largest exposed body of ultramafic rock in North America. The ultramafic rock is often interpreted to represent an ancient ophiolite – a slice of the oceanic crust.

In 1855, the territory below the Crags was the site of a struggle between local native people and settlers. The locals, armed only with bows and arrows, were driven from their land in a one-sided battle that was chronicled by Joaquin Miller, ?poet of the High Sierra.

Mining, first gold, later mercury, chromite and later logging, were the chief industries around the Crags for a hundred years. During the 1920s and 1930s, conservationists worked to protect the Castle Crags; they circulated of the scenic spot and promoted the idea of a comprehensive California state park system.

Castle Crags State Park
20022 Castle Creek Road
Castella, CA 96017

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