Rising on the Palmer Divide, Cherry Creek flows northward across the Colorado Piedmont and joins the South Platte River in downtown Denver. Along the way, the Creek has carved a scenic canyon through the mesa country of southern Douglas County. Now protected as a State Park, Castlewood Canyon is an excellent destination for hiking and nature study; the Visitor Center and primary entrance are on the west side of Colorado 83, several miles south of Franktown.
The Canyon, like mesas throughout the region, is capped by Castle Rock Conglomerate, deposited by the ancient South Platte River, which originally flowed eastward onto the High Plains just north of the Palmer Divide. An open forest of ponderosa pine cloaks the walls of the canyon, mixing with stands of juniper and scrub oak. Ten miles of hiking trails lead through the preserve, following the creek, snaking up the canyon slopes and meandering atop the rim; one loop crosses the old Castlewood Dam, constructed for irrigation purposes in 1890 and destroyed by a flood in 1936.
In addition to the scenic vistas, visitors will find an excellent variety of wildlife at Castlewood Canyon State Park. Turkey vultures are common, soaring above the canyon walls, and the raptor population includes golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, Swainson's hawks and prairie falcons; great horned owls also patrol the refuge, joined by northern saw-whet owls during the colder months. Magpies, scrub jays and canyon wrens inhabit the Park throughout the year; summer residents include Virginia's warblers, black-headed grosbeaks, green-tailed towhees, rock wrens, broad-tailed hummingbirds, Say's phoebes, lesser goldfinches and common poor-wills. American dippers and belted kingfishers may be found along the creek and, contrary to expectations, great blue herons nest within the Park. Resident mammals include mule and white-tailed deer, rock squirrels, Colorado chipmunks, muskrat, raccoons, beaver, red fox and coyotes; visitors are advised to watch for western rattlesnakes along the trails!
