Castlewood Canyon Hike

At the meet site, with a clear blue sky overhead, the original plan to hike in Golden Gate State Park was scrapped because of the probability of snow/ice on trails there.  It was decided Castlewood Canyon would be our destination instead.

As four members of the High Country Hikers group headed south, on this final day of October rooftops looked more like a dusting of snow than an overnight frost.

After obtaining a day pass at the west entry station, we entered the 2,303 acre park and proceeded to the parking lot by the Lucas Homestead Historic Site and TH. 



HOMESTEAD HISTORY:  Patrick and Margaret Lucas were Irish immigrants who came to Colorado from Arizona.  They filed homestead papers in September, 1894.  Over the winter, they cleared the land, and built their all wood house, moving in the following April.

The homestead was originally 20 acres which they paid for with only their hard work.  Later another parcel of 140 acres was added.  Out buildings included a milk house, a spring house, and possibly a barn to house cattle.  Today, sparse remains of a wooden ramp and fence peek out from behind trees that have grown over decades of time.

Morning sunburst thru concrete remains of the homestead. 

By 1910, the couple had 8 children, requiring more space than their small home provided.  
Years earlier, Patrick had been to Illinois where concrete houses were common at the time.  He decided to build a two-story structure, of concrete.

Patrick Lucas, the entrepreneur, built a toll gate close by, charging people 25 cents to cross his land to see the canyon dam and reservoir which had been completed 4 years before they arrived.

Unusual concrete covered side entrance to the basement.

By the mid-1940's, the Lucas children had moved on and both Patrick and Margaret had passed.  The house has been abandoned now for almost 70 years.

The hike began on the Homestead Trail, an easy and short .3 mi. span leading to the more moderate to difficult Rimrock Trail.  This 2.1 mi. path takes hikers across the bottom of the canyon, then climbs to the rim for a number of great views of the Rocky Mountains to the west and Pikes Peak to the south.

Ed, Dorothy, and Joe, look over the edge of the canyon rim.  Pikes Peak is in the distance.

While following trail along the rim, numerous interesting rock outcroppings are worth a stop for closer inspection.  As we continue along the canyon rim, a handful of large upscale private homes can be seen through the scrub oak and scattered under brush.  One in particular is the home of Rockies Manager, Walt Weiss. 


DAM HISTORY:  Castlewood Dam was completed in 1890.  It stretched 600' across the canyon from rim to rim.  The all rock-filled structure was 70' tall.  Almost from the beginning, the structure had leaks which concerned engineers and made downstream residents nervous.
 

Flood water surrounds a row of warehouses in Denver.

On the night of the breach, a caretaker of the dam, who lived nearby, went to check out the structure, when the dam broke.  He alerted Parker Telephone Exchange operator, Nettie Driskill, who contacted residents in the path of the water, saying, "Run for Your Lives, The Dam's Broke."  At the time Parker was a tiny village of a few stores, a lumber yard, and a post office.  

Downtown Denver, 1933.

Patrick and Margaret Lucas and 3 of their children were in their concrete house the night of August 2, 1933.  It had rained for the entire week prior to the break.  Then in the early morning of August 3rd, the dam broke sending a 50' wall of water down the canyon.  An estimated 5,000 people living in the lowlands between the canyon and Denver were alerted by phone and fled to higher ground.  By the time the surge reached the Lucas property, it had lost some of its strength and the homestead was spared.
 
Near the eastern end of Rimrock Trail, there is an unobstructed view of what remains of the infamous Canyon dam.  Trail then drops back into the canyon by way of switchbacks to the .3 mi. Dam Trail.  At a junction, we take the Inner Canyon Trail a short distance before stopping along Cherry Creek for lunch.

As we approach and pass below the huge stone structure, I can't stop thinking what it must have been like for anyone who heard the sound of a 50' wall of water charging through the canyon in the black of night. 

View of the imposing remains of Canyon Dam from Creek Bottom Trail.

We soon arrive at the junction with Creek Bottom Trail that would lead us 1.7 mi.back to Homestead TH.  This trail is smooth as it flows around large boulders once at the bottom of the dam.  Trail begins to climb gradually to a point where switchbacks lead hikers to the parking lot.

Total Miles = 5.2