Castle Crags State Park

The most rewarding hike of our trip. We opted for the Castle Crags Trail that leads to Castle Dome. You ascend 2200 feet in three miles (talk about sore legs the next day). You will need 4-5 hours to complete the hike because of its challenging climb, but the views are unmatched for the effort.

We were on our way back from Castle Lake when we thought we'd stop and see the crags. I wasn't expecting an $8 fee to get into the park so we kind of cheated seeing as we had no cash on us. We kept driving up the road and it went up a hill and we had a beautiful view of the crags. I also go to pick wild black berries. Judging by the scat in the area, I'd warn you there are bears around.

Campsites are surprisingly close to the interstate. Bathroom was a bit drab and one of the two stalls out of service. Only a few sites appeared to be level.

I stayed here only one night, on the way north toward Oregon. The park is located just off Interstate 5, which is convenient but also a major drawback due to noise. I recommend staying on the Upper Loop, which is further from the highway. I arrived late and the only availability was the Lower Loop.

The site was fine for tent camping, but the noise from the interstate was very loud. Also, the mosquitos were horrendous! They swarmed any exposed skin and made it impossible to enjoy sitting outside. The bathrooms had running water, showers and flush toilets; however they were nothing to write home about and could use a cleaning.

I didn't hang around the next day to do any hiking, but the park looks fairly nice.

In the future, I would likely make this a day trip or visit during the cooler months when the bugs are less active.

Wanted a place for one night on our way to Washington and this filled our needs. Being right off I5 made it perfect for stopover but being so close to I5 also made it less than quite. There was also a train running. Stayed in May so everything was still green. Campground was pretty much empty. Our site had a concrete pad, we still had a little leveling to do. Campground had flush toilet, shower and running water. No hookups.
Trail down to the Sacramento River. Hiking trails throughout but one we enjoyed was the Vista trail. Views of the crags and Mount Shasta.

Site 36 is concrete, wide and almost level
Most all other sites are either short (for 24ft sprinter) and hilly or both.
The internal roads are steep and twisty except from site 20 to 37.

Pulled in at 10:30 pm to grab a bit of sleep. Site 26 is a pull through and fairly level. Woke up and went on an early morning hike on the Root Trail for a stunning view of the Castle Crag Mountains.

“Due to the recent visitation surges at this unit, the park is again temporarily closing vehicular access, meaning that there is no camping, parking facilities, or vehicular use of park roadways beginning July 22, 2020 until further notice. All restrooms are closed. The park will be open for locals who can walk or bike in for trail or day-use.”

From Parks.CA.gov

This park is open. No reservations needed. Frist come/first serve.
Cost is $25 a night/$22 a night senior.
Only lower camping loops are open at this time. Upper loop by Memorial Day.
One bathroom is open in the lower loop with heated bathrooms and showers. Additional bathrooms will be open in late April. Fires are allowed at this time with firewood available for purchase.
Camp Host onsite as well.
Beautiful views, great hiking trails (Easy to Difficult).
Each site has picnic table, fire pit, and old grills structures from the 1930s. They work but old. (need to be refurbed).

Mid September and hardly anyone hear at the campground. Stayed a Sunday night on the way to Oregon and a Thursday night on the way back. I have passed by the campgrounds many times and never went in to look at them. It is a bit older camp grounds but still in decent shape and close to I5 (some road noise Michelin river is one way to think of it)
We were tired so we were hoping we could get a spot here as we came off the highway.
The ranger said to go look and see where we would like to stay. There were only a few places we could fit the trailer and truck but most of the campground was available for tent camping and day camping/hiking. We would love to come back and hike the trails some time up to the beautiful crags that you can catch a glimpse from on I5 coming through The area. No hookups or dumps for the trailer but we were just fine dry camping.