Castle Rock is a great view of Lake Tahoe on the border of California and Nevada.  It’s a hot, forested hike on a summer day (guess when I hiked?), but the views at the end make it worth the effort (and more-than-expected elevation change along the way).  You’re almost directly across from the Desolation Peaks Wilderness, so they take center stage across the blue water.  Plus you can extend your hike along the Tahoe Rim Trail, so that’s a great way to make the hike a little longer!

Castle Rock was actually my third choice for the day.  I’d tried to get up to the Job’s Peak trailhead the night before, but the road was so steep and sandy that my 2WD van couldn’t make it up the road.  Then in the morning, we thought we’d go for a hike on the Tahoe Rim Trail, but the area in South Lake Tahoe is so built up, and the roads so private and closed, that we couldn’t get to that trailhead, either.  So we decided to just cut our losses and head up to the Kingsbury North Trailhead and hike to Castle Rock.

I doubt that our second option would have had better views, though it might have been slightly less crowded.  On a Friday morning, about 30 kids (and moms) were riding their bicycles around the trailhead, and while we had Castle Rock to ourselves, we met plenty of people on the trail.  I suppose I should have been prepared for that – this is Lake Tahoe, after all!

The trailhead is actually below the Tahoe Rim Trail – the access trail was my favorite part of the hike, other than the view at the end.  There is a nice kiosk and a standard map where the trail begins.

The path begins with an immediate switchback of a climb.  It steadies shortly to pass through a few rocks and big trees with a lovely view to the southwest.

After exactly half a mile, the access trail T’s into the Tahoe Rim Trail.  Turn left to follow the sandy path through the forest.

The trail undulates along to the Stinger Trail junction at mile 0.9, then down to the Castle Rock Trail Junction at mile 1.4.  Turn right toward Castle Rock.

I was very happy to be off of the Tahoe Rim Trail (it’s just not my favorite trail in the world), but the Castle Trail was steep!  We hadn’t exactly gotten an early start (all of that driving around to trailheads took time), and the temperature had risen quite nicely.  We were all very warm by the time we arrived at the first Climber’s Trail junction at mile 1.6.

There are several junctions for climber’s trails; in fact, there are pretty much trails going everywhere.  We did our best and mostly continued uphill.  I’m pretty sure that some of the climber’s trails would have good views, but we didn’t feel much like exploring due to the heat.

There were also signs everywhere telling us to not climb up to the top of Castle Rock due to nesting peregrine falcons.  So we didn’t.  Instead, we followed the trail around the back of the rock.  There was a viewpoint, but I don’t know what they meant because we couldn’t see much from there.

We went back to the viewpoint junction and took a second trail (probably some sort of climber’s trail).  It was rough and a bit sketchy in places, but when we finally got to the end, the view was amazing!

We made sure to not disturb the falcons (we didn’t see any, either) and stayed pretty much exactly where the trail came out of the woods.

After having a snack and enjoying the view, we headed back to the trailhead before heading over to Eagle Falls – but that’s an adventure for another post!

Round Trip Trail Length: I went about 3.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 874ft. (7,934ft. to 7,601ft.)

Facilities: Primitive restrooms at the trailhead

Fees: None

Trail Notes: This would be a much nicer trail on a cooler day.  Also, I’d think that scrambling to the top of the rock would be fun – it’s closed for nesting raptors roughly April-July.  Also, except for the sketchy part at the end, it would make a great hike for families.

Trail

Road

Signs

Scenery

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this?

Overall Rating:

GPS Coordinates for Castle Rock

TH: 38.9961930°, -119.8966760° (38°59.77158′, -119°53.80056′ / 38°59’46.2948″, -119°53’48.0336″) (7,760ft.) (0.0)

Tahoe Rim Junction: 38.9969200°, -119.9036530° (38°59.81520′, -119°54.21918′ / 38°59’48.9120″, -119°54’13.1508″) (7,914ft.) (0.50)

Stinger Junction: 38.9968380°, -119.9075320° (38°59.81028′, -119°54.45192′ / 38°59’48.6168″, -119°54’27.1152″) (7,760ft.) (0.92)

Castle Rock Junction: 38.9914820°, -119.9044880° (38°59.48892′, -119°54.26928′ / 38°59’29.3352″, -119°54’16.1568″) (7,598ft.) (1.41)

Climber’s Trail Junction: 38.9904370°, -119.9064930° (38°59.42622′, -119°54.38958′ / 38°59’25.5732″, -119°54’23.3748″) (7,701ft.) (1.58)

Climber’s Trail Junction: 38.9898010°, -119.9078070° (38°59.38806′, -119°54.46842′ / 38°59’23.2836″, -119°54’28.1052″) (7,761ft.) (1.69)

Climber’s Trail Junction: 38.9903800°, -119.9084880° (38°59.42280′, -119°54.50928′ / 38°59’25.3680″, -119°54’30.5568″) (7,826ft.) (1.76)

Viewpoint: 38.9899890°, -119.9090780° (38°59.39934′, -119°54.54468′ / 38°59’23.9604″, -119°54’32.6808″) (7,813ft.) (1.84)

End: 38.9962360°, -119.8967270° (38°59.77416′, -119°53.80362′ / 38°59’46.4496″, -119°53’48.2172″) (7,761ft.) (3.48)

The gpx file for Castle Rock can be downloaded – please note that this and the GPS Coordinates are for reference only and should not be used as a sole resource when hiking this trail.

Download GPX File size: 49.3 KB Downloaded 16 times

(Note: I do my best to ensure that all downloads, the webpage, etc. are virus-free and accurate; however, I cannot be held responsible for any damage that might result, including but not limited to loss of data, damages to hardware, harm to users, from use of files, information, etc. from this website.  Thanks!)

Getting to Castle Rock

From the town of Stateline (northeast of South Lake Tahoe along US-50), head north (east) on US-50.  Turn right onto Kingsbury Grade Road.  After 2.8 miles, turn left onto N Benjamin Drive.  Follow the main road (which will change names to Andria Drive and then Castle Rock Road) for 1.8 miles to the trailhead, on the left just beyond the restrooms.

The turn onto Kingsbury Grade Road is also 11.7 miles south of where NV-28 and US-50 merge.

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