Castle Rock State Park
Map SatelliteCastle Rock State Park supports several plant communities, among them a redwood - Douglas fir forest in the canyons and on the wetter and less exposed canyon slopes. There is also, on the better drained slopes, a mixed evergreen forest with coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, madrone, Arbutus menziesii, and tan-oak, Lithocarpus densiflora. Chaparral and grassland are present.
Animal life is typical of the Santa Cruz Mountains. One of the few nesting sites of the black swift, Cypseloides niger, in Northern California, is in the park.
Of particular note are the bosses, bare, rounded, steep-sided knobs of bedrock that give the park its name. These are formed of Miocene (Oligocene?) Vaqueros formation sandstone.
Integrity: A portion of the redwoods is second-growth. The park is a wilderness park, with a minimum of development, primarily trails; thus, most of the area is relatively undisturbed.
Use: Research, educational, observational, present.
March 1978
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman