Hiking - Castlewood Canyon State Park - 13 mile hike to explore the canyon

It's been years since I hiked Castlewood Canyon, but it should be an amazing fall colors hike.

https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/CastlewoodCanyon

With numerous marked photo spots, the changing leaves, and the east side still open, early October feels like an ideal time to explore.

https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/CastlewoodCanyon/Documents/Castlewood-TrailMap.pdf

There are 13 miles of trails. I'm not sure if we'll hike everything, but I would like to hike the east side since I've never been there, and to go up to some of the archeological areas. I think we might be close to 12 or 13 miles depending. I suspect there will be some great photo opportunities in addition to just exploring a neat park. Vibe is there might be some rock art, especially near some of the occupation sites, but I don't know what is open access vs what could be restricted. I love rock art, but also respect if access is prohibited.

The park opens at sunrise, which will be 7:01am. Plan is to meet 7ish near the Visitors Center, the gates may still be closed until a few minutes later but should let us in near 7am. We'll start hiking down trails at 7:15am.

You'll want normal hiking gear, hat, water, sunscreen, etc.

I prefer to hike without pets or children.

Group size is limited to 6 people, and RSVP's will close a day before the hike. That just keeps things easier for me.

If anyone wants to grab food after the hike, lemme know. I'm leaning towards visiting Total Vegan Indian on the way back to town: https://www.totalveganhighlandsranch.com