the Castlewood Dam ruins

December 12, 2019

On a recent trip to Castlewood Canyon State Park, Vincent and I are standing at the base of the Castlewood Dam ruins, staring up at a crumbling stone levee that once (and ultimately unsuccessfully) contained a massive irrigation reservoir. There’s a buck standing tall on ridge overhead, the last bit of ambient light is seeping out of the canyon, and we’re staring at an absolutely creepy drain pipe opening that looks right out of Stephen King’s IT. 

And apart from my numb fingers fumbling with the buttons on my remote flash trigger (aka PocketWizards for the photo nerds out there), my classically tangential brain can’t help but envision the epic swell of water that suddenly roared from behind this towering levee 86 long years ago.

It doesn’t sound like it was ever much of a proper barrier. Of stone mason construction and built in 1890, there are numerous historical articles documenting long-raised questions around its stability. 

And then very early on August 3, 1933 after a multiple days of excessive rain, that was it. Crested by rising waters, this 600-foot-long, 70-foot-long craggy structure failed, sending a crushing wave of water into Denver 40 miles to the northwest causing two fatalities and $1 million in damage. And that’s in 1933 dollars. 

A photo gallery documenting the flooding and its destruction can be viewed in this article on the Denver Public Library website here.

Today it’s a much different place. Since becoming a state park in 1964 and expanding to nearly 900 acres in the 1970s, hiking trails spread out and flank both sides of the dam ruins while the quiet trickle of Cherry Creek threads the division between. 

And while it seems to be a relatively popular destination—I’ve been here at least half a dozen times, and never once have I been alone—it still feels tame in comparison to similar hikes within driving distance of Denver. Not that this hike is really similar to any other. In my opinion, it’s far more curious than most, and it’s remains one of Colorado’s must-see hidden gems.

Happy exploring!

Note: The two photographs above were taken from vastly different vantage points, yet they help provide somewhat of a scale for not only how much water the reservoir held, but also how differently things look today post-collapse.