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 Reporter |
Summary: This is a so-called "secret" hike. Although from the number of footprints and people signing the register, one might wonder just how such a "secret" got to be so publicized. Patty Furbush mentions the castle in her book, but she does not mention the route to get there. I found it by looking at the topo maps - it is clearly marked. Then I used my GPS and plotted some waypoints. I then looked online and confirmed my suspicions. No one posts clear directions or GPS coordinates, but they do give directions to the parking area and a general idea of the route. I will not divulge specifics either, but leave it to you to find this "secret" for yourself. Please leave it the way you found it. This magnificent piece of history has existed in the desert for 60+ years, and as someone on a blog put it, "This isn't the kind of place you want all of Southern California to go to!" If you go and can not find it, I would be happy to help out, but I will not give out specifics. Trailhead: Do not attempt this trip if you do not have good route finding skills, good map and compass skills and/or a GPS. Although, I wouldn't have needed any of these to get there, it was easy to follow, just take precautions. It could be easy to get turned around in canyons. Drive 4 miles east of Chiriaco Summit and exit Hayfield Road. Make a left and head toward the mountains. At 1.1 miles, turn slightly left onto a bumpy dirt road marked by a sign that says "Private." Follow for 1.7 miles, turn left at the fork and at .1 miles there is a parking area on your right. Follow the wash along the mountainside. Follow it past the first canyon and turn right into the second larger canyon at 1.2 miles. There were ample footprints to follow on my trip. Most of the difficult decisions were ducked. I thought about knocking them down, but I didn't. Take the easy way and follow the footprints. To the north is a road and a mine. I looked but did not find Carey's Cave. (Lat:33.69935 Lon:-115.67862) Trail Guides for Joshua Tree NP - Careys Castle: On Foot in Joshua Tree National Park by Patty A. Furbush (M.I. Adventure Publications) Best Seasons: Winter, User Groups: Hikers, Ranger Contact: Joshua Tree National Park (760)367-5500 Localhikes Reporter: This hike was submitted by Allen Riedel, who has posted 123 other hikes on this site. To visit this reporters web site, click here. Trail Reviews Page 1 of 4 Submit your own review 
Reviewed by Maire on 2/15/2012 If you don't have a good map and/or GPS, be cautioned! My niece and I tried this hike twice in March 2011. Our first attempt we were mislead by fake cairns people had placed along the trail. Don't trust the markers you see. Follow your map/GPS. Our second attempt, we had better maps with the trail distinctly marked. Even so, the hike is still challenging. Don't trust the footprints as mentioned in the original post because a lot of people head in the wrong direction and then back track creating false leads. Marching in the sand makes this hike very challenging. There are also several points where you will do some significant boulder hopping, so be prepared. Bring plenty of water or Gatorade. You'll need it! 
Reviewed by Dnalsi on 2/28/2011 Hiked this 022711. Found good GPS map/coords on line and overlayed that with Google Earth then chose waypoints just past the forks so the GPS guided us the correct way at each fork. At the 3rd fork - right fork - the boulders look impassable and you are tempted to go left. Don't. Trust your GPS. GPS track (Garmin 60CSx) showed an 8.6 mile hike to the Castle and mine from the parking area and back. Sand was tiresome. Lots more boulder scrambling than I thought there would be. Avoid the cholla cactus. We had some stuck into the soles of our hiking boots. Used a knife to scrape them off. Nasty. Great hike on a perfect day. 
Reviewed by Chris V on 4/7/2010 We made the trek to Carey's Castle yesterday. There were 4 of us on this trip. My son brought a friend this time, all had a good time. We went to visit the mine and explored the are a little more thouroughly to see if we could find the "cave". My son and his friend saw the resident rat who stole one of their Cliff Bars. We were all tired at the end of the day. Does anyone know the GPS coordinates to the "corral"? I would like to see what it looks like.
Reviewed by JR on 2/21/2010 Made our second trip back to the Castle yesterday, took a much smaller group but enjoyed it just as much. Definitely one of our fav. hikes, I personally would score it as easy for the average hiker. We did however make one wrong turn thanks to some joker stacking misleading Cairns, not too funny when I have my two kids with me. Would love it if somebody would give up some of these GPS locs. for the corral and the cave if they exist, we scouted around for about an hour and found some really neat rock formations but that was about it. Visited the mine, all and all we did the hike in five hours.
Reviewed by Sporkbunny on 10/12/2009 I luv canyon hikes and scrambling. I'd compare this hike to the one to Goat Canyon Trestle in Carizzo Gorge, or to an extended version of Borrego Palm Canyon in Anza Borrego. It was helpful to have a GPS just to confirm that we were following the right footprints, but there were so many that it was pretty hard to take a wrong turn. The trickiest part of the navigation is the last right turn up a small fork near the top of the canyon, about .1 miles before the destination. Skip the trekking poles, there is lots of scrambling and they just get in the way. The Caste is super cool as is the mine. Both are very close together.
Reviewed by Chris on 4/8/2009 I made the trip to Carey's Castle again yesterday with a friend and my 11 year old son. We made one wrong turn, but corrected our mistake and made it to the Castle. My son did well on the hike. All three of us were tired, but had a great time while at the Castle. We will be going back soon.
Reviewed by Bruno again on 3/10/2009 Ok, 3rd try :). Hiked this on Sunday 3/8. Overall, the 'trail' is pretty well marked by ducks. However, at one fork we went left instead of right, which brought us somewhere east of the mine. From there, we went cross-country to the mine and continued on to the castle. Bringing a GPS + compass as backup really helps. For a good hiker, I would rate this easy to moderate. The scenery is pretty good, although not the best in J Tree. Bring good hiking boots and no sandals since that would be a nightmare with all the sand/gravel. We also carried out a bunch of trash. If you feel the need to drop several water bottles along the trail, I've got news for you: camelbak, get one!! Oh, and don't run into a cactus (guess how I know, ouch
Reviewed by Th G, Jacky-B on 3/9/2009 First, let me start off by saying this trail is amazing. It was quiet a work out, but the views made it worth it. The trail was pretty easy to follow, there were lots of footprints. Make sure you head into the second big canyon, not the third or first! Once on the trail, look out for "zen rock formations" across the trail. These really help to mark the trail. When it comes to a fork in the trail (as it often does) look around for these rock formations and other rocks clues on which way to go. Some forks are even marked with a straight line of rocks across it, clearly telling you not to take this route of the fork, but the other one. I did this hike with five other people, all new to this. Warning: When on mushrooms. Notice: Traveling in the backcountry can be hazardous. You are responsible for informing yourself about these hazards and taking necessary precautions. Information on this web site comes from volunteer reporters and may contain errors or omissions. A current guidebook and proper equipment are essential for safe enjoyment of the hikes posted on this site. Keys: California Hiking, California Trails, California Hikes, Riverside County Hiking, Riverside County Trails, Riverside County Hikes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
