# Castle Rock (the butte)

- URL: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/castle-rock-the-butte/
- Also known as: Rock Park
- Kind: Landmark rocks, buttes and mountains
- Status: Living today
- County: Douglas County, Colorado
- Point: 39.3788, -104.8558 (USGS GNIS point for the feature itself (a few hundred feet))

- Updated: 2026-10-07

## What we know

The castle-shaped butte just north of downtown that named the town (Wikipedia, 'Castle Rock, Colorado,' S-0150). The 1820 Long expedition's 'Castle Rock' was a different landmark, Elephant Rock near Palmer Lake (McFarling in Sabin, S-0019). A star was built on top in 1936 by Works Progress Administration labor and lit each winter from 1936 to 1941, dark during the war, turned into a 'V' on Aug. 14, 1945, and lit every season since (S-0150). Who gave the town the rock is not settled: Wikipedia says the land came by donation in 1936; a Larkspur Historical Society binder says Herb Stewart and his three brothers sold the 'Rock' and 20 surrounding acres to the town for a token $200 in 1947, after their father G. P. Stewart's death in 1943; it is now Rock Park (S-0005, Perry Park binder p. 356).

## Where it was

USGS GNIS summit 'Castle Rock', Douglas County (2021 Colorado file, S-0007). Good to a few hundred feet.

## Sources

- S-0005: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0005
- S-0006: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0006
- S-0007: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0007
- S-0019: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0019
- S-0048: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0048
- S-0073: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0073
- S-0150: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0150

## Nearby

- [Douglas County High School (1910)](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/douglas-county-high-school-1910/): 0.3 mi southwest
- [Christ's Episcopal Church](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/christs-episcopal-church/): 0.4 mi south
- [Cantril School](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/cantril-school/): 0.4 mi south
- [Keystone Hotel](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/keystone-hotel/): 0.4 mi southwest
- [Castle Rock Rio Grande depot](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/castle-rock-rio-grande-depot/): 0.4 mi south
- [Castle Rock](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/castle-rock/): 0.5 mi south

Source numbers (S-0000) refer to https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/. Compiled by Michael Christensen for Palmer Divide Research; CC BY 4.0.