Welcome!
My name is Jill Rosenberger and I am currently trying to finish up my degree in Geography at the University of Colorado Denver.
When we were asked to focus on a location and pick apart its physical attributes, I immediately thought of a place that has been to dear to me for many years. Castlewood Canyon is a state park south on highway 83 (better known as Parker Road). Castlewood Canyon lies just a few minutes from where I grew up and where I graduated from Ponderosa High School. It was the place to be for high school students who had found their way off campus for the day. We recklessly climbed the boulders, sat atop the historic broken dam, and peered into small caves. Castlewood Canyon was a haven for us because it was an unbelievable scar in the land and it bore natural treasures that I still find when I hike there today.
I still frequent Castlewood ,as we fondly call it, as much as I have time for. I am a little more cautious about the obvious dangers it presents (rattlesnakes, long falls, jagged rocks) but I am also a little more knowledgeable about the history of the canyon. I recently did a research paper about the environmental history of this ancient place and it provided me with loads of interesting information regarding its human history. From family groups in a wooded landscape to pioneers of the west, what was once Wildcat Canyon has played a colorful role in the lives of humans who have lived in this region. The research gave me names and dates for the formations that created Castlewood Canyon, but I am excited to learn more about what they mean, which volcanoes they were spewed from, and how its physical features ultimately define its natural beauty.
