Acid Castle Rocks

The Acid Castle Rocks are a collection of large boulders on a hillside above Lithia Park. It’s view-tastic! A great scramble! And about 1 mile out and back. Or explore from Granite Street and make it a 6 mile web of exploration along the Eastside TID!

Driving – A 2 minute drive from Ashland Plaza. Take Windburn Way along Lithia Park and quickly turn right on Nutley. You’ll head up a steep hill and will turn left towards the top on Alnut. Alnut hits Strawberry Lane and you’ll turn right there. The next left is Hitt Road… Take it! There are two parking bays on the right and, depending upon how the new home construction is going up there, a dirt spur road on your left. -OR- Drive straight up Windburn Way and just past the 2nd duck pond turn left into the lot just before Windburn Way hits Granite Street.

Parking – Pull into the spur road at the top of Hitt Road if you can. There is only room for 3 or 4 cars so park politely. -OR- Park in the lot above the 2nd duck pond like I said above!

The Adventure – The Acid Castle Rocks are a short hike to fantastic views. Some prefer to call them the “Castle Boulders” but that diminishes the fact that many people come up here to smoke and drink (and possibly drop acid) and check out the views of the park and city below. Don’t fret, during the day there are families and dogs and children so it’s not a den of crime.

The boulders can be tricky. If you’re clumsy or really stoned, you could fall and break your neck – probably why this area isn’t on any legitimate map.Until last year when the city of Ashland bought the land!

So you can take the path from the end of the spur road parking for about 200 yards to the base of the boulders. Or – you can walk up Hitt Road until it becomes dirt. There is another trail right there that heads down to the Acid Castles. OR… you can continue walking up Hitt Road for about a half mile and if you are paying attention, you’ll see the trail to the boulders off to your left. About 1 mile below the beginning of Fell on Knee trail.

There are a number of confusing trails that head from the Castle Boulders further into the woods and downhill. Some are used by the local hippies to pitch some illegal campsites, and some are used by the local mountain bikers to carve some illegal biking, and some are used by local hikers to connect to the TID trail – mostly legal.

Hiking up from Lithia Park – The Hart’s Trail begins as a driveway up from Granite Street but you will quickly see the signage to the left. A couple hundred yards uphill and you are on the TID trail. Left is a dead end, so turn right. As you follow the TID (full of water May to Sept on a good year) the trail that heads uphill connects to the Acid Castles area. You will see the Granite Street trail on your right and that connects back down to Lithia Park.

In less than a mile you will hit Strawberry Lane. Many like to park right here for trail access. Continue forward and notice the trail has become a wide fire road. This mile long section ends at Glenview Road. Along the way 2 trails head uphill to the Hald Strawberry Trails and there are 2 trails that connect downhill to the local neighborhoods. Take all, or none, of these extra trails just pick up your dog poop bags. Why do people leave those? Crazy rude, right?