Known as the gateway to Mount St. Helens, Castle Rock, Washington is situated between the Cowlitz River and Interstate 5, located 134 miles south of Seattle and 63 miles north of Portland, Oregon. It is the northern most city in Cowlitz County, with a population of 2,120. Spirit Lake Memorial Highway (State Route 504) connects the city to the Mount St. Helens Monument and Spirit Lake recreation areas – two of the most outstanding tourist attractions in Washington State. The town’s namesake, a 190-foot-high rock, was a landmark for Cowlitz Indians and Hudson’s Bay Company traders as early as 1832. Castle Rock prospered as a Cowlitz River steamboat port and trading center for valley farms. A local sawmill was the first to produce cedar shingles, using the Western red cedar, which grows in abundance in the region.
Fo many years, the City of Castle Rock, Washington, has held the distinction of being designated a Proven Winners Signature City, and in 2022 the gardens on the site of the city’s Visitor Information Center, entering the city off of Interstate 5, were officially honored with a Proven Winners Signature Garden designation. The Garden, created and maintained by the city’s award-winning Bloom Team, includes a collection of many new Proven Winners® shrub and perennial introductions. And each spring, hanging baskets and containers, filled with Proven Winners® newest annual introductions, grown by students in the city’s high school greenhouses, complement the grounds and welcome visitors.
Click here to see the 2021 Proven Winners Signature Garden Brochure
Download the City of Castle Rock’s 2024 Proven Winners Signature Garden Brochure
Download the City of Castle Rock’s 2023 Proven Winners Signature Garden Brochure