Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Castle Rock, WA

Castle Rock is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, between the Willapa Hills and the western base of Mount St. Helens, in the heart of Washington timber country.

The city is named for "The Rock," a castle-like volcanic rock outcropping rising about 190 feet over the Cowlitz River on the south side of town, a landmark recorded by Cowlitz Indians and Hudson's Bay Company traders as early as 1832 and now the site of The Rock Community Park.

Castle Rock is centered on the donation land claim of Eliza and William Huntington, who settled at the location in 1852.

The city was platted on December 12, 1888, and incorporated on June 20, 1890, after an incorporation election that passed 136 to 1.

Castle Rock prospered as a Cowlitz River steamboat port and trading center for valley farms, and its local sawmill was the first to produce cedar shingles from the region's abundant western red cedar.

The 2020 census counted 2,446 people and 933 households in Castle Rock, a 23.4 percent increase from the 1,982 people counted in 2010.

Castle Rock is the northernmost city in Cowlitz County, sits between the Cowlitz River and Interstate 5 about a mile south of the confluence of the Cowlitz and Toutle rivers, and is part of the Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Castle Rock is a self-styled "Gateway to Mount St. Helens": Spirit Lake Memorial Highway (State Route 504) runs from Interstate 5 Exit 49 at Castle Rock to the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

When Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, mudflows raced down the Toutle River forks and joined the Cowlitz River near Castle Rock, and sediment from the eruption cut the Cowlitz River's flood-carrying capacity at Castle Rock from about 76,000 cubic feet per second to under 15,000.

The city's Riverfront Trail runs along both banks of the Cowlitz River past Lions Pride Park and The Rock Community Park to the Castle Rock Sports Complex.