Castle Rock parks, recreation launch dedicated Facebook page

Castle Rock Parks and Recreation has carved out a dedicated Facebook page, @CRParksRec, to push trail notices, program updates and facility information into one place instead of routing residents through the town’s main social media feeds.

The new page, announced Monday, is aimed at the kind of day-to-day details that matter most to people using Castle Rock’s parks system: camp updates, class information, trail details, seasonal highlights, registration reminders, project updates and community-event notices. The town said the separate channel should make information easier to find and more tailored to the department’s workload, which stretches across parks, trails, recreation programs, arts and enrichment classes, and other public amenities.

That workload is large. Castle Rock says its Parks and Recreation Department was established in 1977, when the town served about 2,000 people. Today, official town pages say more than 85,000 residents use a system that includes more than 130 miles of trails, more than 60 parks and more than 6,900 acres of open space. The department also manages 55 full-time employees and 500 part-time workers on a nearly $20 million annual operating budget.

The move comes as the town enters its summer recreation season. Castle Rock tied the page launch to a giveaway: residents who followed @CRParksRec on Facebook before Monday, June 1, were entered to win one of five prizes, each consisting of two season lawn passes for the 2026 Summer Concert Series. The series is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and runs from June 26 through Aug. 29 at the Amphitheater at Philip S. Miller Park. TicketWeb is the only official place to buy concert tickets.

The new account also reflects the role parks and recreation plays inside Town Hall. Jeff Brauer, the department’s director, has spent more than 30 years in parks and recreation and more than two decades in Castle Rock. The town said he received the Colorado Parks and Recreation Association’s 2025 Fellow Award and helped guide projects including Philip S. Miller Park, the Miller Activity Complex, Festival Park, Deputy Zack S. Parrish III Memorial Park, Metzler Family Open Space, Butterfield Crossing Park, Possibilities Playground, the Cantril School arts hub, the Colorado Front Range Trail, Lost Canyon Ranch Open Space and the Castle Rock Sports Center.

Castle Rock already uses Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn for townwide updates, and the parks department has its own news-and-updates tools for event notifications and trail closure alerts. The new page suggests a broader shift toward more direct, specialized communication, especially for residents who want timely information about what is open, what is changing and what is next in the town’s growing parks system.