Mount Diablo State Park

Mount Diablo has to be one of California’s coolest state parks. As the highest peak in the Bay area, it offers sweeping views from the top. From below, its triangular shape is a prominent feature of the landscape. It’s accessible: you can drive to the peak! But human-powered excursions offer the best of Mount Diablo State Park.

A dark grey cloud hangs low over the grassy, golden foothills of Mount Diablo State Park.
A storm brews beyond the golden hills of Mount Diablo State Park

After a couple of inspiring drive-bys (and one drive-up!), we set our sights on Mt. Diablo in fall 2015. Not satisfied with one simple summit, we planned a route that would take us to five! Our quintuple peak extravaganza would allow us to explore this new state park to the max.

A portrait of the author seated atop one of the Twin Peak summits. She's wearing a matching purple headband and tank top, and is in a seated pose, twisted towards the camera. Sweeping views of the golden hills and treed suburbs of the northern Bay Area spread out behind her.
To the top!

True to form, we parked the adventure mobile before dawn the day of our hike – and waited out a brightening of the sky from its comfy confines. We began our exploration of Mount Diablo State Park under indigo skies, in temperatures so fresh we could see our breath.

A bird is silhouetted against the pale early morning light. It's rounded form and pointed beak distinguish it from leaves of a similar size and blackness nearby.

As we began the approach, birds awoke in the treetops and started to sing. Slowly but surely, the colors of the park emerged. Grass was everywhere, glowing warmly at first light. There were ashy, green-grey leaves on certain trees, and others with surprisingly red wood!

The dark red wood of these young manzanita trees is striking against their pale green leaves.

Our first peak of the day was my favorite! Mount Olympia had a little geocaching logbook that I felt too shy to sign – but bold enough to examine! The summit offered us our first views, and thus, was the perfect place to snap and snack!

Kent squats low on the ground in front of the Mount Olympia summit post. He's eating a sandwich and gazing off into the distance. A blue Brandon University backpack is in the dirt at his feet.
Snack!
The author strikes a playful pose, leaning on the Mount Olympia summit post, with one leg kicked up and back behind her.
Snap!

When we eventually moved on, it was high on the mountain. Although our trail didn’t stick to the ridge, it nonetheless offered stupendous views of the surrounding area. I was really struck by the color of the long grasses as the sun rose overhead: it reminded me of harvest-ready wheat. Easy to see why they call California the land of the golden hills!

Gold-colored grass carpets the Mount Diablo ridge. The foliage of the trees scattered here and there appears a very dark green, almost black, against this yellow background!

North Peak offered an unexpected diversion and contrast to the wildness of Mount Olympia. This, like many peaks we’ve played with in Korea, is a working peak! But unlike Korea, where military use may limit access, this peak had no barriers. We climbed right up to the antennae and stood beneath them. Wouldn’t it be interesting work to know how to build and maintain these mountain-top structures?

In this selfie captured from along the ridge in Mount Diablo State Park, both the author and her husband look into the lens. He has his arm wrapped around her shoulder, and both are wearing backpacks. Beyond the pair, golden hills ripple outward toward the horizon, where the bay is hazy in the distance.

Heading back into nature on the trail, we got super lucky with a new animal encounter! Mount Diablo State Park is home to a unique tarantula species – and we ran into one, right on the trail! Apparently our visit coincided with the mating season, so our lad must have been out looking for love!

Here, a large male tarantula is ambling along the same path as the author! In this close-up, it's difficult to tell his size (approximately that of a fist!) but we can see his interesting hairy body and jointed legs.

Shortly thereafter, we reached the crown jewel of our hike – the central peak and summit of Mount Diablo itself. Here, we stopped to laugh over how we’d once driven up in a matter of minutes – and took a break from our hours-long hike for a browse around the museum. Staffed by friendly volunteers and full of interesting information on flora, fauna and land survey history, it’s well-worth a stop!

A metallic memorial plaque marks the cardinal directions within Mount Diablo State Park.

But ours wasn’t extended, because we still had two more peaks to visit! As we continued, our trail took us out into an open area above a valley. As we hiked down the broad dirt track, a predatory bird swooped low enough to ruffle my hair and cast a deep shadow over my path. Too shocked to capture an image of this would-be attacker, I shrieked and ran for Kent.

The author does an exaggerated running step on a broad gravel road near the top of Mount Diablo. This is near the area where a large bird swooped down at her, perhaps mistaking her for prey - or protecting a nest!
Playful. Preyful?

Senses soon recovered, I stopped acting like a prey animal and carried on. We reached Eagle Peak without further incident – eagle-related or otherwise! We also took in the views from nearby Twin Peaks as we celebrated a successful, five summit hike in Mount Diablo State Park!

A classic KnC summit selfie! The author leans against the Eagle Peak summit post in the background, while Kent grins into the camera in the foreground. The nearer hills appear a chocolate brown color, while the more distant hills are yellow in the sunlight.

Although there were plenty more trails to play with, that marked the end of the peaks. So down we went, towards the car which we could just make out far below.

A zoomed in image of the adventure mobile. It's parked on a suburban street. The author's trail cuts through the bottom of the image, leading to the street!
Spot our SUV!

Going down can be hard if you just want to stay in the mountains forever. But you can make it fun by making it speedy! We zipped through our descent, but we still took time for every vista point that came up.

In this very sunny selfie, the author can't keep her eyes open, and Kent looks especially tan. Taken in Mount Diablo State Park.

Crossing a flat expanse of prairie as we began to close our big loop, we felt eyes watching us from the long grass. Sure enough, there were deer hidden in there! We were transported: suddenly we were on safari, and so we lingered, watching their graceful movements as they sought out shade and fresh food.

A deer pokes it's head up above the long grass, startled. It's large eyes and ears appear to point directly at the viewer!
Another look at the pair of deer the author spotted in Mount Diablo State Park. The doe peers over her shoulder, fixing the author with her intense gaze. Her fawn faces forward, but an ear flicked back betrays its interest.

This happy hike wound up being the last of our US adventures on that 2015 trip! The following day, we were off to Korea for round three. As hard as it was to say goodbye to California, I was grateful that we’d gotten to do so much great exploration. And our day on Mount Diablo State Park was among the highlights!


Up for a challenge? Climb the five peaks of Mount Diablo State Park! Hiking and running here is terrific! If you’re a cyclist, another great challenge is biking up the mountain! Learn more about your options here – and explore other California state parks here! Happy trails to you!

In this final image, the author half-sits perched on a high ridge, on the ground below a curving tree branch. She's got her hands full of a snack, but she's facing out towards the amazing view.

2 thoughts on “Mount Diablo State Park”

    • Hi Don!
      There are so many species: deerweed, tarweed, ragwort…
      But the primary reason the hills look golden in these images is because we were there in the late fall, when all the nonnative grasses have gone to seed. It’s a dry climate during a particularly dry time of the year.

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