Mount Diablo Summit

Mount Diablo is the iconic landmark of the Tri-Valley area. It’s visible from most points in the community and can even be seen looking east from the Golden Gate Bridge.

source of photo

I love me some good mountain views and I’d been itching to get my hands on Mt. Diablo ever since we arrived. We spontaneously tried to make the drive up on the day Jonathan got his jeep, but Forest was a bit cranky and it cost $10 to enter the state park so we figured we’d try again another day when Forest was more well rested. 

That day presented itself this past Sunday. Our plan was to drive up close to the summit and then hike a portion of the summit trail up to the top. However, since Sunday was a beautiful Spring day, we were not the only ones with this idea. The road to the summit was steep, curvy, and back-logged with bicyclists. 

It was slow going. We stopped for photo ops twice on the way up and by the time we were close to the summit we’d been on the road for an hour. 

Because we spent so much time on the drive, we had to scratch the hiking plans and ended up parking about 500 yards below the top and hiking the rest. So technically, we did hike to the summit of Mt. Diablo. Just saying...

There is a nice observation deck at the summit for viewing the entire Bay Area. 

I was a bit spooked at first but overcame my fear of heights to take some photos and appreciate the view. 

The vistas were incredible. 

We were surrounded by the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and everywhere we turned were curvacious valleys and canyons. 

We could see the Bay Bridge and San Francisco to the west. The day was clear but not optimally so, so we couldn’t quite see the Golden Gate Bridge.  

We could see down to several well maintained hiking trails so hopefully we can go back and explore some of those as Forest gets a bit older and able to venture away from home for longer periods at a time. 

It’s a beautiful state park and definitely worth a gander if you’re visiting the Bay Area and have some extra time on your hands.