8 min
Overview
Mount Diablo, 35 miles east of San Francisco, is one of the most recognizable peaks in the Bay Area, with encompassing views of Northern California’s cities, parks, wilderness, waterways, and neighboring peaks for 100 miles in each direction from its 3,849-foot perch in the East Bay. Although you could drive to the summit, this challenging and strenuous loop hike climbs to it with stops at Eagle Peak, Twin Peaks, and Mitchell Rock on the return. You can even get an ice cream sandwich at the top! Straddling two climates—the Pacific Coast and Central Valley—and ranging in elevation between 300 feet to 3,849 feet, Mount Diablo State Park is a biological and geological marvel, with over 600 species of plants, 200 species of birds, and a melange of rocks dating back over 150 million years. Spring wildflowers, winter waterfalls, autumnal tarantulas in search of mates, peregrine falcons, cottontail rabbits, and 360-degree views from the summit are just a tiny sample of what the park has going for it. You could explore every inch of the 170 miles of trails within the nearly 20,000-acre Mount Diablo State Park and still find something new to see each season. Mount Diablo is part of a sisterhood of four developed peaks circling the San Francisco Bay; the others are Mount Tamalpais (2,571 feet), Mount Umunhum (3,486 feet), and Mount Hamilton (4,209 feet). You can drive to each on paved roads, but thankfully, for those of us craving steep ascents, you can hike to the summit of Mount Diablo, too. This counter-clockwise summit loop starts from the Mitchell Canyon trailhead, elevation 600 feet. It is a strenuous and rewarding “bottom-to-top” day hike that makes a great training hike for Mount Whitney, Half Dome, and mountaineering exploits. The 4100 feet elevation gain listed at the top takes into account the cumulative elevation climbed throughout the hike: every hill you climb, even on the way back down to the trailhead. Although the description for the loop is counter-clockwise, the scenery is stunning in the clockwise di
Trail Stats
22.5 km
1249 m
1175 m
181 m
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