U.S Mountains - Route Descriptions

Mt. Diablo, 1172m (3,849ft)
Mt. Diablo North Peak, 1084m (3,557ft)
Eagle Peak, 722m (2,369ft)

Mountain area :	Diablo Range, California USA
Map :	Trail map of Mount Diablo State Park (Mt. Diablo Interpretive Association)
Books :	California County Summits (Gary Suttle)
Primary Factor:	Mt. Diablo: >800m (est.) Eylar Mountain
Primary Factor:	North Peak: >181m (est.) Mt. Diablo
Primary Factor:	Eagle Peak: >88m (est.) Mt. Diablo
Hiked :	Mt. Diablo (Nov 99,Mar 00) North Peak (Mar 00,Jul 00) Eagle (Nov 99)

Mt. Diablo in the horizon,
Seen from Las Trampas

Introduction

Mt. Diablo is the highest point in the Contra Costa county. The book "California County Summits" by Gary Suttle says about the view:

"Mount Diablo's viewshed sweeps over 40,000 square miles. Only the view from Africa's 19,000 foot Mount Kilimanjaro takes in greater area".

Trail descriptions:

A number of trails will take you to the summit of Mt. Diablo. I will describe my favourite trail, well hidden from cars driving almost to the top. Refer to the above book (or other litterature) for alternative trails.

Clayton - Prospectors Road - North Peak - Mt. Diablo trail (summer)

Difficulty : Low

Risk : Low

Distance :

Time : 2-4 hours to the summit

Starting Elev.:

Click for larger map
Click for Interactive map

Access:
From the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area, locate I680 north-east. At Walnut Creek, take the Ygnacio Valley Road exit. Follow Ygnacio through the north side of Walnut Creek and pass the Lime Ridge Recr. Area (on your right) before Ygnacio turns east and then north-east and meets Clayton Road.
Go right on Clayton which turns into Marsh Creek Road after Mt. Diablo Elem. School. Nearby the city of Clayton Open Space, exit right onto Regency Drive. Follow Regency until the end of the road and find parking.

Eagle Peak:
Ref. Mt. Diablo trail: To get to Eagle Peak, on return from Mt. Diablo, instead of hiking down the Middle Trail, continue on Prospectors Gap Road until it intersects with Eagle Peak Trail. Follow this trail to the summit.
To hike Eagle Peak separately (ref. access to Mt. Diablo), exit onto Mitchell Canyon Road from Clayton Road, just before Mt. Diablo Elem. School. Drive to the Ranger Station and hike the Mitchell Rock Trail up to Eagle Peak.
Use the topographic map above, scroll north-west and locate Eagle Peak.

The trail:
From the trailhead, head south-east on the Donner Canyon Road. The trail is wide, but can be quite muddy. At Cardinet, the trail takes a sharp right turn. Just after the turn, find a trail going up to your left (if you go straight ahead, you'll come to Meridian Point, which is a detour).
Now you are on the Middle Trail which will merge with the Prospectors Gap Road. This road takes you to Prospectors Gap, which is the saddle between North Peak and Mt. Diablo. This is a good time to hike up the North Peak Road to the summit of North Peak.
Back at Prospectors Gap, follow the North Peak trail around Devil's Pulpit. Continue west on the trail, and you will end up on the Summit Road (where cars can drive up to), next to Devil's Elbow. Head straight up north towards the summit from here.