Mount Diablo Knobcone Point Road

Summary: This is a beautiful ridge hike about 3 miles total in and out on Knobcone Point Road with amazing views. This was a beautiful day, and we even saw a coyote near the Rock City parking lot.

Map: Go to the Mount Diablo State Park website for the location and driving directions. There is a trail map in the park brochure.

Pictures: (To see bigger pics at your own pace, and to read the captions, just click on the slideshow once it's playing. The Picasa album will open in a new tab/window)

Story: It was a beautiful Spring day, and we wanted to get out of the house. Mount Diablo is an easy choice for us, because it is huge and beautiful. This time of year, the hikes are cool, the hills are green, and there are wildflowers. We saw Indian Paintbrush and Baby Blue Eyes.

There is a $10 per car entrance fee, and it includes a brochure with the map. If you want to visit the park without paying, you can park outside of the entrance, and hike in. Just get the trail map from the web. We entered the park via the South Gate, and the best place to park for this hike is at Curry Point (see the link to the brochure under maps above). We parked at Rock City because we didn't know any better. But I'm glad we did because that's where we say a coyote as we were leaving.

The reason for choosing this hike was because we were in the mood for a short hike, without a lot of hills, and the attraction of Balancing Rock. We decided it should be renamed, Rock Outcrop. It is a non-event, and if it weren't signposted you'd never recognize it. But it is a beautiful hike, with amazing views.

A couple of times mountain bikers blasted by us way to fast, and one skidding nearly out of control. It's a consideration. They are allowed on this trail, and none of the mountain bikers we saw observed any courtesies such as calling out their presence, or slowing down as they pass hikers. Keep an eye on your little ones. You can hear the bikes coming. They sound like a car.

Samuel P Taylor - Devil's Gulch Hike

Summary: This is a nice hike with lots of gorgeous scenery in Marin's Samuel P. Taylor State Park, and we saw a bobcat.

Map: (Click on the map to interact with it.)

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Story: This hike was organized by a friend and I'm grateful to have been turned on to a new place. In the first mile of the hike, there were calls from the front of the pack that they spotted a mountain lion. Halfway up the hill from us, there appeared to be a crouching cat. I've never seen a mountain lion in the wild, and I was pretty excited. It appeared to me that it might be a log, but someone in our group said that they saw it move, so... I took a few steps closer to it to get a look, still more than 100 feet away, while my friends told me I was on my own. I could clearly make out the eye markings of a bobcat. Without disturbing the cat, I returned to the fire road. After I reported my findings, it was not a log, not a mountain lion, but a bobcat, a bicyclist ran up the hill at the cat, and chased it off. Our group was very critical of the cyclist. His motive might have been to protect his small children who were with him.

We reached the end of Devils Gulch Road which ends in a barbed wire fence. Someone said the property owner is known for shooting trespassers with Rock Salt. That's good enough for me. :) For a trail map, click on the park link in the summary, then click on brochure. The trail map is in the brochure (pdf).

We took a parallel trail back to the bridge, and crossed the river. After a short way, Bill's trail branches to the falls. Half our group headed for the falls, and the rest of us headed uphill to Barnabe's Peak. This is a very nice trail with views of the hills through the trees, nice mushrooms and fungus this time of year (Winter), and mossy switchbacks. Please don't cut trails, it is not cool.

At the top of Bill's Trail is Barnabe Road. This is where our gang stopped for lunch. I hoofed it alone up the road to Barnabe Peak where there is an old fire lookout tower. It's a nice view over the other side toward Kent Lake.

We hiked on down, and back to the cars, with lots of nice views and fresh air. I would definitely recommend this easy hike.

Pictures: (To see bigger pics at your own pace, and to read the captions, just click on the slideshow once it's playing. The Picasa album will open in a new tab/window)

Black Diamond Mines Winter Hike

Summary: A friend of mine arranged this hike to Black Diamond Mines and several of us parked at the second lot, climbed the Stewartville Trail and headed via Corcoran Mine Trail to the Prospect Tunnel. You can go into the tunnel for 200 feet, and it gets very dark. We returned via the Stewartville Trail, making a partial loop. It was a beautiful day. We took a lot of pictures.


Map: (Click on the map to interact with it.)

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Pictures: (To see bigger pics at your own pace, and to read the captions, just click on the slideshow once it's playing. The Picasa album will open in a new tab/window)


The Story: This was a beautiful crisp Winter day after weeks of rain. The hills were green and lush. We know in a couple of months, we will come back for the wildflowers. We plan to do a mine tour at the same time as that next visit. You should be warned that if you come soon after a rain, you should expect lots of mud to slog through. Cattle graze freely in this park and they are no trouble, but they trample the trails when they're muddy, and it becomes quite messy.

We hiked up Stewartville Trail, to the Ridge Trail. Along the Ridge Trail there are rocks that stick up out of the grass, and make a great place to take pictures and have lunch. That's where we had our lunch. Then we hiked down Corcoran Mine Trail and made a left at the bottom where it meets up again with the

Stewartville Trail.

To get to the Prospect Tunnel, keep your eye out for a small trail that branches to the left after a rock quarry. It's a short distance to the tunnel. I was expecting it to be cold in there, but it felt very warm in the tunnel. It is dark in there, and there is a low ceiling. If you bring a flashlight, you will be able to see the crystals that grow from the ceiling in the tunnel.

Then we took the Stewartville Trail, which takes us all the way back to the start. At the parking lot, there was a ranger showing people a gopher snake. The kids were allowed to hold it, and it was a great learning experience.

There's a lot to see in this park, and all I can say is check out the pictures then plan your own hike out there.