Mount Diablo Summit Road

Driving

by Plot Along: Pacific

The drive up Mount Diablo, the East Bay's signature mountain, from the Northgate entrance near Walnut Creek over the 3,849-foot summit and down the Southgate side past Rock City to Danville. About 20 miles of paved scenic road inside Mount Diablo State Park.

The summit is famous for the largest viewshed of any peak in North America after Mt Kilimanjaro. On clear winter mornings the view spans from the Sierra Nevada crest 150 miles east to the Farallon Islands 25 miles west of San Francisco, taking in something like 40 of California's 58 counties. The lower museum / observation deck at the summit was built by the CCC in 1939 from honeycomb-weathered Diablo sandstone quarried on site.

The summit road is open year-round during daylight hours, weather permitting. Snow closures happen a few days each winter; fire-danger closures occasionally in late summer. Both gates charge a per-vehicle day-use fee.

Learn more: parks.ca.gov

Old Borges Ranch
Historic 1900s working ranch at the NW corner of the park near the Northgate entrance. Interpretive farmstead with original ranchhouse, barn, blacksmith shop, and live ranch animals. Park staff demonstrate ranch life on weekends.
Junction Ranger Station
The point where North Gate Road and South Gate Road merge into Summit Road. Picnic tables, restrooms, and the trailhead for several backcountry hikes. From here the road becomes a steep, twisty 4.5-mile climb to the summit.
Mount Diablo Summit
3,849-foot summit with the CCC-built sandstone observation tower (the "Lower Museum") at its base. Famed for the largest viewshed of any peak in North America after Kilimanjaro. On clear winter mornings the view spans from the Sierra crest east to the Farallons west. Parking on top; ramp up to the deck for the 360° view.
Mary Bowerman Trail Overlook
Trailhead and interpretive overlook at the summit parking area for the 0.7-mile Mary Bowerman / Fire Interpretive Trail loop around the summit's south face. Named for the botanist who co-founded Save Mount Diablo and identified the rare manzanita that grows nowhere else.
Curry Point Overlook
Wide pullout on South Gate Road with a sweeping east-facing view across the Diablo wilderness toward the Central Valley. One of the few drive-up overlooks on the Southgate climb.
Rock City
Cluster of honeycomb-weathered sandstone formations off South Gate Road near Live Oak Campground. Wind-eroded boulders riddled with tafoni cavities, popular for short hikes and bouldering. The same sandstone the summit observation tower was built from.

Old Borges Ranch

Junction Ranger Station

Mount Diablo Summit

Mary Bowerman Trail Overlook

Curry Point Overlook

Rock City