Mt. Diablo
Danville / Contra Costa · near Danville / Walnut Creek · SF Bay Area
Road Cycling
At a glance
- Distance
- medium
- Best season
- Year-round; spring for wildflowers; hot in summer
What is here
- Scenery
- mountain
- Amenities
- Enormous summit panorama · State park roads & visitor center · Water at ranger stations · Spring wildflowers on the flanks
- Best for
- An iconic East Bay summit climb
- Features
- East Bay's signature climb · 3,849-ft summit with huge views · Legendary steep final wall · Two gate routes to choose from
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Steep final 'wall' pitch to the summit · Hot & exposed in summer — carry water · Park traffic on weekends; descend with control · Winter can bring cold & occasional snow up top
- Beginner friendly
- No
Road Cycling detail
- Ride types
- climb
- Road
- quiet
- Climbing
- 4
- Ride notes
- The East Bay's iconic summit climb — up through Mt. Diablo State Park to a 3,849-ft peak with one of the widest views in California, finishing with a famous, brutally steep final wall pitch to the summit
- Stats note
- ~11 mi, ~3,200 ft gain to 3,849 ft; brutal ~18% final wall to the top
- Seasonal
- No
- Intl tip
- The East Bay's iconic summit climb — ~11 miles and ~3,200 ft up through Mt. Diablo State Park (from the North or South Gate, which merge) to a 3,849-ft peak with one of California's widest views. Mostly steady, but with a brutal ~18% final wall to the top. Quiet park roads, water at ranger stations, but hot and exposed in summer (ride early, carry water). Spring wildflowers; rare clear winter days give astonishing views.
The guide
Mt. Diablo, the great solitary peak that dominates the East Bay skyline, offers one of California's classic summit climbs — a r…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Mt. Diablo — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.8816, -121.9142