Peak to Peak
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We'll head up to MT. Diablo via
tilden park in Oakland past
Briones
Reservoir and through Walnut Creek and up North Gate RD to MT Diablo.
We then head down taking MT Diablo Scenic BLVD and over to Mines BLVD
via Blackhawk, Camino Tassajara and Highland RDs. Then it's Mines Rd to
MT hamilton and Lick observatory. From there we'll head over to
Skylineline BLVD by way of HWYs 17 & 9. Up Skyline to Alice's and
home.
Our ride starts here at Wildcat Canyon
RD:
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Weather
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| WildCat
Canyon & Bear Creek Road |
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| Bear Creek Rd starts just north
of Orinda on San Pablo Dam Rd. The junction for Bear Creek will be on
the right, about a mile out of town. Incidentally, this is the same
traffic light for Wildcat Canyon Rd, which heads up and over the ridge
to Berkeley and Kensington
Bear Creek Rd. starts out as a little lane through the trees, but as soon as you get about a 1/4 mile into it, the road opens up and begins to climb. For a two-lane, the shoulders are wide, the curves are big sweepers, and as long as you don't get caught behind a car, you can really let the ponies loose. The road has a great view of the Briones Reservoir, especially once you've got up the hill a bit. |
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| The wide sweeper character of Bear Creek continues for about five to six miles, and then starts to choke back down to a narrow twisty shoulderless "country lane" as you approach the junction to Alhambra Valley Road (last two miles, primarily). From this point, we turn east to Martinez along Alhambra Valley Road. | |||||
| From here we ride through Walnut creek
on 680 and work our way over to North Gate RD to MT Diablo. |
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Mount Diablo
North
Gate
Road
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Mount Diablo has long been an outstanding motorcycle destination. On a clear day, you can see more land than anywhere else on the entire planet earth except for Mt. Kilamunjuro in South Africa which lays claim to the mostest. Escape to the curves or simply ride up for the intense view. North Gate Road to the summit is only a mere 11 miles. It seems much longer. The ride is so curvy, you may not attain speeds over 30 mph near the summit. The speed limit is 25 mph throughout the park, and even down to 15 mph in some places. A mere 6 bucks will get you in on your motorcycle which you may pay at the very entrance on weekends, or halfway up during the week. |
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| Ride the Rollercoaster The tract homes, all exactly the same, are creeping up the hillsides stripping the virginity from the mountainside. And there is a growing movement in the surrounding area to prevent the denuding of this pristine mountainous park by an ever hungry Bay Area housing market with money to burn. If possible, it would surely plant literally thousands of homes across the slopes if it could. There is even a grass roots movement called Save Mount Diablo which has the main focus of prevent this. Much of the mountain side is actually privately owned. As these ranch owners sell off their land, instead of cows in pristine meadows- try endless autonomous tract homes as far as the eye can see. There are currently plans for another 21,700 homes to be built on the slopes of the mountain. And through the tireless efforts of the organization in the last 30 years, the park has expanded from 6,788 acres to a more pleasant sounding 64,000 acres. The effort though continues. This is after all, a mountain in need of saving. |
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Headed up the hill is an amazing experience. The unobstructed views are to die for as North Gate Road climbs up the west side of the mountain, and every single corner will have you pulling to the side to stare in amazement. This level of openness is probably unparalleled in the entire Bay Area. The lower elevation flows up a draw and then it's a series of switchbacks weaving a tapestry of pavement up the mountainside. Pavement quality is average, not spectacular, not horrible. There will be some crumbly sections along the edges and much of the ride has no center line. And the climb is steady and not excessively steep like that of Railroad Flat Rd or Mosquito Road. An endless stream of pullouts in corners hopefully assure you that same 80 foot long camper with the family of 60 you keep running into will be kind enough to pull over. And one of the best pullouts to view the western front is actually just below the summit, wide, flat, and plenty of room with an unobstructed panoramic view of Walnut Creek up through Benicia in the valley below and even downtown San Francisco. Angel Island, the Golden Gate Bridge & Transamerica Building is clearly visible. Even Mount Tamalpais and the Golden Gate Nat Rec Area can be seen on a clear day. | ||||
On the summit is
a small museum and a rather impressively built lookout dating back to
the 1930's and the era of the Civilian Conservation Corps. you are able
to see Mount Lassen to the north without any magnification (make sure
you bring a pair of binoculars- we always forget those) which is little
more than a tiny snow capped peak to the north. we have yet to see Half
Dome in Yosemite although they say it's visible on a clear day. And
we've been told you can even see Mount Shasta from the summit also.
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Several years ago
in 2001, the park celebrated several milestones. Col. Leander
Ransom, General Land Office Deputy Surveyor for California climbed up
the mountain side to begin mapping of the surrounding lands extending
across California into Nevada using Mount Diablo as his central point
some 150 years ago. It was also the 80th year anniversary of the
establishment of the park, and 70 years since the public was first
allowed access in 1931.  awesome view |
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Save
Mount Diablo.org Mount Diablo Interpretive Association Camping Reservations & Group Camping Group Picnic Reservations Mt. Diablo State Park  |
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