Hiking: February 5, 2022
Mount Diablo Foothills: Little Yosemite Valley & Wall Point Peak
Mount Diablo State Park, Alamo, CA
Mount Diablo is one of California’s state park located in the Bay Area. This state park offers a variety of hiking trails. You can find strenuous summit hikes to simple hikes on the foothills of Mount Diablo. Having done the summit trail hike a couple of months back, I decided to explore the foothills of Mount Diablo. During this time of the year, this part of the park bursts with green rolling hills and wildflowers.
- Length: 9.49 miles
- Elevation Gain: 2,251 ft
- Route Type: Loop
- Trail Details: AllTrails / 3D Map
- Media: Photos / Video
Park offers multiple staging areas for the hike. Apart from the main summit visitor center, there are two other staging areas. The Mitchell Canyon Visitor Center is on the north, and the Macedo Ranch Staging area is on the west. Today’s hike was from Macedo Ranch Staging Area.
Macedo Ranch Staging Area in Alamo, CA offers a variety of trails including Mount Diablo Summit trail. The parking lot is graveled and spacious. The park opens at 8 AM. I went early around 7:30 AM but they opened the gate at exactly 8 AM :). Note that parking on the road is not allowed. There is a $6 day fee. Parking is self pay and only cash or check are accepted. Water and restrooms are available at the trailhead.
There are multiple trails from this trailhead. If you are not doing a summit hike, you will have to curate your own route. I used AllTrails to come up with a route for the hike. I wanted to check out Little Yosemite Valley Trail and also put in 2000+ ft elevation gain. Just doing the Little Yosemite Valley will not add that much elevation, so I searched for peaks near this trail and found the Wall Point peak. I added a couple of trails on the way to reach Wall Point peak and finally ended up with 9.49 miles and 2,251 ft elevation gain.
This route goes through following trails
- Wall Point Road
- Briones to Mt. Diablo Regional Trail
- Little Yosemite Valley Trail
- Stage Road
- Burma Road
- Buckeye Trail
- Stage Road
- Barbecue Terrace Road
- Secret Trail
- Wall Point Road
Wall Point Road trail starts near the restroom. There is a gate which leads to the trailhead. You will be walking uphill a little bit at the start. You may encounter herds of cows. Right from the start, you will start seeing the beautiful green hills in all directions.
After 0.3 miles, take Briones to Mt. Diablo Regional Trail on the left. As you walk along the Briones Trail, the scenery gets even better. At the intersection of Briones and Little Yosemite Valley trail, you will see the glimpse of china wall on the right side. The view at this intersection is gorgeous.
The terrain on the Little Yosemite Valley Trail changes as you approach the valley. Along the green hills, you will see some cool rock formations. Once you reach the bottom of this trail, you will see a wall of rock mountain covering one side. There are picnic table here for you to rest and enjoy the quiet place.
The Little Yosemite Valley trail hits Stage Road at the bottom of the valley. Take a right on Stage Road. Stage Road goes along the stream on the left side. You will be crossing quite a few creeks on this trail. If I remember correctly, there were around 6 stream crossings. All are simple except for the last one which is a little bit longer and slippery.
Instead of continuing on stage road, you will be taking a left on Burma Road right after the last stream crossing. Burma Road goes uphill, and you will get a beautiful view of the hills and valley on one side and the bay view on the other side.
Burma Road continues and crosses North Gate Road but just before that you will be taking Buckeye Trail. This is a narrow single track trail that runs parallel to North Gate Road for a short distance. I liked this trail. It gives the experience of a real hike.
At this section of the trail, the wind started blowing heavily. Noise from the wind was so loud that a few times I turned back thinking something was behind me.
When Buckeye Trail hits Stage Road, you will take right on Stage Road. You will be going down on Stage Road until you hit the Barbecue Terrace Road. If you are tired and decide to end the hike, continue on Stage Road otherwise turn left on Barbecue Terrace Road. The hike from here onwards is uphill for the next two miles. On Barbecue Terrace Road, take the narrow, single track Secret Trail on the right. This is a shaded trail with some partial views.
As you come out of this Secret Trail you will join Wall Point Road on right. This opens to open space with the beautiful view of the valley. You are almost at the top (1500+ ft) of this route and near the Wall Point peak.
From here onwards, you will be hiking on Wall Point Road till the parking lot. You will be going downhill, and in some places it is very steep. A trekking pole will definitely help here. As you walk on this trail, on the left side you will see a few beautiful houses.
There are a few places where you will hike uphill but they are not difficult. As you approach the parking lot, you will start seeing rolling green hills and wildflowers again. This is one of the most beautiful sections of the hike.
This is one of the best hiking spots in the Bay Area with green hills. Wildflowers have started blooming and I hope by spring, we will see more on the trail. This trail or any trail in this park is not for the summer. There is not much shade on this trail, and the hills won’t be green to enjoy. I recommend you hit this trail now or sometime before summer to enjoy the green hills. I will definitely go back to do the summit trail from here.
Until then,
Happy Hiking!
