Diablo Range
Regions
- The 🌍 Tri-Valley is between two parts of the range, with the friendlier peaks to the west and wilderness to the southeast. To the north of the valley is Mount Diablo. The Tri-Valley covers parts of the Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
Cities
The cities of the East Bay, with perhaps the exception of Discovery Bay, are all near the Diablo Range. Similarly, 🌍 San Jose and some of the other cities on the east side of the South Bay are close to the Diablo Range. An example of a settlement that is truly inside the range is 🌍 Clayton. East of the mountains, on the western side of the mountain range, is 🌍 Tracy.
Other destinations
- 🌍 Henry Coe State Park may well be the best place for experiencing the Diablo Range. The park consists of one ridge after another, for miles and miles, and shows that even near the Bay Area, there remain large wilderness areas.
- 🌍 Del Valle Regional Park goes around a long reservoir; it is an EBRPD park. (See #Do for more information.)
Understand
The Diablo Range is one of the many north/south mountain ranges on the western side of California. Well-known peaks in the range include 🌍
Mission Peak 
Get in
In the north, there are some freeways that go through the Tri-Valley area; for example, I-580, which goes over the range (meaning that you can use it to enter the range from either east or west), and I-680 which goes from Silicon Valley to the Tri-Valley, and then goes north from there.
A more scenic way to enter the mountain range is the section of California Route 84 between Niles (Fremont) and Sunol. This road goes through a beautiful canyon, although since it follows the bottom of the canyon and links important city areas, it is not the easiest drive in the world.
Get around
U.S. Route 101 goes to Morgan Hill and San Jose, just west of the range, and I-5 goes north/south east of the range. From here, you'll have to take various roads to get into the mountains.
You can't drive north/south through the whole range because the terrain is simply too rugged, and generally there are not enough people living in the mountains to justify highways of any sort. You can do a few sections, like Mines Road (mentioned in #Do), and other roads in the northern part of the mountain range, but mostly you should take roads like U.S. 101 or I-5 if you want to get from one part of the range to the other (like if you were going from Mount Hamilton to Henry Coe Park).
See
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Miles of mountains, ridges, grasslands, and oak trees are present in the range — basically, everything in the picture to the right. Mount Diablo is rather an interesting mountain for viewing, since its appearance varies greatly depending on the side from which you view it, and unlike many mountains in the Diablo Range, it is easily recognizable. The classic view, however, is from the south, around Pleasanton and (eastern) Dublin.
Mount Hamilton isn't always so easy to spot; however, if you're in the San Jose area, look for a mountain with white spots on top of it — that's Lick Observatory, roughly the location of Mount Hamilton.
Do
The Diablo Range is a good place for hiking; for more information, see Hiking in the East Bay. The East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) has put a lot of work into creating many regional parks that have good trail networks in the Diablo Range.
If you are not a hiker, there are some interesting options available for driving through the area. One of the best of these options is the road to the top of Mount Hamilton, which begins in Alum Rock (San Jose). It's a challenging drive to the top, but actually that isn't the best part; the best part is the San Antonio Valley Road that continues into the wilderness east of Mt. Hamilton. Farther down the road there's a junction where you can either go east to Patterson or north to Livermore. At the intersection, quite surprisingly considering the remote location, there's a restaurant. The road north from this junction, toward Livermore, is called Mines Road.
Itineraries
Hiking routes
- The Ohlone Wilderness Trail goes through the mountains south of Del Valle Regional Park.
- While the Arroyo del Valle Trail of Sycamore Grove doesn't actually go into the hills, it goes close to some of the hills in the range and there are some trails that branch off from it that go into these hills.
- An especially popular hike is the one that leads to the top of Mission Peak. The problem is, everything about the hike can be a complete nightmare because so many people do the Mission Peak climb. Parking, especially on Saturdays, is difficult, so if you are going to climb the mountain, pick the day you ascend it carefully. At the top, there are good views of the Bay Area ("good" largely depending on your tastes).
Stay safe
Some mountain areas are remote, so you cannot expect to get help quickly. If you have concerns, there are smaller parks close to cities (like Sycamore Grove Park — see the article for the Arroyo del Valle Trail) where concerns of this nature will be much reduced.
Dangerous animals that live in the area are mountain lions and rattlesnakes. Del Valle Regional Park#Stay safe has relevant information.
Go next
- To the east is the Sierra Nevada, a much higher mountain range. Major peaks include Mount Shasta (a volcano) in the north and Mount Whitney in the south.
- To the west of the Diablo Range are many coastal ranges. A popular way to see these ranges is by driving along California's State Route 1.