Audible Mount Diablo

SOMERSVILLE TOWNSITE Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve is a stunning park today, but in the 1860s its coal fueled California's early industrial development. Watch segment 1 of our 16-part series about "the rocks, the mines, and nature's remarkable recovery." Follow us to enjoy a new Bay Area adventure every week.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Produced by Joan Hamilton.

Featuring Seth Adams, Kevin Dixon, Robert Doyle, Scott Hein, Heath Bartosh, Ken Lavin, and Ray Sullivan. Special thanks to East Bay Regional Park District.

INTRODUCTION Prepare for a hike at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve—a paradise in the springtime, rich with history any time of year.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Produced by Joan Hamilton.

Featuring Seth Adams, Kevin Dixon, Robert Doyle, Scott Hein, Heath Bartosh, Ken Lavin, and Ray Sullivan. Special thanks to East Bay Regional Park District.

ENJOYING THE PARK Mount Diablo State Park is a great place to walk, run, hike, camp, climb, picnic, paraglide, stargaze, and ride bicycles or horses. But what's most popular? Heading to the top for a glimpse of wild California.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.

PRESERVATION You've read plenty of stories about losing America's wild places. Here' a story about winning.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.

EARLY TOURISM Starting in the 1870s, people with dollar signs in their eyes began selling Mount Diablo to tourists and investors. Fortunately, they were not successful, and today we have 110,000 acres of wildlands within an hour's drive of a major metro area.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.

COAL MINING Just northeast of Mount Diablo, thin layers of "black diamonds" in the sandstone paved the way for California's industrial development at the end of the 19th century. East Bay Regional Parks naturalist Mike Moran tells the story.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.

WHITNEY SURVEY Imagine it's 1860. In 14,000 miles of exploration up and down California, a survey led by Josiah Whitney decides that Mount Diablo is key to understanding the geology of the entire Coast Range.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.

THE MOUNTAIN'S NAME How did Mount Diablo get its name? And why do people keep trying to change it? Anthropologist Beverly Ortiz tells the linguistically mixed-up story behind the name we use today.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.

NATIVE PEOPLES "Mount Diablo was our sacred mountain at one time, and still is in my heart," says Dry Creek Pomo Lucy Smith.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.

WILD PIGS Wildlife columnist Gary Bogue explains how wild pigs first came to California and what's being done to reduce the numbers of these hairy rototillers on Mount Diablo.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.