The rains have come. Which makes it a beautiful time to ponder the history, geology, plants, and animals to be found along one of Mount Diablo's classic hikes, the FALLS TRAIL.

Join us for episode one of this 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by MOUNT DIABLO INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Originally published in 2019.

Photos by Scott Hein, Bill Karieva, and others. Video by Kendall Paul Oei. Animations by Tanya Atwater, UC Santa Barbara.  

From the top of Lime Ridge, you can see Mount Diablo—and a surprisingly vast expanse of GRASSLAND in between. Learn about who owns these lands and some of the wild treasures they contain, including relicts of a drier climate such as desert olives and sagebrush lizards. 

From a tour of Lime Ridge featuring Seth Adams and Scott Hein, originally published by Save Mount Diablo in 2012.  See Save Mount Diablo's website for information about current activities at MANGINI RANCH. 

How a colorful reptile may help lower the incidence of Lyme disease in California.

Episode 6.1 in Save Mount Diablo's guide to Lime Ridge, featuring Scott Hein and Seth Adams. 

In episode 6 of our Lime Ridge Tour, we take an inside look at Bay Area shrublands, also known as CHAPARRAL. They may look lifeless at times, but they nurture a rich assemblage of plants and animals, including Alameda whipsnakes, hummingbirds, and blue-gray gnatcatchers. 

Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Featuring Seth Adams and Scott Hein. Music by Phil Heywood. Production by Joan Hamilton. First published in 2012.  

After a winter of abundant rain and even snow, WILDFLOWERS are waking up in the East Bay. As you get out to enjoy them, keep in mind that there are still discoveries to be made. In 2008, for example, Carpenter David Gowen found two phlox species new to science in LIME RIDGE OPEN SPACE, nearly surrounded by Walnut Creek and Concord. It's one more example of how important it is to protect and respect our open spaces!

From a 2012 Audible Mount Diablo guide to Lime Ridge sponsored by Save Mount Diablo and Thomas J. Long Foundation. Featuring SMD's Land Conservation Director, Seth Adams. 

It may be cold and stormy now, but sunshine and spring wildflowers are on the way. In this final episode of our history series, dream about how you'd like to enjoy Mount Diablo State Park in the days ahead.  

This series  features Ken Lavin, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Michael Marchiano, Vincent Medina, and Cameron Morrison. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo and Mount Diablo State Park. Photography and video by Kendall Oei, Scott Hein, and Wally  De Young, among others. Music by Phil Heywood. Writing, production, and narration by Joan Hamilton. First aired in 2021, for the park's centennial celebration. 

After recent atmospheric rivers, Mount Diablo State Park has a lot of re-building to do. But some of its oldest infrastructure has withstood a hundred years of storms. Its summit building, stone walls, and some picnic tables and stoves were the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a government program that gave men jobs during the Depression in the 1930s. 

This is episode five of "A Brief History of Mount Diablo State Park," an eight-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Michael Marchiano, Vincent Medina, and Cameron Morrison. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo and Mount Diablo State Park. Photography and video by Kendall Oei, Scott Hein, and Wally de Young, among others. Music by Phil Heywood. Production by Joan Hamilton. 

Here are a few of the sights we savored on Mount Diablo in 2022. May your 2023 be filled with new delights! Happy New Year from the Wild Mount Diablo team. 

More than 100 years ago, even before California had a park system, a small portion of Mount Diablo was set aside for protection. This episode of our 8-part series describes two dedication ceremonies: the first with well-behaved officials in 1921, and the second with an inebriated governor in 1931, when "the mountain lived up to its name." 

This series features Ken Lavin, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Michael Marchiano, Vincent Medina, and Cameron Morrison. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo and Mount Diablo State Park. Photography and video by Kendall Oei, Scott Hein, and Wally de Young, among others. Music by Phil Heywood. Production by Joan Hamilton. 

Starting in the 1870s, people with dollar signs in their eyes started selling Mount Diablo to investors and tourists. First was Joseph Seavey Hall, who built a hotel and two toll roads. Then came Robert Noble Burgess, who planned to build a castle on top with William Randolph Hearst. Then along came World War I . . . 

Part 3 of "A Brief History of Mount Diablo State Park," presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo and Mount Diablo State Park.