Audible Mount Diablo

Beautiful and fascinating, BOBCATS put the wild in a new nature series called Wild Mount Diablo.

Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Produced by Kendall Paul Oei, with help from team members Wally De Young, Joan Hamilton, and Staci Hobbet.

Learn about wood, polypody, goldenback, and maidenhair FERNS. In springtime you might also see two impressive early-blooming flowers: warrior's plume and mission bells. Each has an interesting story.

This tour of Mount Diablo's ROCK CITY is presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. First published in 2015, updated in 2018. Featuring Ken Lavin, Rich McDrew, David Mackesey, and Mike Woodring; Music: Phil Heywood; Production, Narration: Joan Hamilton; Photos: Seth Adams, Contra Costa Historical Society, Joan Hamilton, Moose Henderson, Ken Lavin, Conrad Lowry, Mark Sinclair; Special thanks to Anastasia Hobbet, Conrad Lowry, Jennifer Roe, Jerry Schweickert, Mark Sinclair, Stephen Smith.

This episode of Wild Mount Diablo features America's smallest falcon and efforts to help them thrive, which may be having a positive effect on local populations.

SUMMIT STORIES Spring is a great time to visit Mount Diablo State Park. If you go to the top, have a look at the rocks used to build the summit visitor center. You can easily see fossils of oysters and clams—and, in the sand in between, clues to geologic history of the entire Bay Area.

From a tour of the Mary Bowerman Loop presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.

MERCURY MINING A mine near Clayton opened in 1875 and was long gone a century later. But it and subsequent mines nearby are still causing problems.

CANYON CLOWN Continuing our tour of the east side of Mount Diablo State Park, we hear tales of William Ryder "Doc" Powell, a circus clown/mercury miner who hoped to hit it rich in these hills.

From a tour of Perkins Canyon presented by Save Mount Diablo. Featuring Seth Adams, Jean Hetherington, and Ken Lavin. Music by Phil Heywood. Photographs by Scott Hein and others. Production by Joan Hamilton.

READING THE ROCKS Crossing Perkins Creek, we see a colorful combination of rocks—green serpentine, red chert, and gray dacite—that offer clues to the mountain's tumultuous past.

From a tour of Perkins Canyon presented by Save Mount Diablo. Featuring Seth Adams, Jean Hetherington, and Ken Lavin. Music by Phil Heywood. Photographs by Scott Hein and others. Production by Joan Hamilton.

Mount Diablo is not a volcano, but has volcanic "domes." Geologist Jean Hetherington helps us see those mushroom-shaped hills as clues to our landscape's dynamic history.

From a tour of Perkins Canyon presented by Save Mount Diablo. Featuring Seth Adams, Jean Hetherington, and Ken Lavin. Music by Phil Heywood. Photographs by Scott Hein and others. Production by Joan Hamilton.

NORTH PEAK Learn about the lofty backdrop to this quiet entrance to Mount Diablo State Park: 3,557-foot North Peak. You can scramble up the peak from here—with difficulty!—or just gaze in admiration.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo. Featuring Seth Adams, Jean Hetherington, and Ken Lavin. Music by Phil Heywood. Photographs by Scott Hein and others. Production by Joan Hamilton.

Experience the first signs of spring at Perkins Canyon, on the quiet eastern side of Mount Diablo State Park.