Hiking Mt. Diablo from Juniper Campground with the Fam 2/7/16

It was Superbowl Sunday and we headed out to Diablo State Park for a hike before the big game. We weren't in a rush because Hubby Dvr'd the game. Thank goodness for DVRs. :) It turned out to be an awesome hike with fabulous views. 

To get to the State park from Davis it took about an hour. There is a fee to enter the park. We entered at the South Gate Entrance and the fee was $10. To get to the Juniper trailhead it was another 40 minute drive or so. The views driving up were pretty awesome. There were many bikers on the road so we had to be careful of them and it took longer since we had to pass in safe areas. 

We parked at the Diablo Valley Overlook which was very close to the Juniper Campground. There were very cool views already at the Overlook. 

The way to the trail did not have any bathrooms, but I believe right by the Juniper Campground are bathrooms so if you need to use the facilities you would head there. We hit the Juniper trail and headed up.

It is a nice climb up. It wasn't too long and we came to this neat view of the parking lot where we parked our car.

You come across a junction with the Moses Rock Ridge Trail where we head right to keep following the Juniper Trail. The strong winds made for an even more interesting hike. 

The kiddos were really happy when we came across this rock to climb. They were playing on this rock for a while and did not want to leave it. 

At one point you have to cross the road and the trail is on the other side. We headed up and came across some satellite dishes and antennas and came up to the lower parking lot area. There are picnic tables here and you keep on walking toward the restrooms to find the rest of the trail going up. We came across more antennas and another parking area where you will see this visitor center.

Inside you will find the true summit of Mt. Diablo at 3,849 feet. I find it funny that it is enclosed and inside, but I guess it is a great place to keep warm from the strong winds that were blowing that day.

Inside is also a neat educational center and small gift shop.

There is a cool observatory deck outside where you can see really great views. You can see the city and the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay bridge, and energy windmills. We even saw the snow covered Sierras.

Just beyond the summit Hubby took this pic of me and the kiddos.

After exploring the summit, we headed back down. The kiddos always find ways to have fun.

It was so much faster going down. We thought we would check out the Moses Rock Ridge Trail when we reached the junction. We could see it when were heading up and it looked neat.

This was actually my favorite part of the hike because I love ridge trails. The views were amazing!

We made it almost to the end, but not quite as the winds were too strong. It was really beautiful though. We headed back down and it didn't take long before we were back at the parking lot. According to my Garmin, we did a total of 5 miles with the Moses Rock Ridge Trail included. The kiddos once again did awesome. I really enjoyed this hike. It came with awesome views and I really loved the ridge trail. I would love to do it again minus the strong winds. I definitely recommend this hike to others. It's a great one to do with kids. This hike definitely deserves a jump pic. :)

Have a great weekend!