It was great to get out hiking with the fam. Having been busy with basketball and Hubby finally better from being sick, we finally had a free weekend to hike. It was even better because we went with some friends. The hike we decided on was the Falls Trail loop hike at Mt. Diablo. I had no idea there were waterfalls there so we thought it would be great to check out especially with the rain that we've been having in Northern California.
There are different routes to access the Fall Trail loop and we went with the one that starts from the Regency Gate in the East Bay town of Clayton. I got lots of good information about the hike and directions from alltrails.com. You park in the neighborhood as close as you can to the end of the road. There were lots of cars the day we went but we managed to find spots not too far. The trail leads down to the right of the cars and you turn left to the trailhead. There are no bathrooms at the trailhead so go beforehand if you can.
This gate below is the start of the hike. There is a kiosk with a map and I suggest you take a picture of the map with your phone, or download the map before going on the hike as there are lots of intersections so it is wise to know exactly which route you need to go or you might end up not where you were intending. Luckily Hubby had the map on his phone and he led the way without any mishaps.
It was a beautiful day for a hike. However with the recent rain, there was lots of mud on the trail. If you dared to step in, your boot or shoe could sink as a friend of ours found out the hard way. We did a lot of walking around to avoid the mud.
The hike has some steep hills. There is a total elevation gain of about 1228 ft. on the hike, so it's not an easy hike.
There were some creek crossings along the way which made for some fun maneuvering for the kids.
The early part of the trail is pretty wide and once you hike up higher, you turn off and get into single track trail. It is a lot narrower and the pics make it look scary but it isn't too bad. The kids did great. 6 year old was cautious at this part and you should be because you don't want the kids to goof around.
It's a beautiful area. The views are neat.
Here is one of the waterfalls we came across.
And another waterfall.
Note that the waterfalls depend on the rain during the winter and can dry out in the summer depending on how much rain has fallen during the year. The waterfalls we came across were neat, but I was actually expecting bigger falls. The views however, made up for it all.
On the way back to the trailhead, we stopped at this creek where we let the kids play. I think they had the most fun here.
According to my Garmin, our hike was about 6.5 miles. This is the route we took.
Overall, it was a good hike. I was a bit disappointed with the waterfalls because I was expecting bigger, but it was still neat to see. The views we got climbing were great and I love that the kids had fun especially when we stopped by the creek. I would recommend this hike to those that just want a nice hike with great views and some cute waterfalls along the way. :)
Have a great weekend!
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