State: California
Location: Mount Diablo State Park
Length, Round Trip: 6.8 miles
Trail Type: Loop
Elevation Change: 1820 feet
Best Season: Year-Round
Difficulty: Difficult
Usage: Heavy
California Pelicans
Trail Information
The Grand Loop is a circumnavigation of the summit along some of Mount Diablo State Park’s most attractive hidden trails. The North Peak Trail has fantastic displays of wildflowers in the spring, including the rarely seen wind poppies. The Bald Ridge Trail has a new surprise every few yards a tiny rock garden, an unexpected vista, perhaps a sighting of the elusive California thrasher. The Deer Flat Creek Trail is a gem, an exploration of the geology and rare botany of serpentine soils and rocks. And the Juniper Trail has its own set of rock gardens featuring tundra like stunted plants.
Start by descending the Summit Trail to Devils Elbow. For the complete loop, take left turns at each junction: North Peak Trail to Prospectors Gap, Bald Ridge Trail to Murchio Gap, Deer Flat Creek Trail, Meridian Ridge and then Deer Flat Roads to Juniper Campground and back up on the Juniper Trail.
Directions
The trail is accessed on north side of road beside small picnic site where Summit Road splits into two one-way routes just past exit to Lower Summit Parking Lot.
