Audible Mount Diablo

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,...

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 Diabl...

I n the late 1700s, when the Spanish came north along the coast of California, they brought food with them in the shape of CATTLE. That was the beginning of a slow, but revolutionary change in the state's ecology. This is EPISODE 2 in an 8-part "Brief History of Mount Diablo State Park," featuring Ken Lavin, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Michael Marchiano, Vincent Medina, and Cameron Morrison.  Presen...

It's wet out there! And a good time to ponder the importance of our favorite mountain.  Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. 

LIME RIDGE is a biologically rich shoulder of Mount Diablo that reaches down into Concord and Walnut Creek. It brings nature close to home for thousands of people. Learn about the hard work that has kept it wild.  Featuring Seth Adams. Presented by Save Mount Diablo, in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Part four of a 2012 Audible Mount Diablo series exploring the plants, ani...

Deer lend such sweetness, grace and majesty to any landscape. Come take a peek into the lives of Mount Diablo's local Columbian black-tailed deer. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Production, writing, and narration by Kendall Oei. Videos and pictures by Kendall Oei and Wally De Young. Music by Tommy Jervidal. Special thanks to Wild Mount Dia...

Head out of the grassland and into a shady forest on the Paradise Valley Trail, where there's lots to learn about oaks, buckeye, hop tree, purple needle grass, and datura.  Presented by Save Mount Diablo, 2012. Featuring Seth Adams, Heath Bartosh. Photos by Scott Hein and Joan Hamilton. Music by Phil Heywood. 

More than a century ago, miners gnawed away at a northern shoulder of the East Bay's iconic mountain. Today, thanks to conservation efforts, it's an inviting open space with rare plants and big vistas.  Featuring Seth Adams. Presented by SAVE MOUNT DIABLO  in partnership with the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association as part of the Audible Mount Diablo series. Photos courtesy of Contra Costa Histo...

From Sentinel Rock, you can look deep down into DAN COOK CANYON. But who was Dan Cook? And how did he wrest this side of Mount Diablo from California's railroad barons? Stories galore from master naturalist Ken Lavin.  Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Episode 6 of their Audible Mount Diablo tour of Rock City. Production by Joan Hamilton. 

On the edge of neighborhoods in Walnut Creek and Concord, California, LIME RIDGE OPEN SPACE trails quickly lead to big oaks, sweeping vistas, interesting wildlife, and rare plants. A place for short hikes and big discoveries.  Featuring Seth Adams and Heath Bartosh. Part of a podcast series produced in 2012 by SAVE MOUNT DIABLO. Photos by Scott Hein. Music by Phil Heywood. Production by Joan Hamil...

Time for a hike that kids will love? Try Mount Diablo's WIND CAVES. Exploring them is fun; understanding them is a fascinating lesson in how the world works.  This segment is part of a tour of Mount Diablo's ROCK CITY is presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Featuring Ken Lavin. Music: Phil Heywood; Production, Narration: Joan Hamilton. 

After a long absence due to COVID, Cafe Ohlone has re-opened, this time on the Cal campus in Berkeley. Learn about its founders and the plants, animals, and people of Tuushtak (aka Mount Diablo).  Featuring Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Music by Phil Heywood. Production by Joan Hamilton.    

If hot days are getting you down, take a break to learn about the Bay Area's "refrigerator tree," Arbutus menziesii. From a tour of Mount Diablo's Rock City. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Featuring Ken Lavin;  Production, Narration: Joan Hamilton.

It's tarantula season around Mount Diablo, and naturalist Ken Lavin has tales to tell and myths to bust. If you should be lucky enough to encounter one of these hairy beasts on the mountain, enjoy the thrill. But please don't touch! This podcast is part of the Audible Mount Diablo series, sponsored by Save Mount Diablo and the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. 

One of the tallest mountains in the Bay Area—MOUNT DIABLO—is still growing!  Learn how and when the mountain emerged and when the Mount Diablo Thrust Fault is due for a quake.  Featuring naturalist Ken Lavin. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Part of the Audible Mount Diablo series. 

Dancing with OTTERS! A new film by Wally De Young that will help you spot this adorable mammal on your next East Bay hike.   

WILD RIDE   Take a 6-minute breeze through Bay Area geologic history, from the Age of Dinosaurs to the Age of Mammals.  Featuring Ken Lavin. Adapted from Audible Mount Diablo's "Mary Bowerman Geology Tour." Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. 

Need to cool off? Enjoy a 360-degree vista from the top of Mount Diablo while watching its resident TURKEY VULTURES soar.  The species has some  fascinating (creepy?) habits as well as a superpower revealed almost a century ago by a team of geologists.  From a A Geology Tour on the Mary Bowerman Trail . Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Photo...

Everyone loves our state flower, the California poppy. But few know the story about its scientific name.  It starts with a Russian ship sailing into San Francisco Bay with a German poet on board . . . and the rest is (strange) history. Featuring Ken Lavin. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Produced by Joan Hamilton. Photos and video by Kendall Oei and Joan Hamilton. With help fro...

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 Woodri...

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 S...

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 Hami...