Audible Mount Diablo
Audible Mount Diablo is an invitation to adventure. Its free multimedia tours combine lively interviews and music with the rush of wind and the chirps, howls, and growls of wildlife. Naturalists heighten visitors’ appreciation of the sights and sounds at each stop, tell tales of the mountain’s past, and suggest what to look for around the next bend. Perfect to prepare for your first--or your hundredth--trip up the mountain. Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo and the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association Produced by Audio Guides to the Outdoors
Falls Trail: Episode 7
Learn all about Mount Diablo's often-breezed-by tall plants: its pines and its chaparral. The latter covers only 3 percent of the earth's land mass and yet holds 20 percent of its biodiversity.
This is episode seven in "Falls Trail," a 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Music Phil Heywood. Video Kendall Oei. Photos Scott Hein and others. Writing, narration, production Joan Hamilton.
Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope: Episode 9
In this final episode, Save Mount Diablo unfolds an audacious plan for winning broader protection for the Diablo Range in an era of climate change.
The "Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope" series explores life in California’s inland Coast Range after the huge fires of 2020. It ventures into places off the beaten track for most Bay Area residents, yet deeply connected to places they already love. Presented by Save Mount Diablo. Photos by Scott Hein and others. Music by Phil Heywood. Writing, production, and narration by Joan Hamilton.
Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope: Episode 7
CONDOR COUNTRY
In Pinnacles National Park, author and conservation biologist Joseph Belli “babysits” condors as a volunteer for the National Park Service. In this episode he teams up with soulmate Seth Adams of Save Mount Diablo to survey wildlife in the park and beyond.
The "Fire, Drought, Rain and Hope" series explores life in California’s inland Coast Range after the huge fires of 2020. It ventures into places off the beaten track for most Bay Area residents, yet deeply connected to places they already love. Presented by Save Mount Diablo. Photos by Scott Hein and others. M...
Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope: Episode 6
HENRY W. COE STATE PARK: How fire made a big wilderness better.
The sixth in a series of Save Mount Diablo's videos about the mysterious, little-known 200-mile long Diablo Range. Viewers venture into places off the beaten track for most Bay Area residents, yet deeply connected to places they already love—and vital as refuges for plants, animals, and people in a time of climate change. Photos by Scott Hein and others. Music by Phil Heywood. Writing, production, and narration by Joan Hamilton.Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope: Episode 5
COYOTE CONNECTIONS
Keeping cities safe and wildlife healthy.
The fifth in Save Mount Diablo's series, "Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope," about the mysterious, little-known, 200-mile long Diablo Range. The series takes viewers into places off the beaten track for most Bay Area residents, yet deeply connected to places they already love and vital refuges in a time of climate change.
Photos by Scott Hein and others. Music by Phil Heywood. Writing, production, and narration by Joan Hamilton.Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope: Episode 4
OHLONE WILDERNESS
How Wildlife Fared After the 2020 Fire
The fourth in a series of Save Mount Diablo's videos about the mysterious, little-known, 200-mile long Diablo Range. Viewers venture into places off the beaten track for most Bay Area residents, yet deeply connected to places they already love. Photos by Scott Hein and others. Music by Phil Heywood. Writing, production, and narration by Joan Hamilton.Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope: Episode 3
CORRAL HOLLOW How a ranching family helped build a park.
The third in Save Mount Diablo's series, "Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope," about the mysterious, little-known, 200-mile long Diablo Range. The series takes viewers into places off the beaten track for most Bay Area residents, yet deeply connected to places they already love and vitally important in a time of climate change. Photos by Scott Hein and others. Music by Phil Heywood. Writing, production, and narration by Joan Hamilton.Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope: Episode One
Three Wild Years in the Diablo Range
With the help of ranchers, naturalists, scientists, and land managers, this 9-part series showcases the mysterious, little-known 200-mile long Diablo Range after the massive fires of 2020. It ventures into places off the beaten track for most Bay Area residents, yet deeply connected to places they already love, vital to providing a refuge for plants, animals, and people in a time of climate change. With conservation efforts accelerating, this part of the inland Coast Range is fast becoming California's next big conservation story.
Photos by Scott Hein and others. M...
Fire, Drought, Rain, and Hope: Episode 2
MORGAN TERRITORY, where the SCU fire hit home.
The second in a series of films about the mysterious, little-known 200-mile long Diablo Range. The films take viewers into places off the beaten track for most Bay Area residents, yet deeply connected to places they already love, vital to providing a refuge for plants, animals, and people in a time of climate change. Photos by Scott Hein and others. Music by Phil Heywood. Writing, production, and narration by Joan Hamilton.
Early Bloomers
Early-blooming flowers bring beauty to the forested understory of Mount Diablo State Park. Here are a few that pop up January through March.
A Mount Diablo Interpretive Association film by Kendall Oei, produced in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Part of the Wild Mount Diablo series.
WILD MOUNT DIABLO: Wonders of 2023
Join Wild Mount Diablo as we look back at some of our favorite photos from 2023. It's exciting to imagine what our intrepid photographers, Wally De Young and Kendall Oei, will come across this year!! A Mount Diablo Interpretive Association film produced in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Wild Mount Diablo: POISON OAK
The branches of this irritating plant are bare right now, but wise park visitors know to be wary. Learn of its infamous debut in London in the early 1800s—and how it's related to plants in many kitchens today. Part of Mount Diablo Interpretive Association's WILD MOUNT DIABLO series on the plants and animals of Mount Diablo State Park.
Bay Area Geology: Episode 5
Mount Diablo's distinctive "pillow basalt" erupted from submarine volcanoes hundreds of millions of years ago. Learn how it made its way to the top of a mountain, in the fifth episode of the TRAIL THROUGH TIME, a series of geology videos featuring naturalist Ken Lavin. Sponsored by the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Videography by Macha Rose. Animations by Tanya Atwater, UC Santa Barbara. Music by Phil Heywood. Produced by Joan Hamilton.
Bay Area Geology: Episode 4
SAND DOLLAR SECRETS The Pacific Ocean once lapped against the Sierra Nevada foothills. Here's the story of how the Bay Area eventually became dry land with two bedrocks.
Join us on the TRAIL THROUGH TIME, a series of geology videos featuring naturalist Ken Lavin. Sponsored by the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Videography by Macha Rose. Animations by Tanya Atwater, UC Santa Barbara. Music by Phil Heywood. Produced by Joan Hamilton.
Wild Mount Diablo: Wild Babies
Meet the wild babies of Mount Diablo and learn what superpowers they are developing as they grow from babes in the woods to full grown predators—or prey! Whether sharp-toothed and venomous, or soft and fluffy, these wild babies are sure to surprise you with their innate gifts. Are baby rattlesnakes really more dangerous than adults? How big are great horned owls’ eyes? Which mom carries over 100 babies on her back? Watch "Wild Babies" and find out! A Mount Diablo Interpretive Association video produced by Wally De Young
Bay Area Geology: Episode 3
CLASHING PLATES The story of the Bay Area landscape begins 190 million years ago, 3,000 miles out in the Pacific Ocean under 10,000 feet of water.
Join us on the TRAIL THROUGH TIME, a series of geology videos featuring naturalist Ken Lavin. Sponsored by the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Videography by Macha Rose. Animations by Tanya Atwater, UC Santa Barbara. Music by Phil Heywood. Produced by Joan Hamilton.
Bay Area Geology: Episode 2
FRANCISCAN ROCKS The first person to study Mount Diablo geology in depth was a quirky UC Berkeley professor named Andrew Lawson. He found rocks that had emerged from volcanoes in the mid-Pacific. But how did they get on top of a 3,849-foot mountain?
Join us on the TRAIL THROUGH TIME, a series of geology videos presented by the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Bay Area Geology: Introduction
TRAIL THROUGH TIME A 6.3-mile hike from the top to the bottom of Mount Diablo travels through the Bay Area’s entire geologic history. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association, featuring Ken Lavin. Videography by Macha Rose. Animations by Tanya Atwater, UC Santa Barbara. Music by Phil Heywood. Produced by Joan Hamilton.
Audible Mount Diablo is a joint project of the MOUNT DIABLO INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION and SAVE MOUNT DIABLO.
WILD MOUNT DIABLO: Late Bloomers
Spring has come and gone, but the wildflower bloom is not done. Mount Diablo has its own superblooms, and some of them are long lasting.
A Mount Diablo Interpretive Association film featuring Kendall Paul Oei. Episode 12 in the Wild Mount Diablo series.
Wild Mount Diablo: LADYBUGS
This just in: The ladybugs have returned to Mount Diablo! Learn all about their meanderings in this Mount Diablo Interpretive Association video featuring naturalist Ken Lavin. Images by Arnold Joe, Scott Hein, and Kendall Oei. Music by Daniel Kaede. Produced by Joan Hamilton. Adapted from "Mitchell Canyon" Audible Mount Diablo, 2017.
A Hiker's Guide to Mount Diablo Plants: Episode 9
CONNECTIONS As botanist Heath Bartosh explains in this final episode of "A Hiker's Guide to Mount Diablo Plants," Bay Area biodiversity hot spots are connected to places much farther south.
Presented by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association
Featuring Heath Bartosh
with Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Lindsey Hendricks-Franco, Brian Peterson, Cyndy Shafer
Music Phil Heywood, Steve Arnold, Podington Bear
Fire Recovery Illustration Laura Cunningham
Production and Narration Joan Hamilton
Photographs: Scott Hein, Stephen Joseph, Troy Montemayor
and Seth Adams, Heath Bar...
A Hiker's Guide to Mount Diablo Plants: Famous Botanists
LAND OF DISCOVERY Mount Diablo has attracted some famous botanists over the years, including David Douglas, Alice Eastwood, and John Howell. Learn their stories—and those of the modern-day explorers following in their footsteps.
Presented by SAVE MOUNT DIABLO in partnership with the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.
Featuring Heath Bartosh
Photographs: Scott Hein, Stephen Joseph, Troy Montemayor
and Seth Adams, Heath Bartosh, Steve Edwards, Brad Heckman, Helovi/istock, Joan Hamilton, Shawn Hanrahan/Texas A&M, Jepson Herbarium, Al Johnson, Neal Kramer/Strybing Arboretum, SWKrullImaging/iStock, Kit Leong/iStock, Marshman, Carl Osborn, Bill...
A Hiker's Guide to Mount Diablo Plants: Episode 6
SHRUBS Dive into the mysteries of chaparral, a plant community that covers 3 percent of Earth's surface and nurtures 20 percent of its biodiversity.
Presented by Save Mount Diablo, in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.
Featuring Heath Bartosh, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Lindsey Hendricks, Brian Peterson, Cyndy Shafer.
Photographs: Scott Hein, Stephen Joseph, Troy Montemayor
and Seth Adams, Heath Bartosh, Steve Edwards, Brad Heckman, Helovi/istock, Joan Hamilton, Shawn Hanrahan/Texas A&M, Jepson Herbarium, Al Johnson, Neal Kramer/Strybing Arboretum, SWKrullImaging/iStock, Kit Leong/iStock, Marshman, Troy Montemayor, Carl Osborn, Bill Sat...
A Hiker's Guide to Mount Diablo Plants: Episode 4
TREES AS LIVING HISTORY Mount Diablo's oaks, pines, bays, and buckeyes have tales to tell—if you know what to look for.
Presented by Save Mount Diablo, in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.
Featuring Heath Bartosh, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Lindsey Hendricks, Brian Peterson, Cyndy Shafer.
Photographs: Scott Hein, Stephen Joseph, Troy Montemayor
and Seth Adams, Heath Bartosh, Steve Edwards, Brad Heckman, Helovi/istock, Joan Hamilton, Shawn Hanrahan/Texas A&M, Jepson Herbarium, Al Johnson, Neal Kramer/Strybing Arboretum, SWKrullImaging/iStock, Kit Leong/iStock, Marshman, Carl Osborn, Bill Sattler, San Ramon...
A Hiker's Guide to Mount Diablo Plants: Episode 3
As we head into another fire season in the Bay Area, learn how a small 2013 blaze increased knowledge about life on the East Bay's most iconic peak.
Presented by Save Mount Diablo, in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.
Featuring Heath Bartosh, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Lindsey Hendricks, Brian Peterson, Cyndy Shafer.
Photographs: Scott Hein, Stephen Joseph, Troy Montemayor.
and Seth Adams, Heath Bartosh, Steve Edwards, Brad Heckman, Helovi/istock, Joan Hamilton, Shawn Hanrahan/Texas A&M, Jepson Herbarium, Al Johnson, Neal Kramer/Strybing Arboretum, SWKrullImaging/iStock, Kit Leong/iStock, Marshman, Car...
HIker's Guide to Mount Diablo Plants: Episode 2
Why is Mount Diablo so central to California's cultural and natural history? Find out on a hike near the 3,849-foot summit.
Presented by Save Mount Diablo, in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Originally published in 2019.
Featuring Heath Bartosh, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Lindsey Hendricks, Brian Peterson, Cyndy Shafer.
Photographs: Scott Hein, Stephen Joseph
and Seth Adams, Heath Bartosh, Steve Edwards, Brad Heckman, Helovi/istock, Joan Hamilton, Shawn Hanrahan/Texas A&M, Jepson Herbarium, Al Johnson, Neal Kramer/Strybing Arboretum, SWKrullImaging/iStock, Kit Leong/iStock, Marshman, Troy Montemayor, Carl Osborn, Bill S...
A HIker's Guide to Mount Diablo Plants
INTRODUCTION Enjoy five fascinating hikes led by rare-plant expert Heath Bartosh. Gain an appreciation for the long-hidden flora revealed by recent fires. Nod to the work of the scientists who've worked these storied slopes. And get ready to make your own discoveries!
Episode 1 of "Harvest of Fire," a nine-part series presented by Save Mount Diablo, in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. First published in 2019.
Featuring Heath Bartosh, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Lindsey Hendricks, Brian Peterson, Cyndy Shafer
Photographs: Scott Hein, Stephen Joseph, Troy Montemayor
and Seth Adams, Heath Bartosh, Steve Edwa...
Winding Down Lime Ridge Looking for Wildlife
As you wind your way through the lovely hills of Lime Ridge, keep an eye out for wildlife. In this episode Seth Adams and Scott Hein discuss 1) one that's still common all over the area 2) an introduced species whose numbers have exploded and 3) a native species that's making a heartening comeback.
Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. First published in 2012. Photos by Scott Hein. Music by Phil Heywood.
We regret an error in this version: what is labeled "mule deer" is actually a Columbian black-tailed deer.
Summer Scents: Big Tarplant
Learn about a rare plant that waits until summer to grace the hills of Lime Ridge Open Space on the eastern edge of Walnut Creek, California.
Featuring Heath Bartosh. Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo in partnership with Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Photos courtesy of Scott Hein and Heath Bartosh. First published in 2012.
Wild Mount Diablo PINES
Can you name three pine species that grow in Mount Diablo State Park? Learn to ID them by their pinecones (2 supersized, 1 clingy). Hear about how they're adapted to fire and drought. Meet the gun-toting botanists who collected their cones in the 1830s.
A Mount Diablo Interpretive Association video featuring Ken Lavin and Seth Adams. Production by Joan Hamilton. Music by Music Revolution. Photos by Joan Hamilton, Neal Kramer, Kendall Oei, and courtesy of Strybing Arboretum. Adapted from Audible Mount Diablo's Curry Point, Mitchell Canyon, and Falls Trail guides sponsored by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association and Save Mount...
Falls Trail 13: A Fine June Walk
In the final episode of our Falls Trail tour, learn about some of the wild and not-so-wild life you might see along the winding Wasserman Trail, including mariposa lilies and wild pigs.
"Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Falls Trail 12: Chert
There's still water on the Falls Trail. As you get near the end of the loop, you can check out a Mount Diablo rock formed from what Rachel Carson called "the long snowfall of the sea."
"Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Falls Trail 11: Remarkable Rocks
About halfway into this classic Mount Diablo hike, we get our first good look at the waterfalls of Wild Oat Canyon and the well-traveled rock that hosts the show: pillow basalt.
"Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Falls Trail 10: Leather Oak
In this cool spring, plenty of flowers still flank the Falls Trail, and interesting shrubs, too. Thanks to the area's serpentine soils, unusual species abound—like scrawny Quercus durata: leather oak.
Falls Trail 9: Oracle Oak
Meet Mount Diablo's rarest oak, and the feminist who first named it for science: Albert Kellogg.
"Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Falls Trail 5: Tales of Donner Cabin
History sleuths: Wander around an old cabin site in Mount Diablo State Park to find clues about how people used and misused this land in the 20th century. And how today's volunteer "Trash Removal Project" is making things right.
"Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Falls Trail 4: The Great Fire of 1977
A first-person account of a 1977 fire in Mount Diablo State Park from former ranger Burt Bogardus. An ill-fated tree planting effort followed that blaze, as well as construction of the Mary Bowerman Trail at the summit.
"Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Falls Trail 3: George Cardinet
Meet "the grandfather of national trails," an enterprising equestrian who built more than 200 miles of trails in the East Bay area. His spirit lives on in the volunteers who work on trails in the park today.
"Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Wild Mount Diablo: Peregrines 2022
Pine Canyon's peregrine falcons had a difficult season in 2021, when all four chicks were killed by a great-horned owl in a territorial dispute. Follow a team of California naturalists, stewards, and detectives as they tell the story of how the fastest animal on the planet fared last season.
A Mount Diablo Interpretive Association video, produced by Wally De Young.
Falls Trail: Episode 2
We listen to lively sounds of the creek as we head up Donner Canyon, named for an unfortunate family that lived here in the late 1800s. On the way: tales of history, valley oaks, and the widely feared "guardian of the woodland," poison oak.
"Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
