Despite living in the Bay Area for 80 percent of my life, until today, I had never visited Mt. Diablo State Park. Jeff, Jane and I drove up to the Mt. Diablo Summit this afternoon and then stopped at the Uplands picnic area on the way down mountain. From the parking lot, we took a badly paved road up a hill and followed it to where the path ended in a grove of oak trees.

• Weather: Sunny and warm, but a little hazy
• Distance: 1.3 miles
• Time: 40 minutes
• Highlights: The trail ends in a beautiful grove of old oaks