Live Oak Campground — Mount Diablo State Park Campground

great campsite! be careful driving up the windy road and watch for the many cyclists. going up/down with you. 

driving in was very easy; parking is right next to the site. the campsite itself was beautiful - panoramic views of the east bay area. i could recognize walnut creek, lafayette, danville and san ramon through the binoculars. site was clean, but the ground itself was very rocky. irritating that there wasn't really any level spots to set up the tent, so sleeping on a slant was a real treat (sarcasm). weather was very mild during the day; not too hot, nor too cold. nights were bearable in the high 50s, and by late night (cuz i kept waking up because of slanted sleeping), but felt like low 40s and slightly windy. make sure you bring thermals and a warm sleeping bag. sleeping pad is a definite must on the sharp rocks; be careful when stepping around in the tent with just socks on. 

drought meant that flushing toilets were all locked.. as were the showers.. but from what i heard the "chemical toilets" (aka porta-potties) were an adequate substitute. water access had been shut off as well, so make sure you bring plenty of your own for washing and drinking. 

critters - we didn't encounter any during our stay. no racoons, bears, mice, rats.. nada. just a ton of pincher bugs everywhere. not even many flies! we had those spinning fly deterrent things, though. maybe those really DO work? 

ALSO because of the drought - NO WOOD FIRES ALLOWED. total/complete bummer to camp without a campfire. gas stoves and lanterns were permitted, though.

I was born, raised and have lived just below this mountain my entire life and camped here for the first time just last year.  Now my wife and I, and or my dogs and I will come up for a last minute Stay-Cation.

I have only stayed at the Juniper Campground. The Juniper Campground is one of three campgrounds on Mt. Diablo, and is the closest to the peak of the mountain. I like it because there is a large open space that looks out to the southwest, w and nw with views. When it's crowed and not to cold, I will go to the far back of the parking lot just below the top and almost have the place to myself for the views of the east, se, s and west then return to camp after sunset …shhh. Wake up early and watch an amazing sun rise at the same spot.

You can get some narly a_ _ "Diablo Winds" so make sure you clean your campsite and put your things away including trash and put your fire out completely before going to bed…seriously. I have been there and seen campers looking all over and not able to find stuff the next day because of the winds; on my last trip a guy lost a large storage box he said was around 3'x1.5'x 1.5', so not a small box. The "Diablo Winds" are compared to the notorious Santa Ana winds. The term "Diablo winds" refers to winds that flow from east to west up and over the Diablo Range over the East Bay region. I was there early January 2022, had an amazing clear night with hardly any wind. Went to bed around 10PM because the winds were slowly picking up. By 1AM my dogs was pooping her pants because it felt like my van was going to roll over…okay, I'm exaggerating a little…she really doesn't wear any pants and it might of been me.

Cell coverage has always been great for me. Hope you have a fun time experiencing this awesome place.

Mt. Diablo SP has 3 campgrounds: Live Oak, Juniper, and several first come first serve sites at the junction of South Gate and North Gate roads about 2000ft up the mountain.

Live Oak is the closest to the entrance (and town), and features some cool rock formations to explore, but it's colder, has terrible cellular data service, and doesn't quite have the sunset / sunrise views that Juniper has.

Juniper is way up there, plan for a 45 minute drive from town to the top, longer if you are doing it on a weekend when you'll be waiting to pass cyclists (be very careful, do not pass on blind corners, this is a cycling destination). But it is absolutely worth it for the views of the east bay, and on a clear day, all the way to SF and the pacific. Truly one of the best camping views I've had.

Juniper had decent 10-15mbps ATT cellular service in most site locations, and also decent t-mobile, but ping was slow. The best sites at Juniper if you're sleeping in your vehicle are the flat ones down by the parking lot and vista (18, 20, 22). Note that most of the sites on the west side are not flat for a vehicle. Fine for a ground tent. Lot's of wind up this high, and not a lot of shelter, so plan accordingly. Water is off, probably forever as CA will be in perpetual drought, so plan for that as well.

Only reason for 4 stars is that they lock you in at sunset; if you want to leave you have to call the fire department to open the locked gate, it's not like a tiger-teeth exit but no entry kind of situation. This significantly reduces flexibility, but I can understand why they don't want a bunch of cars trying to race up and down the mountain after dark.

Juniper Campground Campsite#16 

-Recommend Juniper Campground over Live Oak campground for close views at top. 

-It takes ~30-45 minutes to drive from the bottom of the mountain to Juniper Campground depending on the amount of traffic on the mountain. 

Pros: 

• Bathrooms: near JC Campsite#24- clean with toilet cover and toilet paper. 

• Diablo overlook: spacious- good views for sunset, sunrise, stargazing. 

• Food locker: 2x. We used the one beneath the tree- raccoon did not get inside. 

• Parking: vehicle fit on roundabot right next to campsite. 

• Privacy: secluded by surrounding bushes Spacious: can fit at least two+ tents Trash/Recycling bins: plentiful 

• Warm campsite at night - still felt like ~65F+ ~ 11pmPST. 

• Water spouts: plentiful

Minor cons:

-no shade at campsite until ~5pmPST near picnic table. 

-Flies/bees active buzzing at campsite.

-If sitting around picnic table at night, make sure snacks are not out on picnic table, but kept in lap. Raccoon was not shy about jumping on inactive stove top.

-minimal view from campsite#16, tall bushes provide privacy. better view from the overlook.

-windy - woken up ~3AM from strong winds.