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.

Frustrating web site, said 0 available sites but when we got there, Ranger John was very helpful and we got a perfect spot. Beautiful scenery. Showers only have cold water, but with 100° temp outside it wasn’t so bad, and happy to get the Yosemite dust off. Must go to top of mountain, lovely views. Met some locals that explained where You can see San Francisco and places to see while in the area. $30 for the site, no power but water nearby.

We arrived pretty late without reservation and there was very friendly worker and we got to choose our spot from the popular or less popular sites. We took less popular and it was peaceful. There were toilets and hand washing possibility. 30$ for night

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.

Tons of hiking trails, summit trail was nearby our spot in Juniper, no water available when we went, gates are closed sunset-sunrise, all around a cool spot and its nice how close it is to home. Seems pretty difficult to get a reservation, but its worth it if you can get in

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.

It was a great time! Stayed at site 7, well separated from everyone else. Room to set up two average sized tents. Rock ground, not very soft. Very hot outside, cooled down at night enough to make sleeping comfortable. Drove up to the peak at 7am before it opened to the public and we had the whole peak to ourselves. Do recommend!

I’ve been coming to this place for years. This is literally the best place to see a sunset of “The Bay”. There are a lot of trails for hiking. However the draw back to this place is the amount of cyclists on the narrow and worn out pavement that we call roads. If you are queasy about motion, plan on bringing a plastic bag to vomit in. There are no guard rails, so if your driver isn’t paying attention off you go down the mountain. Once your are settled in, this becomes a very peaceful and enjoyable campsite. One other thing, no matter how hot it is you’ll never be able to escape the howling winds at night. Good tent stakes and warm gear is a must.

We hiked up to Juniper campground from the Clayton side. The sites in the teens have less overhead shade but more privacy than those of higher numbers. The sites closest to the driving road/entrance/overlook will have the potential to be downwind of the bathroom, unfortunately.

The campground is a dry campground - as in no alcohol.

That said, we loved our site #15, and enjoyed the privacy it provided, plus the views (if you stand on the table or are tall). We didn't encounter critters. We had some trouble staking down on the rocky dirt. 

This is a good campground to explore the rest of the summit areas, plus Rock City.

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.

We went during the summer and it was very hot. The camp ground did not have much shade. We ended up taking a long hike around 4-5 pm when it started to cool food down. We saw a mix of wildlife. Deer, hawks, wild turkeys. We saw an amazing sunset too.

We camped at the Juniper Campground, 3/4 up the mountain. Register in advance, but it's first-come-first-serve once you get to the campground. We watched the sunset over the Bay Area, whew, it was spectacular. Hiked to the top of the mountain, to the lookout point, on a trail through the woods and brush. We come every year and will continue the tradition in years to come. Oh, btw, because it is fire season, campfires are not allowed. Sorely missed a fire, but appreciate that the mountain will not burn down while we are up there.

The campgrounds on this mountain include picnic tables, grills, bathrooms, and amazing views of the Bay Area. It can get very hot and dry during the summer months, but the sites are shaded by many trees. This mountain has many of hiking trails for various levels of hikers. The summit is just a short drive away from the campgrounds and has a visitor's center that has history of the mountain and the surrounding area.

Make sure that you lock up all food at night as the wildlife is very present and will take advantage of left out food.

Nice drive up the mountain many trails and great views.

Bewhare wiled boars are active at dawn and dusk

This was a great campsite for people that want to go hiking near Berkeley or SF and have a car. They had a good number of spots to camp with grills at each site. Our site had some good trees as well to hang up our hammocks. Great hiking in the area through desert terrain although be ready for some hills. It was very hot on the hikes as their was not much sun coverage. Would definitely recommend. No open fires allowed when we were there because of the dryness of the area.

This is a great camping spot only a short distance from Berkley or San Francisco. The campsites are nothing special and fairly uneven but plenty large and the hiking makes up for it. Each site has a very large stone grill (pictures) and a picnic bench that are in OK condition. There was plenty of space at our site to park 3 cars and put up 4 tents and 3 hammocks so we were very happy we could fit our whole group. It was pretty hot out since it was late in the summer but it got very cold at night and we were happy we had our sleeping bags while sleeping in our hammocks. Right from the campsite there are a few trails you can take and explore the area. My suggestion though is to drive a little ways down the road and do some of the more intense hikes. Make sure to bring lots of water! The best suggestion we got and in my opinion is now a necessity is to take the sunset hike (or sunrise) to the overlook point from the campsite. It is a serious climb but well worth it.

Getting there: Super easy, look for the tallest mountain in the area, drive towards it, boom you're there. It was expensive to enter the park... I think around $10 per vehicle, someone correct me if i'm wrong.

Campsites: The campsites are a decent size and fairly spaced out. All the campsites provide a old broken down picnic table, a bear box, a grill, and a fire pit. There are shared restrooms with plumbing to use.

The Park: Awesome. Big. Crowded. No dogs allowed.

What to do: Hike Diablo there are TONS of trails. Go rock climbing or bouldering in Rock City. Drive, hike to the top and check out the observation deck.

*will add my pics later.