On November 15 and 16, 126 people showed up in a big way to restore Mount Diablo for our fifth annual Pine Canyon Cleanup. This year, these incredible people accomplished 848 hours of impactful stewardship work on Mount Diablo.
This year, we saw a record number of volunteers and hours completed for restoration projects on and around Mount Diablo State Park.
Save Mount Diablo staff and volunteers cleaning up the Knobcone Point Trail during this year’s Pine Canyon Cleanup event. Photo by Mary Nagle
It was a big step up from last year’s Pine Canyon Cleanup, a monumental event in its own right, when volunteers racked up more than 400 hours of work on Mount Diablo.
Each year, our Pine Canyon Cleanup brings all sorts of outdoor recreationists and friends of the mountain together to give back to Mount Diablo. These fantastic volunteers get their hands dirty, working hard to steward the mountain we all treasure.
Over the course of these two days, volunteers were spread out all over the mountain.
Volunteers at the Balcerzak inholding. Photo by Haley Sutton
Our volunteers came out to remote parts of our properties to help beautify the Balcerzak inholding and to do brushing and chipping at Knobcone Point Trail to reduce fire risk and care for the trail.
The Knobcone Point Trail crosses our 1,080-acre Curry Canyon Ranch property.
The Knobcone Point Trail. Photo by Mary Nagle
The two workdays that volunteers and staff spent brushing and chipping completed the final stretch of work that was needed to prepare the nearly two miles of new trails that will be officially opened to the public on Wednesday, November 27.
We’re so excited for visitors to enjoy these stunning new trails through Mount Diablo’s Knobcone Point area.
Chipping on the Knobcone Point Trail to reduce fire risk. Photo by Mary Nagle
Meanwhile, trash bags and grabbers in hand, volunteers trekked through Diablo Foothills Regional Park, removing bags and bags of trash and invasive weeds from the park.
Volunteers removed bags and bags of invasive plants from Diablo Foothills Regional Park. Photo by Haley Sutton
Volunteers led by Mount Diablo Trails Alliance hiked out and dug into the nearly rock-hard dirt to make significant repairs over long stretches of Castle Rock Trail and Little Yosemite Trail.
This repair work will help these trails to be safer and more accessible to hikers, mountain bikers, and all who enjoy exploring Mount Diablo’s trails.
Anyone who is interested in helping with more work like this on Mount Diablo State Park’s trails should check out the Mount Diablo Trails Alliance’s upcoming Dig Days.
Trail work in progress! Photos by Haley Sutton
We are extremely grateful for the hard work of all 126 volunteers, as well as our staff and our awesome partners who helped make the fifth annual Pine Canyon Cleanup possible:
- California State Parks,
- East Bay Regional Park District,
- Mount Diablo Trails Alliance,
- Bay Area Climbers Coalition, and
- the American Alpine Club.
Thank you!
