This is a beautiful day hike with a diverse trail. Our party of 4, and a dog, started at the Diablo Lake trailhead on a Friday afternoon. The trail winds up under a shade of trees, and some technical roots. It passes the Cascades Learning Center in the forest and continues up. You cross a few scree fields and eventually the trail follows the ridge line on the gorge of Diablo Lake with some soft packed pine trail and a couple of small creeks. Right now the trail is extremely dry and a little dusty with the extremely dry conditions so early in the summer. No obstacles otherwise. The trail continues down to Ross Dam and over a suspension bridge. It’s a bit of a slog on the return for the first mile going back up a few switchbacks but eventually levels off again at the ridge line.
We clocked 2 hours to Ross Dam and 1.5 hours return, taking our time with a few stops along the way in each direction. Very few people on a Friday afternoon, we felt like we mostly had it to ourselves. (I did this hike a few years ago on a Sunday morning and it was much much busier).
Diablo Lake trail is a great hike if in the area for a day and you want to take in the sights of the beautiful color of the water and the gorge below. Enjoy!
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