Oyster Point

The Oyster Point Trail is a legal single-track trail in a remote area of Mt. Diablo State Park. This trail does not receive much attention from the park, resulting in some off-camber sections and sometimes storm damage. 

 

The best time to ride this trail is to fall-early winter when there is a reduced chance of being exposed to poison oak. The preferred route to the trail is west to east, as there are fewer difficult climbs in this direction. Many trail users start by climbing Dan Cook Canyon via the Mt. Diablo Summit Trail in Danville, then cross Oyster Point from Rock City via the Knob Cone and Black Hawk Ridge Rd fire trails. To return, riders can exit via Finley Rd. and ride back on county roads or ride the Oyster Point trail back.

 

Parking is available at various locations in Danville or Mt. Diablo State Park for Eastbound rides. Parking is available for westbound rides along Finley Road approximately 1 mile from Morgan Territory Park Entrance.

 

This is a bit more rugged singletrack, especially considering how much work it takes to get there. But it's worth the effort. The first half of the trail is mostly climbing on the side of a steep hill parallel to a creek. It's curvy, narrow, and it's exposed. The second half is continuous and well-graded downhill (there are some steep sections). Again, it is narrow, curved and exposed as it crosses steeply into the Jackass Canyon. The trail ends on the Finley Rd. To get back on the paved roads, turn right onto Finley Rd. It starts as dirt, but turns paved at the entrance to the park. Continue along Finley Rd to Camino Tassaraja Rd.

 

The Oyster Point Trail is a narrow single-track track. As far as the bike-legal East Bay single-track trails go (a small set), it's a very good one. Parts of it have a relatively advanced difficulty level, mainly due to the narrowness of those segments that follow steep hillsides. Apart from that, there's no high-difficulty trail, although it's still quite twisty and fun. Any difficulty of the path will be felt mainly in terms of physical effort. It's a tough ride. The trail comes down more as you head east. Unfortunately, this also means that you're going to do more climbing on your way back (about 800 feet more than you did in the first half of the ride).

 

In addition, the trail crosses the ravines of two small tributary creeks and does so with a steep, though short, descent, followed in both cases by a similarly short and steep climb on the other side. At least the climbing portions of these two sharp dips are likely to represent hike-a-bike segments for mere mortals. The trail also crosses the main branch of the Tassajara Creek near its eastern end, which was dry in August, but the approach is not as steep.

 

The ride consists of a 2.5-mile fire-road segment that acts as an approach to (and return from) the Oyster Point Trail. This portion is pretty much the same as anyone would expect from an East Bay fire-road ride; that is, a non-technical, wide dirt road with a lot of steep sections, often for no apparent good reason. This was especially true of my ride, where the current photos were taken, because these fire roads were freshly graded at the time.