Late spring and early winter are ideal times to visit Black Diamond Mines Preserve in Antioch, California. At this time of year, the hills have turned an eye-popping emerald with bursts of color from the mustard, poppies, and lupines making their debut.
One of the key attractions at Black Diamond Mines – as its name suggests – is the network of now-defunct mine shafts that you can tour March through November. From 1855 until 1949, nearly 4 million tons of coal (“black diamonds”) and 1.8 million tons of sand were extracted from the mines. Five mining towns, once bustling population centers representing more than 10 nationalities, are long gone, but monuments to their history remain, including the Rose Hill Cemetery where many of the early Welsh settlers are laid to rest.
My first visit to the park was to tour the mines with my kids, and I highly recommend it. But now that I’ve “been there, done that”, I wanted to check out the hiking. There are tons of trails to explore in the park, and I chose a 2.5-mile loop along the Riverview Trail and Railroad Bed Trail. The path was wide, well-groomed, and mostly open with spectacular vistas shared by grazing cows and soaring hawks.
Visiting Black Diamond Mines
For more information about visiting the park and to view or download a detailed trail map, visit the Black Diamond Mines website.
Another resource I’ve come to depend on for planning hikes is All Trails. Their phone app will give you a list of the available trails, their length, and description of the terrain so you know ahead of time what you’re getting into. This app is also super helpful for navigating along the way (it has prevented me a few times from getting lost!), and you can create an account to save your hike history.
For Fido fanatics like myself, dogs are allowed on leash on the trails, but coyotes are no strangers to this area, so be on the lookout!
Photo Inspiration
Ready to explore? Here are some pictures from my Black Diamond Mine hike.
Black Diamond Mines in Full Bloom
