Fairy Lantern Trail–Little Pine Creek Road, 4 sights is an 8.3-mile out-and-back in Mount Diablo State Park near Alamo Oaks, CA. It climbs 1,650 ft, with sections as steep as 17% grade. It scores 80/100 on the Ambleway Wildness scale: genuinely wild.
Elevation
Getting there
Directions
Fairy Lantern Trail–Little Pine Creek Road, 4 sights
8.3 mi · ▲ 1,650 ft · 3 hr 36 min
Elevation 342–868 ft
Out & Back · Mount Diablo State Park
Trailhead: 37.89541, -121.99624
Weather Aug 3: Clear, high 100°F / low 69° · precip 0% · wind 2 mph · sunrise 6:14 AM · sunset 8:16 PM
Toilets at the trailhead
- Start at the trailhead, heading SW.
- 0.2 miTurn left, heading SE.
- 0.3 miTurn right onto Shell Ridge Trail, heading SW.
- 0.9 miBear left onto Fairy Lantern Trail, heading SE.
- 0.2 miBear right onto Stage Road, heading SE.
- 1.3 miTurn left onto Sunset Trail, heading N.
- 0.4 miTurn left onto Falcon Road, heading W.
- 0.7 miSharp left onto Little Pine Creek Road, heading NE.
- 450 ftReach Shell Ridge Trail, then turn around and head back the way you came.
- 450 ftSharp right onto Falcon Road, heading SW.
- 0.7 miTurn right onto Sunset Trail, heading E.
- 0.4 miTurn right onto Stage Road, heading S.
- 1.3 miBear left onto Fairy Lantern Trail, heading NW.
- 0.2 miBear right onto Shell Ridge Trail, heading NW.
- 0.9 miTurn left, heading NE.
- 0.3 miTurn right, heading N.
- 0.2 miArrive back at the trailhead.
Each distance is the walk from the previous step. Tap a step for a map of its junction.
Trail surface
Weather
Sunset
The best sunset spot on this hike is 0.8 mi in (~37 min). Leave by 7:19 PM for the 8:16 PM sunset. Back at your car by 8:52 PM, after dark — bring a headlamp.
Good to know
- Toilets at the trailhead
Other ways to reach this destination
More from this trailhead
- Sugarloaf Hill Benchmark–Bob Pond, 11 sights 9.3 mi · ▲ 1,552 ft
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