Bay Area Outdoors: Tarantulas, hiking, rock climbing and other free Mount Diablo events for 2024

The East Bay’s iconic, tarantula-infested (in a fun way) Mount Diablo has released its schedule of free activities for 2024, and it’s packed with activities from mountain biking to guided hikes to spider tours to open-air painting. There is even the chance to visit unique areas of the park usually blocked to the public.

All these things come courtesy of the nonprofit group Save Mount Diablo, which runs a “Discover Diablo” outings program each year. It’s sponsored by the Martinez Refining Company that, ahem, was officially inspected in December for increased flaring incidents and hazardous spills. Nevertheless, these activities promise tons of healthy fun for explorers of all ages, capabilities and interests.

Many of the 36 outdoor events require an RSVP, so get out the calendar and start marking off dates. They’re listed a month ahead of time on Eventbrite at eventbrite.com/o/discover-diablo-11942856866.

A calendar listing the entire year’s events is available at bit.ly/DiscoverDiablo and savemountdiablo.org. Here is a short list of what’s on offer:

• Rock climbing
• Tarantula treks
• Trail runs
• Meditation hikes
• Family walks
• Mountain biking
• Plein-air painting
• Property tours

As to that last item, Save Mount Diablo explains: “Property tours are led on Save Mount Diablo conserved sites. These are unique opportunities to explore privately-held lands that are otherwise closed to the public. Join us on these tours to learn more about the special ecological and cultural features of each conserved site.”