Outer East Bay

North Peak of Mount Diablo

East of the Oakland Hills that border the inner East Bay, the outer East Bay maintains a very separate culture and lifestyle than its Bay Area neighbors. The area is mostly residential and affluent, and consequently considerably more conservative (by Bay Area standards). The same hills that keep this area culturally isolated also keep it protected climatically; the area is usually 10-20°F (5–10°C) warmer than the Bay in summer.

The cute suburban towns scattered amid the valleys have their share of delicious restaurants, charming cafes, and interesting historic sites, but for many visitors the reason to come out here is for hiking. Mount Diablo is the most famous peak, and it's just one of the East Bay's many beautiful, wild hills and mountains.

Cities

• 1 Antioch
• 2 Brentwood
• 3 Clayton — in the foothills of Mount Diablo
• 4 Concord — home of jazz pianist Dave Brubeck
• 5 Danville — wealthy, attractive suburb with access to hiking trails and Eugene O'Neill's Tao House
• 6 Dublin — sprawling residential suburbs north of Pleasanton
• 7 Livermore — city of 90,000 people with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and wine country; the element on the periodic table "Livermorium" shares its name.
• 8 Lafayette
• 9 Martinez – home of the early environmentalist John Muir, whose house is now a museum, as well as easily accessible nature
• 10 Moraga
• 11 Oakley
• 12 Orinda
• 13 Pittsburg
• 14 Pleasant Hill
• 15 Pleasanton — one of America's wealthiest mid-size cities; has a wide range of restaurants and historic district
• 16 San Ramon
• 17 Sunol — small community south of Pleasanton, at the east end of Niles Canyon
• 18 Walnut Creek — a lively city with shopping and lots of restaurants downtown

Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda, due to their strong similarities, are often collectively referred to by locals as "Lamorinda."

Other destinations

• 1 Mount Diablo State Park - This 20,000-acre (80 km²) park provides great hiking opportunities on a mountain that dominates the landscape for most of central and eastern Contra Costa County. It offers an incredible viewshed, with views on clear days stretching 181 miles (291 km) to Mount Lassen.
• 2 Del Valle Regional Park – a hilly nature reserve centered around a reservoir, and the gateway to the Ohlone Wilderness Trail

Get in

By car

State Route 24, through the venerable Caldecott Tunnel, is the main entrance from San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley. Interstate 680 is the main route linking the outer East Bay to the South Bay and Silicon Valley to the south, and to Sacramento to the north. Interstate 580 links comes from Hayward and San Leandro to the west, and from Stockton and the Central Valley to the east.

If you are entering the southern (Alameda County) portion of the region from the east, there are quite a few roads that go across the hills into Livermore. The main road that enters the county from the east is I-580, but this is the only major road entering Alameda County from the east and traffic is not always good or very safe; the road has quite a high grade despite being a freeway. The alternatives are all country roads: Tesla Road (known as Coral Hollow Road east of Alameda County), Altamont Pass Road (part of which is called Northfront Road), and Patterson Pass Road.

If you want to get here from the south without using I-680 or nearby roads, you will have to take difficult roads (although with beautiful, remote scenery) through the mountain ranges near Mount Hamilton and the Ohlone Trail.

By BART

Two BART lines come from the inner East Bay and beyond it San Francisco.

By plane

There are no major airports in the Outer East Bay with regularly scheduled passenger service, though there are several general aviation airports. One must either use the Bay Area airports serving San Francisco, Oakland, or San Jose, or the Central Valley airports serving Stockton or Sacramento. The region also has airports that do not provide passenger service:

• Buchanan Field Airport, in Concord
• Byron Airport, two miles (3 km) south of Byron

By train

Amtrak stops in Martinez. The ACE (Altamont Corridor Express) comes through here on its way between San Jose and Stockton.

Get around

See also: Bay Area public transit

The Iron Horse Regional Trail, a biking and walking trail

BART serves Orinda, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Concord, Pittsburg, Antioch, Dublin, and Pleasanton. BART stations have bus service as well. However, BART's usefulness for getting around this region is limited; it's more a way to get to and from San Francisco.

In general, rush hour/commute times feature traffic jams on the freeways and crowded BART trains.

A handful of transit agencies operate bus service around the outer East Bay: Tri Delta Transit in the northeast, Wheels in the south, and County Connection somewhere in the middle. They connect to BART stations. A few of the County Connection bus routes are free. Paratransit (for disabled riders) in Contra Costa is quite good, but you must sign up for it with County Connection LINK and you must reserve your rides in advance.

It's quite possible to get around by bike, with routes ranging from beautiful standalone bike paths to bike lanes on noisy multi-lane roads. The Iron Horse Trail connects Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, and Pleasanton for cyclists, equestrians, and particularly hardy pedestrians.

See

Danville's historic train station is now a museum

• Historic sites: the John Muir Historic Site in Martinez and Eugene O'Neill's Tao House in Danville
• The 'mothball fleet', a group of ships mostly from the World War II era, sits just east of Martinez. The ships are being stored rather than dismantled. Among the ships there is the Glomar Explorer, built by Howard Hughes for the US Government to scavenge a sunken Soviet Submarine. The fleet is visible from vista points along Interstate 680 on the north side of the Martinez/Benicia bridge (in Solano County).
• Country areas including mountain ranges which are separated by canyons. Local drives that showcase the best elements of East Bay scenery include California Route 84 from Fremont to I-680 near Sunol (through Niles Canyon), Mines Road south of Livermore, and Palomares Road from Route 84 to Interstate Route 580.

Do

Views from the Ohlone Wilderness Trail

The outer East Bay has many parks and trails, as well as reservoirs and house museums managed by the East Bay Regional Parks System, East Bay MUD (Municipal Utility District = the local water company), designated Open Space areas, Mt. Diablo State Park, etc. See Hiking in the East Bay for more.

There are also many performing arts venues, including the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord. The California Delta offers plenty of water activities.

• 1 Alameda County Fair: 22–31 October 2021. Located in Pleasanton, in addition to carnival rides, concerts, fireworks, sports, etc. this large local fair has one of the longest horse-racing tracks in the country. To get the county fair you need to take the Bernal Avenue exit off I-680 (eastbound), and soon you will reach the intersection with Valley Avenue. Turn left on Valley Avenue and, after a short distance, you should reach the entrance to the fair. $8-$12; ticket packages are also available; general parking is $10 or $20 for VIP parking. (date needs updating)

Eat

Some of the towns in this region, especially Walnut Creek, have excellent arrays of restaurants.

Vegetarian travellers should not have much trouble. Vegans will find lots of restaurants with good options (and a surprising number of all-vegan restaurants!) but should check menus ahead of time as some places don't have much.

Drink

There are plenty of wineries, and by driving along Livermore's Tesla and Greenville Roads you can go to several wineries in one day and drink at each one. However, don't drink and drive — this is not only dangerous to you, but can end the lives of others as well.

Stay safe

The outer East Bay has relatively low crime rates.

When hiking in the countryside, the most dangerous forms of wildlife are rattlesnakes (in summer) and mountain lions. To lower the risk of encountering a mountain lion without warning, hike in grassy areas, and to lower the risk of encountering rattlesnakes, do not hike in summer, and if you do, watch where you are hiking. Watch out for ticks, which may carry Lyme disease.

Go next

• Inner East Bay
• San Joaquin County
• Solano County