Black Point Summit Loop from Mitchell Canyon is a 5.3 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Clayton, California that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, running, nature trips, and bird watching and is accessible year-round.
A loop trail that incorporates Coulter Pine, Eagle Peak, Mitchell Rock Trails. Take Mitchell Canyon Road to Oak Road to Coulter Pine Trail to find the Eagle Peak Trail; its beginning may be a little faint, leading uphill opposite a downed oak tree. The trail parallels Back Creek and climbs gently up toward Twin Peaks. This is a wonderfully scenic loop at any time of year. passing through several distinct habitat zones - meadow lands, oak savannah, chaparral, rocky summits. and a fine stand of Coulter pines. The Eagle Peak Trail climbs steadily to meet the Mitchell Rock Trail at the crest of Twin Peaks. Visitors have forged a maze of informal trails, but stick to the crest to descend, to the lower Twin Peak, and you won't have any trouble. Pause to admire the brilliantly colored rocks at the and the venerable Great-Berried manzanita, survivors of many fires, with exquisite blooms in January and February. Twin Peaks have dangerous vertical drop-offs! When Mitchell Rock Trail chances into a fire road entering the bottom meadows, veer left back to the trailhead.
Trailhead: End of paved part of Mitchell Canyon Road, north entrance to park, near the town of Clayton. Park in staging area (water and toilets) - parking fee.
April 5, 2021Hiked it in the ccw direction 4/5/21. Great hike. The trails were not overgrown at all. It's a bit steep and slippery on the last bits of Black Mountain Tr. before Red Rd so I used my walking poles for this section of trail. Take the Globe Lilly singletrack instead of Mitchell Canyon Rd. It's prettier and parallels the fire road.
April 3, 2021Quiet once we were off the main trail. Nice and green in early April
April 2, 2021March 27, 2021March 24, 2021March 23, 2021amazing hike!! feels like a forest.
March 22, 2021Moderate hike with some single track switch backs. I would recommend going counter clockwise and up an down the same track for a easier hike. Turn right at red road and just follow the fire road up the the trail. When you get to the peak, there are some tracks that seems to be another way down, there is not. Follow the same way down. I have always gone counter clockwise and I felt it’s way easier. The view is nice and it took us about 3.5 hrs from home and back.
March 17, 2021March 13, 2021Don’t forget $6!!! Gorgeous!!
March 3, 2021Good
February 20, 2021Great views! Pretty trail up to Black Rock. No mud
February 14, 2021Steep single track with Good switchbacks.
February 14, 2021App stopped recording. 6.3 mi total, 1270 kcal
February 10, 2021February 6, 2021Lotsa gravel and therefore a bit slippery
January 30, 2021Awesome Hike!!!
January 24, 2021January 23, 2021January 17, 2021January 16, 2021January 13, 2021January 8, 2021Was hoping to climb to the peak today but the slippery mud was a turn off so decided to try this one instead and really enjoyed it. Went counterclockwise and had great views and a nice workout. nice drainage and not much mud - a little on Red Road. Lots of birds and didn’t see another hiker until back on Mitchell Canyon. Would recommend this one to newbies wanting to push a little more. Treated to views of Mt Tam, Mt Vaca, Mt St Helena - go on a clear day!
December 31, 2020Great!
December 27, 2020December 25, 2020December 11, 2020This app was seriously draining my phone battery the entire way to the summit so I decided to shut it off on the way down. Fitbit said 16.87mi, 7 hours 6min, 25’16” pace. I did this hike solo on a drizzly Saturday and it was probably the gnarliest hike I’ve don. Beautiful views and wonderfully rewarding. Don’t go without poles. I’ve been a moderate hiker all my life and I think this may have been the hardest hike I ever did. I’m sure the weather played a part. Probably won’t do it again but happy I conquered it!
December 11, 2020We tried to add a bit to the Black Point hike loop we found, but we ran into private properties on a couple of the trails and had to backtrack. We did this hike counter clockwise, which was good because we did the big elevation at the beginning. Also, from the Black Point, I recommend going back on the Black Point Summit trail to the Black Point Trail; we tried to go back down on this little marked trail, instead, and had to bushwhack to get to the Black Point Trail again. I would not recommend this hike in the summer when it’s hot. It’s really exposed.
December 11, 2020We did a hike in a counter-clockwise direction by taking the steep Black Point Trail up and followed the more gradual Red Road down. We did some bushwhacking after the Black Point summit because we took a different trail down. Most trails were well maintained. Great views!
December 5, 2020
