Black Mountain (near Los Altos, California)

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Black Mountain is also a peak near Milpitas, California that is part of the Diablo Range in the east of Santa Clara County.

Black Mountain
Elevation	2,810 feet (855 metres)
Location	Santa Clara County, California
Coordinates	37°19.03′N 122°8.84′W / 37.31717, -122.14733
Topo map	USGS Mindego Hill (CA)

Black Mountain is a mountain in Santa Clara County, California, south of Los Altos, California and west of Cupertino, California. Its elevation is 2,800 feet (853 m) at the summit, which is located at 37°19′08″N 122°08′46″W / 37.319, -122.146 (in the WGS84 datum). It is located on the border between Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve and Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, with the summit located in the former.

View of the Santa Cruz Mountains from the summit of Black Mountain on a cloudy day

The mountain is a popular destination for hikers and mountain bikers. The summit is most easily accessed from the Monte Bello parking area on Page Mill Road, via a 2.5 mile (4.0 km) route from about 2,200 feet (671 m) elevation. The summit can also be reached from the northwestern entrance of Rancho San Antonio on Rhus Ridge Road in Los Altos Hills, by a 5 mile (8 km) route from about 400 feet (121 m). This strenuous hike is not recommended for novice or beginning hikers.

By bike, the summit can also be reached starting at Montebello Road, which begins near the Stevens Creek Reservoir. This bike ride, for the most part, is on maintained road. But in order to reach the summit, one needs a mountain bike on the trail that continues beyond the maintained road. The ride is extremely scenic all the way. Periodically, one gets more than a glimpse of the entire valley. On some cloudy days, one gets above the cloud cover before reaching the end of the maintained road. While biking, one often hears peacocks, and sometimes, can spot one on or just off the road. While there is vehicular traffic on this road, because there is no exit, the traffic is not much, compared to, say, Highway 9.

Black Mountain has two stations on its summit. One is a private radio broadcasting station owned by Stanford University, and the other one is owned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and is used for air traffic control purposes. Montebello Road is also on the summit. Because the broadcasting stations, which are off-limits to the general public, occupy the best viewpoints on Black Mountain, the areas of Black Mountain open to the public does not offer a complete view of the San Francisco Bay and Santa Clara Valley.

There are several wineries on Black Mountain along Montebello Road, including Ridge Vineyards, Fellom Ranch Vineyards and Picchetti Brothers Winery.