We're a sucker for books with multipage centerfolds. In this case, we get to ogle two (two!) glossy four-page photographs of a beauty so gorgeous, so sublime, as to make one absolutely fixate on the images.

Yes, Mount Diablo – that twin-peaked wonder looming over eastern Contra Costa County and visible on a clear day from Sacramento – has never looked better than in the new coffee-table book "Mount Diablo: The Extraordinary Life and Landscapes of a California Treasure" (Mount Diablo Interpretive Association, $40, 266 pages).

Beyond the mountain itself, the star of this keepsake is nature photographer Stephen Joseph, who has been tramping – lightly, and with utmost respect – through the nooks, crannies and many vistas of Diablo since 1985.

Joseph, dubbed the Ansel Adams of Mount Diablo by Bay Area conservationists, is an expert at capturing not only sweeping grandeur but the intimate detail of, for instance, a gnarled, many-branched valley oak in Pine Canyon.

Despite having spent many an hour on Diablo's trails, we never took the time to stop and look – really look – at the sculpted manzanita overlooking Sycamore Canyon or the glassy reflection emanating from Black Pond in the winter.

If nothing else, gazing longingly at these photographs might make you want to pack up the kids and visit the state park. Which is great – but something of a double-edged sword. Mount Diablo, especially in the summer months, is packed with hikers, rock climbers, trail runners and, yes, cars chugging to the summit. None of that pesky human interaction soils Joseph's mountain pictorial. Diablo comes off as pristine as when the Miwok roamed.

Rimac Colberg's accompanying text is elegant and edifying without getting in the way of the real attraction – the photos. One nice touch: She adds quotes at the head of each section, including this from Andy Warhol, of all people: "I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own."

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